Life as a SumUp Copywriter
Anna Marie Allgaier shares highlights from her first year as part of our Content team.
Anna Marie Allgaier joined SumUp as a Copywriter in January 2019, which makes her a founding member of our Berlin-based Content team. “I was excited to start with a fairly blank canvas, in that we had an opportunity to create a new content strategy as a team. But we had a well-defined brand and great products to work with, so it wasn’t like we were starting from scratch. I like how SumUp tries to simplify a complicated topic, and how our card readers help to level the playing field for small businesses by being affordable and user-friendly.”
Choosing a career path was a relatively straightforward process for Anna. “I pretty much always knew that I wanted to do something related to writing — English literature was my favourite subject at school, I was always very humanities-focused. I started working at 16 at an ad agency in London. I got to play with some copy then, and that confirmed for me that I was on the right track. I studied German literature at university, so that’s what brought me to Berlin. And then, after working at some creative agencies, I stumbled across a position at a data visualisation company that sounded interesting, and that was when I decided to move into tech.”
Working at SumUp, Anna explains, offers her constant opportunities to develop as a writer. “One nice thing is that we get copy requests from so many areas of the company — I’m usually always working on a mixture of product, website and email copy. And then there’s the more creative element — blog posts, our video strategy, planning new campaigns. When I joined, the SumUp blog was basically nonexistent, and we’re now really working on building that up. We’re a product-focused company on the whole, but we want to use this channel to bring the human side into the equation. SumUp’s goal is to empower “the everyday hero,” so we want to explore what this really means by telling stories about our merchants. I recently went to London to meet a couple of hairdressers who use our products. From these interviews, we created videos, blog posts and magazine articles. We’re always researching and discussing new ideas, and you can write pretty much whatever you like, within reason!”
Anna also feels that she’s encouraged to think beyond the immediate scope of her role when considering her future at SumUp. “It’s definitely an environment where you can grow. There’s a real focus on personal development, and so many training sessions you can attend. I’ve just signed up for public speaking training — despite how much I talk, I hate nothing more in this world than getting up on stage in front of people! Even the training will give me anxiety, but I think it’s so important to address things that might hold you back, and it’s great that we have a culture that encourages this.”
Throughout our conversation, Anna is keen to sing the praises of her Content cohorts. “I really love my team. They’re such a fun group, and I think we communicate very well. We’ve created a space where you can push forward ideas without worrying about them being shut down. It’s a happy, open environment to work and be creative in. And I think that’s reflective of SumUp as a whole. I remember thinking when I first joined, ‘This can’t be real! Why is everyone so happy?’ But it’s genuinely a place where you can be yourself and share whatever’s on your mind.”
Finally, we’re curious to know how the reality of working at SumUp has measured up to Anna’s expectations. “The biggest surprise has been seeing the impact of my work across the company. I feel like I’m playing a major role in shaping the voice of SumUp. I think it’s quite rare to join an organisation of this size and have so much influence over the direction of your work.”
Interested in becoming a SumUpper? Check out current vacancies in our Marketing team.
