Name: Jessica Hook
Job title: Head of commercial for UK and Europe
Company: Who Gives A Crap
What was your first job? Working at an American-style diner. I was too young to be a waitress, so I set tables and crawled under them cleaning up other people’s leftovers. Excellent preparation for a career in fmcg.
What’s been your worst job interview? I once made the mistake of booking two interviews back-to-back. The first was with a spirits company who kept giving me samples to try, so I spent the Tube journey to the second doing my best to sober up. Lesson learnt: never double-book interviews – particularly when one involves product sampling.
What was the first music single you bought? Killing Me Softly by The Fugees. It came with a parental advisory sticker – my sister told my mum and it got confiscated before I’d even played it.
“I foster rescue dogs and live with a whole menage of different animals at home (ranging from sheep to tortoises) so my threshold for chaos is quite high!”
How do you describe your job to your friends? Selling toilet paper to raise money for sanitation projects around the world. Saying I work for Who Gives A Crap usually gets a reaction! It usually gets a laugh, and then a “wait, seriously?”
What is the most rewarding part of your job? Who Gives A Crap has now donated over £11m to sanitation projects globally. Knowing that every roll we sell contributes to that – and that my job is to get more of those rolls on to more shelves – makes the day to day feel like it genuinely matters.
What is the least rewarding part? We have so many exciting opportunities that saying no never gets easier. Prioritisation is a skill I’ve had to develop, but I’m not sure I’ll ever make peace with leaving good ideas on the table.
What is your motto in life? Fortune favours the brave.
If you were allowed one dream perk, what would it be? Our team spans the UK, Australia and the US, so a way to genuinely collapse time zones – more face time, fewer 7am or evening calls would be the dream.
Do you have any phobias? Nothing immediately springs to mind… I foster rescue dogs and live with a whole menage of different animals at home (ranging from sheep to tortoises) so my threshold for chaos is quite high!
If you could change one thing in grocery, what would it be? I’d level the playing field for smaller brands. Easier access to manufacturing and data, and less of a financial barrier to entry would make for a more innovative, more diverse category.
And more brands using their scale for genuine impact – not just as a marketing line, but as a core commitment. The grocery sector has enormous collective power to do good. We’re only scratching the surface.
What luxury would you have on a desert island? My dogs – we have three spaniels, two collies and a whippet, so technically that’s six luxuries, but I’m claiming them as one.
What animal most reflects your personality? A swan – calm and composed on the surface but paddling like hell underneath.
What’s your favourite film and why? Anything based on a true story where the underdog pulls through like The Blind Side. There’s something about people being underestimated and then quietly proving everyone wrong that never gets old.
What has been the most embarrassing moment in your life? On my very first pitch to a major retailer, early in my career, I had a complete mind blank mid-presentation. In front of a full team of buyers and my new manager. The words just stopped coming. I wanted the ground to swallow me whole – and I’m fairly sure my manager did too.
Which celebrity would you most like to work with and why? The late Dolly Parton. Utterly, unapologetically herself. Used her platform for extraordinary good without ever needing the credit, just quietly got on with trying to make the world better.
I’m sure she’d have some great ideas for Who Gives A Crap.
What would your death row meal be? A cheeseboard – I’ve never met a cheese I didn’t like!
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