Meet the women at Spotlight who invest their expertise to expand your opportunities.
In celebration of International Women’s Day, we’re showcasing some of the fantastic women working behind the scenes at Spotlight to champion performers and casting professionals. From policy and marketing to product development and member support, these “architects of opportunity” share their career journeys and the insider wisdom they contribute to the industry.
Contributors include:
- Kelly Wiffen (Public Affairs): Bridges the gap between the arts and government, with a keen interest in the safeguarding and education of young performers.
- Tracy St Martin (Marketing): Oversees the teams creating high-quality, actionable content to help performers globalise and grow their careers.
- Mel Brown (Success Management): Acts as the human face of the brand, advocating for empathy and breaking ‘glass ceilings’.
- Cindy Dean (Support): A 24-year veteran who emphasises the power of kindness and authenticity in a competitive industry.
- Jasmine King (Customer Success): Vets applications and supports agents, drawing inspiration from diversity and the courage to “be bold”.
- Marie-Anne Roche (Product): Uses rigour and creativity to produce and improve the digital features that make up the Spotlight platform.
Through advice on asking the right questions, embracing vulnerability, and trusting one’s instincts, these women demonstrate that when the team behind the curtain is empowered, the entire performing arts community gains a stronger stage.
Kelly Wiffen, Head of Public Affairs
“My role is to represent Spotlight in conversations with Government, Parliament, Civil Servants and other external organisations.”
Tell us a bit about you:
I have worked in the creative industries my whole working life – for regulators, arm’s length bodies and trade unions. I love this sector and am happiest watching a musical at the theatre or an action movie at the cinema!
What is one thing you give to your role every day that you hope the Spotlight community gains from?
My 100% commitment to making things better for our members and our partners. My role is to represent Spotlight in conversations with Government, Parliament, Civil Servants, and other external organisations – ensuring your voices are heard where it matters most.
What is a piece of ‘insider’ industry knowledge you’ve gained that you want to ‘give’ back to the women in our community today?
When women work together, we can be amazing.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received from another woman in the business that you still carry in your professional life today?
There’s strength in saying that you don’t know or understand something. Asking questions creates power.
If you could pick one woman from history to join your department for a day, who would it be and what would you tackle together?
Millicent Garrett Fawcett. I would want to ask her how it felt to be so right about something, despite knowing that people in power didn’t want to listen. She was a lobbyist like me, even if it wasn’t called that then. She believed in change through persuasion and peaceful means. I’d get her to help me lobby to improve the education and safeguarding of young performers.
Kelly’s advice to her 21-year-old self: “This is not it. Give it a while, it will work out great.”
Quickfire Questions:
- How Long You’ve Worked At Spotlight: Two years
- The Character I See Myself In: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (less the vampires, more the sass!)
- Office Superpower: Translating complex policy into plain English.
- My Survival Job: I worked in Debenhams throughout college and uni. Everyone should have to work in retail before entering Parliament – it changes you!
- A Woman Who Inspires Me: I’ve had amazing female bosses who showed me how to lift other women up, but I was always impressed by Baroness Dinah Caine CBE.
- My Secret Skill: I make the best tea cakes in the world.
Tracy St Martin, Senior Vice President, Marketing for Talent Systems (Spotlight’s parent company)
“I oversee the marketing team and strategy for our global casting and crew-hiring platforms.”
Tell us a bit about you:
Mum to a toddler and a Brussels Griffon, lover of indie rock and prestige TV.
What is one thing you give to your role every day that you hope the Spotlight community gains from?
Ensuring the content, insights and access we offer to performers are high-quality, practical and actionable, and will help them grow their careers.
What is a piece of ‘insider’ industry knowledge you’ve gained that you want to ‘give’ back to the women in our community today?
Ask a lot of questions and take on challenges that feel outside of your scope or experience – that’s the best way to learn and grow.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received from another woman in the business that you still carry in your professional life today?
“Your mentors don’t need to look like you.” For a long time, I searched for a mentor who was a woman in marketing, like myself, but eventually, I realised that mentors come in all shapes and forms – and their leadership style, approach to tackling challenges and perspective on personal development can be more instrumental than their subject matter expertise.
Tracy’s advice to her 21-year-old self: “Keep doing what you love and you’ll stumble into the career that makes sense for you.”
Quickfire Questions:
- How long you’ve been at Talent Systems: Seven years
- The Character I See Myself In: Amélie, a shy only-child with a big imagination.
- Office Superpower: Maintaining a 360° view of what’s happening across seven brands, five marketing channels, and two regional teams simultaneously.
- My Survival Job: Selling handbags at Nordstrom (American upmarket department store).
- A Woman Who Inspires Me: Bozoma Saint John – she’s an English major (like me) who worked her way up in marketing and has parlayed her success into activism, philanthropy and advising and empowering future leaders.
- My Secret Skill: I know the lyrics to (and can sing) the theme songs from all my favourite ‘80s TV sitcoms
Mel Brown, Senior Success Manager
Image credit: Jonathan Birch
“I look after the performer members on Spotlight.”
Tell us a bit about you:
I am a massive theatre fan and spend most of my free time there if I can. Since being with my partner, my love for long steam train rides at heritage railways has grown. I love exploring new countries, trying new food and binge-watching Below Deck, Love Is Blind and The Traitors.
What is one thing you give to your role every day that you hope the Spotlight community gains from?
That there is a face behind the brand and that we are here to help.
What is a piece of ‘insider’ industry knowledge you’ve gained that you want to ‘give’ back to the women in our community today?
We are here to challenge and break those glass ceilings. If someone has not done it before, it doesn’t mean you can’t, and always lead with kindness.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received from another woman in the business that you still carry in your professional life today?
That it’s okay to be emotional – your feelings are justified. Empathy is an important skill in any business.
If you could pick one woman from history to join your department for a day, who would it be and what would you tackle together?
Michelle Obama. I find her to be an extremely insightful individual. I would love to hear more about how she challenged the tide, forged her own path, and established her own identity alongside a world-famous husband. I would love to get some tips from her on how to challenge those in more privileged positions to understand the nuances the industry faces on a daily basis and how we as a company can improve our allyship.
Mel’s advice to her 21-year-old self: “March to the beat of your own drum, you are so much stronger than you give yourself credit for. “
Quickfire Questions:
- How Long You’ve Worked At Spotlight: Nine years
- The Character I See Myself In: Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music. She was young, strong, feisty, and liked to sing – just like me!
- Office Superpower: Small talk champion.
- A Woman Who Inspires Me: Kelly Wiffen, who has forged an incredible career in Public Affairs. She is so knowledgeable, fair and insightful. She is authentically herself and that is what I aspire to be.
- My Secret Skill: Being dyslexic, I see things differently than most, and I like to lean into the unusual patterns that my brain forms.
Cindy Dean, Head of Support
“I manage and guide our Support team.”
Tell us a bit about you:
I’m originally from South Africa but I’ve called the UK home since the late 90s. I currently live with my husband and our two large cats who, if I’m honest, are the real heads of the household. Oh, and a very, very old tortoise!
What is one thing you give to your role every day that you hope the Spotlight community gains from?
My daily goal is simple: to lead with kindness. We are a community, and no one should ever feel like they’re navigating this world alone. Being kind takes so little from us, but for a performer or a peer, it can be the shift that turns their whole day around. That’s the legacy I want to leave here at Spotlight.
What is a piece of ‘insider’ industry knowledge you’ve gained that you want to ‘give’ back to the women in our community today?
After years of watching stories unfold at Spotlight, the most valuable ‘insider’ secret I can share with women in our community is simply this: just be yourself. There is an incredible beauty in authenticity that shines through in a way nothing else can. So often, that light goes unseen because we lack the confidence to let it out, but there is truly no reason to hide. Your most powerful tool is your own unique truth.
Cindy’s advice to her 21-year-old self: “Stop worrying so much about the future – you’ve got this, lady!”
Quickfire Questions:
- How Long You’ve Worked At Spotlight: 24 years
- Office Superpower: I’ve been with Spotlight for quite a while now, which means I’ve seen it all! I love sharing our stories, especially back when we were still publishing physical books. It’s a wonderful part of our history that I’m always happy to chat about.
- My Survival Job: Before I found my home at Spotlight, I took the ‘struggling artist’ path quite literally as a children’s party entertainer – dressing up as a clown and face painting! It turns out that managing a room full of sugar-fuelled toddlers is actually excellent training for just about any professional challenge.
- My Secret Skill: I have a passion for sewing and once threw my hat in the ring for The Great British Sewing Bee. It didn’t quite happen, but I still count it as my first (almost) acting credit!
Jasmine King, Customer Success Manager for Agents and Casting Directors
“Some of my responsibilities include vetting agency applications and casting breakdowns, onboarding agents onto Spotlight/Tagmin, onboarding Casting Directors onto Spotlight, and supporting our lovely members as they use each platform.”
Tell us a bit about you:
I’m a film, TV and video game lover. I’m currently watching 9-1-1 (Season 9) (my favourite show) and playing Red Dead Redemption. I’m also getting back into fitness – Pilates is my go-to, but I tried Zumba for the first time not too long ago and loved it!
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received from another woman in the business that you still carry in your professional life today?
Learn to say no and stop people-pleasing! Being a ‘yes’ person will eventually burn you out.
Jasmine’s advice to her 21-year-old self: “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take so be bold and go for it. The worst thing someone can say is ‘no’.”
Quickfire Questions:
- How Long You’ve Worked At Spotlight: On and off for the past four years.
- The Character I See Myself In: I wouldn’t say this is the first time I saw myself in a character, but what really stood out to me was when I saw Ballet Black perform at the Theatre Royal Stratford East for the first time in 2022. I practised ballet as a child and for a long time I was the only Black ballet dancer in my class. I hadn’t seen ballerinas wearing braids and ballet shoes that matched their skin tone until I saw the artists from Ballet Black. It made me want to start practising ballet again.
- Office Superpower: I’m a solo networker. I learned to get comfortable with that during my freelancing days. If you need me at an event, I’ll be there.
- My Survival Job: Freelancing in general. I have a film/media production background and finding work after the pandemic was a real struggle!
- A Woman Who Inspires Me: I commend Rihanna’s work ethic. She’s worked her way to the top. From growing up in sunny Barbados, to breaking out in the US with her music, and then becoming a billionaire businesswoman with Fenty Beauty, she’s the epitome of self-made, which I admire.
- My Secret Skill: Déjà vu. I can dream about something or blank out and see something flash before my eyes before it happens in real life. It happens occasionally.
Marie-Anne Roche, Product Manager
“I define what new features we build and which problems to solve. I work with Engineering and Design to improve Spotlight for performers and industry professionals.”
Tell us a bit about you:
I grew up in France but spent all my adult life abroad. My first role out of university was in Product and I love how varied it is. I worked on about 10 different products, but Spotlight is my favourite by far. Outside of work you will most likely find me in a random country traveling or teaching/practicing yoga.
What is one thing you give to your role every day that you hope the Spotlight community gains from?
Rigour and creativity. I try to think of ways to solve existing problems while coming up with exciting new functionalities that will continue to fuel the number of jobs on Spotlight, helping agents and performers find the perfect role and casting directors to find the right talent.
What is a piece of ‘insider’ industry knowledge you’ve gained that you want to ‘give’ back to the women in our community today?
The more you understand and articulate your strengths, the easier it will be to find your space. When you own who you are, opportunities become more aligned and it will be easier for people to advocate for you.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received from another woman in the business that you still carry in your professional life today?
Kindness and competence are not mutually exclusive. You can be caring and still be respected – it can even make you stronger.
Marie-Anne’s advice to her 21-year-old self: “Trust your instincts, you’ve never regretted doing so.”
Quickfire Questions:
- How Long You’ve Worked At Spotlight: One year
- The Character I See Myself In: Mulan. She is determined and stubborn and I admire that she fights for what she thinks is right. Also, who wouldn’t want to have Mushu as a guardian?
- Office Superpower: Unpacking complex issues and finding the easiest ways to solve them.
- My Survival Job: Working as a tour guide in Paris, for a Segway tour company. I had to memorise a lot of random facts on the city and develop my sales skills to find clients.
- A Woman Who Inspires Me: Phoebe Waller-Bridge – her work is bold and funny and she seems very authentic.
- My Secret Skill: I am on a quest to brew the perfect cup of coffee.
From dealing with complex policy, building the infrastructure that allows your talent to be seen, to supporting you throughout your career, these women are more than just the team behind the platform – they are your advocates in the industry.
This International Women’s Day, we celebrate their brilliance and invite you to carry their advice forward: be bold, lead with kindness, lift others as you climb and never be afraid to march to the beat of your own drum. As you navigate your own journey, remember that your most authentic self is the greatest gift you can give to your craft.
