Not everyone leaves school with a clear idea of what comes next. Marissa Stephen certainly didn’t.
“I had no idea where I wanted to go in life,” she says. “I toyed with a few ideas, including dentistry and joining the police, but eventually fell into a sales role with Ford Motor Company. It was meant to be a stopgap until I figured out what I wanted to do.”
That stopgap became the start of a career in sales and business development, although the route wasn’t a direct one.
After taking time away from work to have her children, Marissa returned ten years later and joined an oil and gas support company specialising in fire and gas detection and deluge systems. It was her first business development role and her introduction to an industry she had never expected to work in.
“The industry was very different 20 years ago, but that role gave me my first experience of working in oil and gas.”
Marissa later returned to the automotive industry as Fleet and Business Development Manager for Jaguar Land Rover. The role gave her experience that would prove valuable when she moved into engineering.
“The values of working for a luxury brand really resonated with Apollo’s core values and what I wanted to achieve with clients,” she explains. “It’s about building strong relationships, providing a high-quality service, and becoming the person clients turn to when they need support. Being transparent and easy to do business with has remained important throughout my career.”
When the opportunity arose to join Apollo in 2022, Marissa recognised that she could bring the same client-focused approach to engineering.
“I questioned my lack of experience in the sector, but I knew I had relevant and transferable skills that I could apply regardless of the industry. You have to push yourself forward and believe in your own abilities.”
Today, Marissa is Apollo’s Business Development Director, leading client relationships and supporting the company’s continued growth.
Looking back, her career has taken her into industries and roles she hadn’t considered when she was at school. Each stage gave her skills and experience that helped shape the next, showing that you don’t need to have everything mapped out from the beginning. There’s no wrong path.
Her advice to anyone unsure about what comes next:
“Be open to opportunities and don’t rule out something you may never have considered before. Talk to people. Sometimes, meeting the right person at the right time and leaving a good impression can lead to exciting things.”