Meet the Polpeo Team

Tamara Littleton co-founded Polpeo with Kate Hartley in 2013, in order to help brands navigate the pitfalls of social media successfully, and safeguard their reputations online. She is the founder and CEO of social media management company, The Social Element, which she started in 2002 to share her passion for making the internet a safer place. From the early days of online forum moderation to the explosion of Facebook and Twitter, Tamara has used her experience and expertise to help develop best practice standards for digital media on branded online channels.

With a background in content management, publishing, consultancy and operations for the pioneering BBC online communities team and Liberty Media (Chello Broadband), she has extensive experience in community management, child safety, and social media consultancy and crisis management. She is a member of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS), advising the British Government on the moderation of communities. Tamara regularly blogs for The Huffington Post and Econsultancy.

Kate Hartley co-founded Polpeo with Tamara in 2013. Her background is in corporate PR and reputation management, helping companies grow, shape and manage their reputations both online and offline. She has worked with clients such as Anheuser-Busch, Omniture, P&O and Princess Cruises, TNT, Overture, and Efficient Frontier.

Kate is also the owner and MD of Carrot Communications, a digital PR specialist company that works with fast-growth companies. Previously, she was head of Shandwick’s travel and leisure division, managing crisis programmes for a wide range of travel companies. She trained at Edelman.

She is a member of the CIPR and the PRCA, and sits on the PRCA’s digital steering committee.

Gemma has worked in the public relations and crisis management industries for more than seven years.

An experienced copywriter, Gemma creates scenarios, storylines, characters and social content for our simulations; and is one of our community management team. She’s also Polpeo’s own social media manager. Gemma’s style is rather exacting, as many simulation participants can verify.

Catherine has spent more than 14 years managing the delivery of web and enterprise business analysis and consultancy for companies in the retail, travel and leisure sector.

At Polpeo she is responsible for the management and development of the user interface. She also oversees the implementation of our reporting systems.

An online community and social media veteran, Lisa has over 10 years’ experience in managing B2B and B2C communities at both a strategic and operational level. At The Social Element, Lisa advises businesses on how to use social media to gain maximum brand exposure.

With a previous background in IT journalism, Lisa is able to role-play journalist responses, and treats simulation participants firmly, but fairly.

Rachel is a lawyer specialising in social and digital media, and has worked in intellectual property and technology law for over 18 years.

She has combined her degree in neuroscience with her legal background and her training experience to help us create simulation-based training programmes to mitigate risk and manage online reputation for Polpeo’s clients.

Ashley has more than 18 years’ experience in online editorial and community management, and she has worked in the social media industry since its inception.

Ashley is The Social Element’s Chief Business Development Officer, and helps to develop Polpeo’s business relationships in the Americas.

At The Social Element, Blaise oversees community management, social media consultancy and training services as VP of Community Management.

Blaise draws on his extensive social media and community management experience in a variety of industries, including FMCG, social networking, gaming and broadcasting, as part of his roleplaying on the crisis team. Blaise is particularly astute when it comes to his roleplaying, and has caught many participants out during simulations.

Sherry has more than 15 years’ experience in social media and community management. She has a background in editorial and content management, and experience in business development, and a keen interest in language and linguistics.

Sherry’s run social media campaigns and community management programmes for some of the world’s most successful entertainment brands. She brings this experience to her role on the Polpeo crisis team.

Richard is our expert linguist. As Polpeo’s resident polyglot, Richard works with Polpeo’s international clients to ensure that we tailor crisis storylines and simulations to the local language and culture.

Richard’s previous experience includes working for the diplomatic corps in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The Goethe Institute named Richard its ‘Ambassador of Multilingualism’ in 2012.