Black Vanilla sponsors JAE, Abbie Manley
At Black Vanilla, we are passionate about delivering exceptional PR services; but we also actively support our team members’ personal aspirations and dreams where we can.
We firmly believe in empowering our employees to pursue their passions outside of the workplace. Alongside Abbie Manley’s day job as our digital Junior Account Executive, she is a champion semi-pro cyclist in her spare time.
We saw this as an opportunity to make a real difference to one of our brilliant team. Black Vanilla has committed to sponsoring Abbie in her endeavours as she heads into this year’s race season, including some new kit for her to wear as she trains and races around the UK and Europe. This sponsorship reflects our dedication to fostering growth, both professionally and personally.
Read more from Abbie on her cycling career to date below:
Since I can remember, I had a love of cycling. I found it refreshing, fulfilling and something I could get my teeth stuck into whilst I was younger. When I finished full-time education in 2020, I decided to focus on my career in cycling to see how far I could go. I’ve since travelled all over Europe in events against some of the best cyclists in the world and had some amazing adventures at the same time.
Some of my biggest achievements are winning the National Cyclocross series, being selected for World Cup events and representing my country at the European Championships. Then in October 2022, I decided my life needed a bit of shake up.
I packed up and moved to my partner’s house in Guernsey, joining Black Vanilla as a part-time Junior Account Executive, which gave me the time to develop my dedication to cycling.
This season, Black Vanilla will also be supporting my ventures in racing both road and gravel events nationally and internationally. I am incredibly grateful for this support which has allowed me to book a challenging race season and design some custom kit suitable for all weathers, which I have realised is very necessary in Guernsey!!
Over the past six months I have adapted to a new home, a new job and a new routine – this was not as easy as I initially anticipated. Riding in the dark before and after work, battling the island winds and trying to learn as much as possible at work, it’s safe to say food and sleep were my best friends.
Thankfully, with a massive amount of support at work and at home, I settled in swiftly meaning I’m now training more than ever whilst developing my career at Black Vanilla.
During race season, I decided to move back to the UK to make race logistics easier. With remote working, Black Vanilla has allowed me to follow my passion and continue working for my clients seamlessly.
The season has begun and with a full calendar I am beyond excited to share my adventures and successes whilst representing Black Vanilla. I’m very grateful for their support.