Meet the industry advisor and media technologist

In the third of our special IWD 2025 features, Bea Alonso details how she got started in the industry, and how it enables creative minds to turn ideas into reality through video, storytelling, and content creation

By Jenny Priestley

Published: March 5, 2025

In the third of our special IWD 2025 features, Bea Alonso details how she got started in the industry, and how it enables creative minds to turn ideas into reality through video, storytelling, and content creation

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Talk us through an average day in your role Since starting my strategic consulting business almost three years ago, no two days have been alike. In the morning, I might collaborate with a client on product marketing strategies, refining messaging or go-to-market (GTM) plans. By the afternoon, I could be writing thought-leadership articles or technical blog posts. As I work remotely from my home office in Barcelona, I usually take a few calls each day.

In addition to my regular clients, I often take on one-off projects. These can range from producing and curating speakers for a conference, collaborating on an industry report or developing sales enablement tools. I devote a few hours a week to consuming industry news, something I've done for years to keep up with the relentless pace of change in this field. Whenever possible, I attend industry events and conferences, though this often requires some serious juggling of our household schedule-essentially playing family Tetris with my husband, who also works in the industry.

I make time for coaching and mentoring through the Nottingham Trent University Alumni Fellows programme and have been a RISE mentor several times.

How did you get started in the media industry? During my early university years in Spain, I worked as a radio DJ. When I moved to the UK for my final year in Media Studies at Nottingham Trent University, I approached BBC Nottingham. They said my Spanish accent was too strong for on-air work, so they offered me a trainee position as an early production assistant in the newsroom-starting at 5am, welcoming guests, and making lots of coffee! Over time, I learnt to use the newsroom computer system (BASYS, anyone?) and analogue tape editing.

As I approached the end of my final year, there were no full-time opportunities for me to continue at the BBC. One day, however, our tutor mentioned an opening at a small local software company that needed maternity cover. Playout automation, they offered - a term I had never heard before. I got on the Number 1 bus from Nottingham to Loughborough, which stopped near OmniBus Systems' offices. That's where I met the person who gave me my first proper break in the industry, Andy Ioannou. He spent 20 minutes chatting with me, introduced me to Ian Fletcher, one of the company founders, and then told me to come back the following week.

The first three months were tough as a customer support rep, handling highly technical calls. I quickly realised that what I learned during university had little to do with the real world of broadcast technology.

A few months later, I was sent on my first customer trip to San Francisco to train operators and engineers at ABC-KGO on how to use the playout automation system. And that became my way of life for many years, globetrotting to work with technical and operational teams at dozens of broadcasters worldwide. To say this broadened my horizons and enriched me as a person would be a huge understatement.

For the following eight years, I helped operators and engineers transition from analogue to digital workflows. I went through many nerve-wracking early mornings taking newsroom automation systems live, training users before, during, and after dry runs. My next break came from Avid, where I was recruited as a workflow consultant supporting presales efforts, helping customer teams define their newsroom and post-production operations, and again, travelling everywhere.

Avid then offered me a position in Singapore, where I lived for nearly a decade. There I worked with additional technology companies, Grass Valley and Ooyala. This experience gave me a deep appreciation for the rich tapestry of cultures across the Asia-Pacific region. From Japan and Thailand to Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, and beyond, each with their own unique approach to business. Understanding cultural differences and appreciating that there are many ways to slice an elephant is key in this industry.

What training did you have before entering the industry? My dad wanted me to be a film director or TV journalist. So he sent me to media school - I clearly failed at both! I started my university studies at Madrid's Complutense University and then finished through an exchange in Nottingham. But even before that, I cut my teeth as a local radio station DJ for several years. That's where I learned to use audio equipment, tape editing, and picked up the basics of what today would be called monetisation, content creation, and audience engagement.

In this fast-moving industry, staying relevant requires continuous learning, which I've achieved through taking on new challenges at work, while taking on formal qualifications, such as my MBA. At Ooyala, I was asked to take on a product marketing role-something I had never formally done before. It was a pivotal moment in my career, and I had to adapt quickly. I was fortunate to have an excellent mentor and coach as my manager, but I also took up some

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