Real Projects, Real Outcomes: Olga’s Journey to a Head of Marketing Role

When Olga Sachura set out to restart her marketing career after a break, she knew she needed more than confidence. She needed to get up to speed with the digital world.

“A marketing manager’s job no longer applies just to offline marketing. If you don’t know anything about digital, you just won’t land a job. Marketing is digital now.”

Today, Olga is the part-time Head of Marketing and Advisor at Balentic, a leadership role that blends strategy, analytics, and growth. Her journey there began with the LSE Digital Marketing & Analytics Online Career Accelerator, an online programme delivered in collaboration with FourthRev.

In a recent Ask Me Anything online event hosted by LSE Online and FourthRev, Olga shared her programme experience live:

Bridging the digital skills gap

Returning to work after a break wasn’t easy for Olga. The marketing world had moved on: new platforms, automation tools, analytics dashboards, and AI-driven insights were now central to every strategy.

An experienced strategist with a background in luxury, finance and SaaS, Olga realised her traditional skills were no longer enough. To re-enter the field with confidence, she sought out a programme that could bridge that gap.

As an LSE alumna, she already trusted the School’s academic excellence and global reputation. “I knew the quality of teaching would be top level,” she said. “You don’t only choose the programme; you also choose the brand.”

The credibility of LSE and its globally recognised alumni network became part of her plan to rebuild momentum. She said: 

Learning that maps to real work

The Career Accelerator’s structure immediately stood out to Olga. It combined academic rigour with hands-on marketing practice through real-world briefs, tools, and frameworks. “The programme provides you with a lot of essential tools,” Olga said.

Weekly live sessions and seminars helped bring those tools to life.

“Live sessions are great. You also have a chance to interact with your fellow students, because obviously, one question usually leads to another. And you’ll have a coach, who then leads you through the questions and answers to your questions.”

This blend of flexibility, guidance, and collaboration gave Olga the confidence to apply what she learned directly to her work, and ultimately to her next leadership role.

Turning theory into impact: The Employer Project

The programme’s defining feature was its Employer Project: a live brief from an external organisation where learners work in teams to deliver a digital marketing strategy.

“The real-life project for the employer is next level, and you get to work with other people. It suddenly becomes real because you have a team. You have dedicated roles. You have feedback. You have to organise your time. You have to project manage. It’s great. For the employer, once you present your project or your recommendations, you get feedback….”

Her team partnered with a London-based edtech company called EdPlace, which was seeking to grow and retain its online community while launching new products.

“They came to us with a case study. Pointed out their pain points… where they were struggling, and what they were looking for to achieve. We had to come up with a digital marketing strategy for them, how to take things forward, and what to look out for in terms of KPIs.”

That project became a key part of Olga’s portfolio, showing her skills in strategy, teamwork and results, and giving her something real to talk about in interviews.

Career coaching: Personalised, transformative guidance

Olga also credits her success to the career coaching included in the programme.

Her coach helped her reflect on her professional identity, reposition her previous experience, and set achievable goals. “It comes in all forms of advice, from practical advice on how to improve your LinkedIn page to literally sitting down – and it’s a psychological element, you’re sitting down and thinking about what’s really important to you as a person.”

It helped her polish her profile and land her new role through LinkedIn.

Studying online: Structure, support and connection

Far from being an isolating experience, the programme’s online format created a strong sense of connection.

“For anyone who considers this a challenge to study online, it’s absolutely not. It’s really well organised. I think students who invest in this programme are really keen to sit down with you and to find the time. And it’s very manageable online. My study group for my last project, we were all in different places in different time zones.”

Alongside Olga’s Career Coach, support came from her own Success Manager and the dedicated Course Facilitators. “They have been amazing. You can reach out at any point… It is absolutely accessible.”

“It’s a great community for anyone who cannot afford full-time study at LSE. This programme provides an opportunity to get the knowledge, the tutors, the skills, the base, and if you’re lucky to be in London, you even get a library card so you can come and work on campus.”

The outcome: Advancing into a leadership role

By the end of the programme, Olga stepped into a leadership role as Head of Marketing and Advisor at Balentic, a fintech based in Copenhagen. This position draws on both her strategic experience and the digital skills she gained at LSE.

“I’m really glad I had the chance to rethink my career. And most importantly, I learned the skills that I probably otherwise would struggle to learn myself. And that’s another great point about this programme – you’re always supported in terms of organising your time. So yeah, no regrets. I loved it.”

Who this programme is for

“Anyone who’s curious, anyone who’s interested in digital marketing, anyone who is stuck in their career, anyone who just wants to progress with their careers. Anyone who needs a brand on their CV. It’s a great programme.”

She’s equally honest about its value:

“It’s not cheap, but it’s worth it. Even if you break the programme into two parts, the digital marketing programme and the career coaching, and then translate it into budgets, it’s worth it.”

The programme offers a trusted, practical route for experienced marketers and career changers to gain digital fluency, professional confidence, and achieve real outcomes.

Download a programme brochure for a closer look at how the LSE Digital Marketing Strategy & Analytics Online Career Accelerator, delivered in collaboration with FourthRev, can help you transform your career.