Nikki Fox

Nikki was a successful applicant on Channel 4's Researcher Trainee Programme for Disabled People. She said that she hadn't applied for a scheme specifically aimed at disabled people before but that she was interested in working in television so decided to go for it.

The project was a mixture of supported work placements and strategic training sessions.

Nikki was one of the first people on the Maverick production team for the Channel 4 series 'How to Look Good Naked' along with a series producer and one other researcher.

Early on in her placement, Nikki learnt she had to get tougher and be more assertive on the telephone when speaking to potential on-screen applicants. She became more selective and applied strict criteria to assess quality contributors. She achieved this by working closely with senior members of the team.

In addition, Nikki soon realised she had been taking too long to complete tasks and sought to overcome this by furthering her understanding of television production.

Nikki grew in confidence and maturity as the training programme progressed and when a work experience person joined the team, she was able to delegate and be very clear about the skills that were needed to do the job.

Nikki also gained experience working with Maverick's Head of Development on ideas and proposals and received pitching style tips.

Maverick Productions bought a toilet raiser and had it fitted in the disabled toilet ready for Nikki's first day. As Nikki says, "The room is big enough for me and three men, my toothbrush and make up and I often make the men in the office use the adapted toilet whilst the seat is fully raised - it's the Fox challenge!"

Nikki is now working as a permanent researcher at Maverick and is currently working on the next series of 'How to Look Good Naked'.