About – soupengland.in

About

Hello — I’m Kayla. For more than five years I’ve worked inside universities as professional staff, the person who turns a good idea into students through the door: building international partnerships, running recruitment campaigns, and keeping complex projects on time, within budget, and kind to the team behind them.

Today I’m Senior Student Recruitment Officer at Northeastern University London, where I lead a global network of channel partners and shape recruitment strategy for our postgraduate programmes. Before that I spent three years as China Representative for the University of York — on the road, in the schools, and behind the scenes making the numbers work.

I care about the unglamorous middle of a project — the workflow everyone can read, the meeting that ends early, the handover that doesn’t drop anything. Done quietly, that’s how big institutions stay responsive to the students they serve.

Away from campus I write Soup England, a journal of slow living in London: seasonal cooking, walkable weekends, and the small rituals that keep a busy life feeling human. This site is where both halves meet.

What I focus on

Student recruitment & strategy

Planning and delivering recruitment campaigns across postgraduate programmes — from market segmentation and ROI-led budgeting to offer-holder events that move students from interest to enrolment.

Partnerships & project management

Managing 60+ global channel partners and cross-institutional teaching partnerships — contracts, commission structures, training and the flat collaborative workflows that keep diverse stakeholders moving together.

Lifestyle writing

Soup England is my practice in writing plainly and warmly — turning ordinary London weekends into suggestions readers can borrow on a Tuesday night.

How I daily work would be like

No two projects are identical, but the rhythm rarely changes. This is the loop I trust when the work gets noisy.

Step 01

Treat every task like a mini-project

I map out the steps so nothing falls through the cracks, and lean on digital reminders to prompt the right follow-up at the right milestone. Small structure, big calm.

Step 02

Prioritise by urgency and importance

Most important and urgent first, then urgent-not-important, then important-not-urgent, and finally the rest. Quick wins early build the momentum for the heavier work.

Step 03

Work flat, not top-down

Instead of a linear hand-off chain, I build one shared, real-time tracker so every department — academics included — can see their tasks and deadlines and update progress at once.

Step 04

Use the pockets of time

On the road, transit periods and quiet evenings handle daily enquiries and admin, so live projects never wait on me. A clear out-of-office and named contacts keep stakeholders informed.

Step 05

Build a buddy system

A designated background lead can step in seamlessly when I’m in live events or across time zones. Combined with rigorous personal planning, operations stay smooth however intense the cycle.

Step 06

Review, compare, share

At the close of each cycle I run the data, compare against previous years, and present the findings to the wider team — so the next round starts from a smarter place.

Work history

2024 — now

Senior Student Recruitment Officer

Northeastern University London

Represent the University at recruitment events in the UK and abroad, lead a network of 60+ global channel partners, and plan recruitment strategy across all postgraduate programmes — from information sessions and open events to commission management and partner training.

2021 — 2024

China Representative

University of York

Planned and executed annual recruitment and marketing initiatives for the Chinese market — cultivating key stakeholder relationships, analysing market intelligence, running offer-holder and pre-departure events, and building social-media content strategies to grow the brand.

2020

Overseas Documentary Project Assistant

Bilibili

Developed partnerships with domestic and international content institutions, managed resources for the documentary section, and helped lift promotion by 50% through negotiation and partnership-building.

2018

Student Associate Assistant Intern

Xi’an Jiaotong University

Supported inter-university cooperation projects and helped plan the 2018 Belt and Road Electric Power & Energy Executive Development Program, promoting student exchange across Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

Education · Where I trained

2019 — 2020

MA Digital Media: Education

University College London · Distinction

A distinction master’s bridging education and digital media — the foundation for my work in online events, content strategy and data-led recruitment.

2014 — 2018

BA Chinese Language & Literature

Xi’an Jiaotong University · Siyuan Scholarship

Including an exchange year at the University of British Columbia, Canada (2016). Siyuan Academic Scholarship awardee.

Hiring, collaborating, or just curious?

Let's have a conversation.

Whether you’re an interviewer, or a reader who tried one of my recipes, I’d love to hear from you.