Creativity as a Core Value
Creative leadership is a bespoke practice. Some agencies have existing cultures and processes that leaders need to adapt to, some creatives respond to direction and some, quite frankly, do not. But you show up each day and do the work because creativity is the best part about what we all do. And there’s no better feeling that sharing an idea that a team is passionate about with clients who regularly tell me that collaborating on the work is the most exciting meeting on their schedule.
“Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work.” Chuck Close
Leading Alongside Retailers
NextUp brings professional women, allies, and corporate partners together to champion gender equity and advance all women in their careers. I was honored to be invited by the NextUp Texas team to participate in the Strategic Thinking: Driving Change Together hosted at the H-E-B Corporate innovation Center in San Antonio. We discussed how strategy can steer more than brands, including personal career trajectories.
When it Works, it’s Doesn’t Feel Like Work.
As VP, GCD at In Connected Chicago, I tapped 20+ years of experience at top agencies to build the creative department. My first day, I was the only creative in the office. And it was the hardest work I’ve known. After 1.5 years, we outgrew that office, and (built out) and filled out the next space with 27 creatives, 5 Chicago CPG clients and a NYC satellite office established for L’Oréal. We won awards, new business and there was one actual fire drill.
March 2018 / In Connected’s creative team at my agency going-away party. There were drinks, tears and lots of very, very bad karaoke.
The Agency Family Wall / I worked at agencies where teams felt siloed because their account functioned independently or cliquey because disciplines only hung out together. As a small agency it was important to unite as one team and support one other.
Mentorship is the Sum of Everyday Efforts.
Are there formal programs established and major companies to mentor talent? Yes. But they will never be as important as the sum of everyday moments that happen amongst co-workers. Mentorship is also a two-way street – if you’re not learning from those you’re mentoring, you may be missing out on a huge growth opportunity yourself.
Gold Effie Win, Tyson (above) / This is Jacob Pintal, my third creative hire at In Connected’s Chicago department. Straight out of school, he had a suit and tie and standout campaign on campus safety for women. When I left, he told me he chose our offer over a top agency because he wanted to help build something. Three years later, he won his first gold Effie.
During National Mentoring Month (below), Antoine Fagen, a young designer and junior editor at Purple Strategies was kind enough to share some gratitude on our office Slack, which then found their way onto our firm’s social platform.
Published Creative Editorial
Some creative teams had to adapt quickly to remote collaboration during and since the pandemic. However, remote collaboration was something I had already been working best-practices for in 2014. Engaging remote team members, even before the mass adoption of video and virtual whiteboards, is something that hub-and-spoke channel-based retail creatives had to navigate early.
