Asians in Advertising

In this episode, our guest is Shane Santiago, President and Chief Experience Officer at Bravely. Shane’s impressive 24-year career spans from working at startups to making his mark at Madison Avenue agencies. The son of a Filipino immigrant, Shane is no stranger to overcoming familial expectations, especially when pursuing a creative career. He’s found support and community through his work, from his first boss/mentor out of college to paving the way for other AAPI creatives in the industry. 

A lifelong creative at heart, Shane is no stranger to taking risks and fulfilling his aspirations. Today, he continues to champion rising talent, inspiring them to live bravely and embrace their fears. Shane’s advertising origin story, and all the stops in between, is a powerful reminder to follow your passions and to do it scared.

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We’re kicking off Season 3 with Ryan Gerber, founder and Creative/Film Director at Horses and Mules. Based in LA, Ryan has spent time around the globe, growing up as a Chamoru and Filipino kid on the islands of Guam and Hawaii, landing his first global gig in NYC at R/GA, and living in China for four years while working at Widen+Kenndey Shanghai.

Whether he’s showing up on an international set alongside Idris Elba with a stomach held together by seven staples or simply freelancing, Ryan’s story is one of resilience and determination, led by his unwavering commitment to his craft and passion for creativity. 

Connect:  [email protected]

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In this episode, our guest is Sean Choi. Sean currently calls The Martin Agency, AdWeek’s back-to-back Agency of the Year, home as a Senior Strategist. He takes pride in quite literally ‘breaking into’ strategy as a late bloomer but brings along his background in Talent & Culture from Apple and freelance photography. Aside from fully believing “New York or nowhere,” Sean is a proud Korean-American committed to being a megaphone for the marginalized. He’s spoken at panels such as AIA and 3AF, crafted thought leadership picked up by Adweek, the curator of an industry-wide cultural moments calendar, and has developed the ERG strategy at The Martin Agency.  

The AAPI Dreamlight: https://www.martinagency.com/news/shining-a-spotlight-on-the-aapi-dream 

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In this episode, our guest is Eric L Hu, who is on a mission to help Americans ‘Save Money Live Better’. Currently serving as Principal, Group Strategy Lead at Walmart, Hu stewards a $100B portfolio for digital and in-store products across financial services, health & wellness, and consumer identity. Prior to the Fortune One, Eric spent the better part of a decade architecting customer experiences in highly regulated industries like automotive, pharmaceuticals, and healthcare.   

Hu’s stochastic career path is aptly articulated by his mentor as a "musician turned marketer, forever a passionate performer." From an early age, he remembers his mom always saying something about an inability to sit still. Eric transitioned from a 13-year-long run in classical violin performance to the then-burgeoning NY startup scene, then to commercial photography for brands like Mercedes-Benz and Range Rover, and finally to the design agency world where he earned his pseudo-MBA at shops like AKQA, Havas, R/GA, Code & Theory, and Deloitte Digital.    

Today, Eric is dedicated to nurturing a community of troublemakers – strategic thinkers and creative dreamers who choose never to sit still. You will likely find him nursing chrysanthemum tea, obsessing over a vintage print-ad collection in his east village studio.    

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In this episode, our guest is Helen Lin, A catalyst of innovation, a programmatic pioneer, a collaborative business partner, and a fierce believer in diversity and inclusion. Helen Lin is Chief Digital Officer for Publicis Groupe. She is responsible for driving integrated digital solutions from across the organization while leading the holding company’s broader digital strategy, partnerships, investment, and negotiations – including representing Publicis Groupe in industry-leading initiatives to continually improve the standards and brand safety on the world’s largest consumer platforms. Before her current role, she served as Chief Digital Officer for Publicis Media, overseeing all digital and programmatic strategy, partnerships, investment, and negotiations on behalf of the network globally.

In this episode, our guest is Nikki Lamba, who sits on the DDB Worldwide Executive Leadership team as DDB’s first Global Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Officer. 

In her role, Nikki is responsible for designing and implementing DDB’s global DEI strategy, ensuring that DDB’s core values are a key driver for agency culture. Nikki is also a part of DDB’s North America Leadership team, where she partners closely with the regional CEO and CPO to ensure that DEI is strategically intrinsic to the people and talent strategy. Additionally, Nikki leads DDB North America’s Equality in Advertising Council which brings together DEI champions from across offices to drive the strategic plan by curating activations designed to educate and create shared dialogues. She also sits on the board of Asian Leaders Circle, an OPEN ERG within Omnicom Group that is dedicated to progressing and empowering all Asian employees. 

Prior to her current role, Nikki spent 11 years with global research organization Catalyst, providing partnership and guidance on organizational strategies and DE&I programming in order to hire, advance, and retain diverse talent for F1000 organizations across a range of industries.

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In this episode, our guest is Susan Lee Colby, the co-founder, and co-CCO of LA-based Grace Creative, the first agency focused on activating the buying power of women over 50. Grace Creative's clients include ultra-luxury cruise line Seabourn, Golden Door, the #1Destination Spa in the World, and work for P&G's SeeMe Beauty and Gennev Telehealth for women in the second half of life.  

Over Susan's award-winning career, she has brought her instinctive creativity to some of the World's most prominent brands - including Honda, Apple, Pizza Hut, and Yamaha. After stints at RPA, Chiat\Day, Della Femina, and BBDO, she launched "Crazy Cat Lady," an upscale retail pet business featured widely in newspapers, magazines, and national television. Susan has raised two daughters, given birth to two businesses, and delivers the kind of thinking for her clients that win major awards like One Show, The Clios, and Communication Arts.  

Grace Creative: https://gracecreativela.com/ 

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In this episode, our guest Lani Tuitasi, the Director of Cultural Innovations at Cashmere Agency, is committed to innovating ways brands move their business forward by moving culture forward. She currently leads the agency's first innovations department and focuses on developing new solutions and approaches for brands to find their space in culture and do undeniably dope work. As an indigenous Polynesian woman, she's passionate about exploring Indigenous-first ways of leading in advertising and empowering AAPI, not just to get a seat at the table but innovate and build our own.    

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In this episode, our guest is Ashish Prashar, the Global Chief Marketing Officer for R/GA, a campaigner, a writer, and his true life’s work has been as a vocal justice reform advocate.

Ashish started his career in journalism but quickly moved into an impressive career in politics in the UK, where he handled communications for the Conservative Party and former Prime Minister Tony Blair and served as Press Secretary to the former Prime Minister and Mayor of London, Boris Johnson. Since moving to the United States, Ashish has worked on Barack Obama’s 2008 U.S. Presidential Campaign, midterm campaigns for the Democratic Party in 2018, and President Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign.

Ashish is known for his justice reform advocacy, a cause he has been devoted to since being incarcerated as a teenager. Over the years, he has created programs for the formerly incarcerated, actively serves as a mentor and a vocal advocate, and campaigned for legislation to restore rights to formerly incarcerated people that will protect people in prison.

He sits on the Boards of Exodus Transitional Community, Getting Out and Staying Out, Just Leadership USA, Leap Confronting Conflict, and the Responsible Business Initiative for Justice,  and Ashish is a regular commentator in the media, contributing editorials and appearing in support of justice reform for outlets including ABC, CNN, NBC, and the Washington Post.

Follow Ashish: https://twitter.com/ash_prashar

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In this episode, our guest is Zeena Koda, a self-proclaimed swiss army knife of hustling and seasoned digital marketing exec, now running the global digital community at 2K Games.  

A lifelong singer and performer, joining the music industry was an inevitable fate. She began as a vocalist in local bands, later parlaying her music biz skills into head digital marketing roles at Roadrunner, Motown / Capitol, and Atlantic Records. She’s worked on Grammy-award-winning releases from Nipsey Hussle and Meek Mill and developing digital for up-and-coming talent. She is Head of Brand Digital Marketing at The North Face and host/producer of “Everything’s Political." In 2008 she began her music journalism and broadcast career as a morning radio host on SiriusXM's Liquid Metal, freelance writer + video journalist for VICE, Mass Appeal, Uproxx, FADER, and Revolver. She has hosted video programming on FUSE, Music Choice, Reelz, VEVO, Loudwire, Revolver, and Warner’s The Pit and produced several comedic Vlog series.   

Since 2015, she's hosted and produced several podcast series, including Ladyish, BoxxTalk, Revolver's Weekly Podcast, Last Words, and Everything's Political. She has also helmed many conversations surrounding diversity and inclusion and served as a key speaker at NYC Social Media Week, Digital World Forum, Montreal Entertainment Management conference, Cannes Lions, SXSW, Adweek, and more. In addition, she co-founded the non-profit Asian American Collective, an organization focused on mentorship, activism, and education for AAPI creatives in brand, music, entertainment, and creative spaces.  

Creativity and embracing the art of transition have driven Zeena to pivot throughout her creative, music, and digital marketing career.  Her mission is to help others forget their scripts and unlock limitless potential.  

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