The A-List Podcast

Hey #adnerds! Welcome to another episode of The A-List, the podcast that asks the world’s top advertising professionals how they got started in the business. In this episode, our host Tom Christmann talks with Jason Bagley, a freelance creative who spent 16 years working at Wieden & Kennedy in Portland.

Jason's origin story is full of insight and humor. You'll hear how he landed his dream job (replacing Jeff Kling who had written the Miller High Life ads that Jason loved so much). You'll hear how he then rose in the ranks, despite a deep case of imposter syndrome. You'll hear how he learned to have 400 ideas at a time (imposter syndrome helps).

And you'll hear why Jason has now opened The Audacious School of Astonishing Pursuits (schoolofastonishingpursuits.com), where he runs an 8-week coaching course called Creative Megamachine, teaching things like how to find your voice, how to take your ideas to the edge of madness and more.

This is a great episode full of awesome advice. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Jason Bagley.

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The A-List is sponsored by Adhouse Advertising School. New zoom classes start Feb. 15, 16 and 17. Register NOW at adhousenyc.com.

Host/editor: tomchristmann.net

Music: duotoneaudio.com

© 2022 Adhouse Industries LLC

Hello, #adnerds and welcome to another episode of The A-List, the podcast that asks the world’s top advertising professionals how they got started in the business. Tom Christmann has been busy starting his new job as ECD at Vayner Media and being co-dean at Adhouse Advertising School. (And getting COVID) (he's okay now).

But he promises to start dropping episodes more regularly, starting with this conversation with Cameron Day, author of the new book Chew With Your Mind Open.

Cameron is a second-generation advertising man. His dad, Guy Day, co-founded Chiat Day. And he’s spent the last quarter-century working at agencies big and small, practicing what his dad taught him. The way Cameron tells it: “I’ve had a hand in building some damn fine brands, contributed a few nice ads along the way, and made a handful of treasured friends.”

Listen as Cameron and Tom discuss Cameron's story including a fascinating deep dive into how one award-winning Rolling Stone campaign came to life.

IMPORTANT: Cameron's book is great and you can get a signed copy with some neat swag at iamcameronday.com.

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Host/Editor/Engineer: tomchristmann.net

Music: Duotoneaudio.com

Hey Adnerds! It's time for another episode of The A-List Podcast, sponsored by adhousenyc.com. This episode, host Tom Christmann talks to Pete Favat, Creative Chairman at Deutsch LA, which describes itself as "a data-inspired, culturally shaped creative studio."

Pete started at Wunderman in New York, but really fell in love with advertising on a trip to LA for his first TV shoot, which ended up winning awards. Today, he works at an agency that sits at the intersection of entertainment, technology and culture. Clients include Walmart, Taco Bell, Dr Pepper, Georgia-Pacific, Lowe's, Bayer, Nintendo, PetSmart and Snapple.

Tom and Pete talk about the importance of craft, the difference between the New York, Boston and Los Angeles ad scenes, and the integrated, multi-disciplinary approach Deutsch is using at the agency's in-house production studio, Steelhead.

Thanks for listening. And please share our show with an #adnerd friend. Thanks.

Hello, fellow #adnerds and welcome to The A-List, the podcast that asks the world’s top advertising professionals how they got started in the business.

In this episode, Host Tom Christmann talks with Hannes Ciatti, former founder of JohnXHannes and current founder and Chief Creative Officer of Alto New York, a creative company for courageous brands.

Hannes has made some iconic work over his career. He made Misty Copeland go viral for Under Armour. He helped Jon Makovich start a menswear line with Squarespace. And he dropped the world’s first expensible music video for Expensify with 2Chainz.

But Hannes’ story begins in a little town in a tiny village in Northern Italy. From there, he would make his way to Germany, then Australia and finally New York, where he and his partner, John McKelvey would be hired by none other than David Droga before going on to start JohnxHannes.

This is an epic story that goes from the Dolomites to Droga5. And there’s plenty to learn along the way. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to start your own agency.

You can check out all the work and reach out to Hannes at altony.co.

The A-List is sponsored by Adhouse Advertising School, where we’ve got new classes starting at the end of September. You get ten weeks of classes with an ad pro for way less than the big ad schools charge. Apply today at adhousenyc.com and we’ll get you in. All classes are on zoom so you can take them from anywhere. Even the Dolomites.

Contact Tom Christmann at tomchristmann.net. Thanks for listening. Please rate and subscribe to the a-list wherever you listen to podcasts. And thanks to Ross Hopman over at Duotone Audio Group for the music. Get vaccinated if you can. See you soon!

This is The A-List, the podcast that asks the world’s top advertising professionals how they got started in the business. In this episode, Tom Christmann, freelance copywriter at tomchristmann.net and co-dean at Adhouse Advertising School, speaks with David Esrati of The Next Wave in Dayton Ohio.

David is a true #Adnerd in every sense of the word. He’s also a disabled veteran, a politician, and an activist and self-described truth teller who has gotten in trouble more than once for it.

David is also a digital pioneer. He started The Next Wave way back in 1988 and was one of the first people to understand the power of the internet for advertising. He even went on to create Luke Sullivan’s website for Hey Whipple, Squeeze This, a gig he got by volunteering to drive Sullivan to the airport from a speaking engagement.

David and Tom geek out on the importance of establishing trust in sales, how to find a great agency in a small city and the importance of figuring out who the HMFIC is. They delve into the manipulation of information and how to do a political campaign that makes people think.

There’s lots of advice in this one, and some really inspiring stuff for adnerds who happen to be in smaller markets.

Enjoy! And please rate and subscribe! Or at least share the A-List with an adnerd friend.

The A-List Podcast is sponsored by Adhousenyc.com. Music by Duotone Audio Group.

Tom Christmann talks with Gavin Lester, CCO of Zambezi (zmbz.com) n independent agency in Culver City, California. Tom and Gavin discuss going from art to advertising, Goodby vs. BBH, the making of Levi's "Odyssey" (directed by Jonathan Glazer) and so much more.

Tom can be reached at tomchristmann.net. Gavin can be reached at [email protected]. And the whole thing is sponsored by Adhouse Advertising School (adhousenyc.com) where we are now shipping decks of our newest product Adhouse Of Cards - 35 techniques that will expand your thinking and improve your campaigns. And the best part is that all the proceeds go to the Adhouse Scholarship Program. Get your deck for just $20 (plus $3 shipping) at Adhousenyc.com/store.

Music by Ross Hopman at Duotone Audio Group.

Hello and welcome to the A-List, the podcast that asks the world’s top advertising professionals how they got started in the business. In this episode, host Tom Christmann talks with Danny Gregory.

Danny is the founder of Sketchbook Skool and the best-selling author of several books on creativity. But before all that he was in advertising. They talk about how Danny got in, but also how he got out to start his own business teaching people to get back to making art with Sketchbook Skool.

Danny’s story will take us from Pakistan to Pittsburgh to Princeton to Jimmy Carter’s White House and finally to the offices of trendspotter Faith Popcorn, where Danny got his start in the business. He would go on to work as a Group Creative Director at Ogilvy, Chief Creative Officer at Doremus and finally as an ecd and partner at McGarryBowen. But then a tragic accident would change his life forever and cause him to rediscover the power of art for finding meaning in life.

This episode is all about trusting in the universe to show you the way. So get out your sketchbook and doodle while you listen to a very illuminating conversation with Danny Gregory.

A-LIST LISTENER OFFER: 14-day free trial of Spark from Sketchbook Skool - click sketchbookskool.com/spark/?alist

Check out Danny's blog at dannygregory.com

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This episode brought to you by Adhouse Advertising School

ADHOUSE CLASSES START IN JUNE. APPLY BY MAY 15 AND GET $199 OFF. adhousenyc.com

In this episode of the A-List Podcast, Tom Christmann, creative for hire at tomchristmann.net and one of the Head Adnerds at Adhouse Advertising School, talks with one of the baddest women in advertising, Eva McCloskey.

Eva didn’t go to college, but that didn’t stop her from finding herself as a VIP media liaison for John Hancock at the Salt Lake City Olympics at the ripe old age of 21. Or becoming one of the founders of The Barbarian Group and a key part of Co:Collective in the early days. Oh, She also may or may not have been in the CIA at one point.

Today, Eva is the Managing Director at The Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts, an invite-only assembly of leading visual arts professionals from design, advertising and PR. You can request a membership or enter one of three award shows at AIVA.org.

Among the lessons in this one:

- Read a lot. It will teach you to write and think.

- Whatever you are doing, focus on doing good work and then talk passionately about it.

- Don't be afraid to mess up. Mistakes are never as big a deal as they seem at the time. But you can learn a lot from them.

- Go to the award shows and industry parties (virtual or otherwise) and mingle. Be nice to everyone. Have fun.

An inspiring story. Thanks for coming on Eva!

Hello Adnerd. This is the A-List Podcast. The podcast that asks the world’s top advertising professionals how they got started in the business. Your host is Tom Christmann, creative for hire at tomchristmann.net. And one of the Head Adnerds at Adhouse Advertising School. Today you’ll hear Tom's conversation with Sariah Dorbin, Executive Creative Director at Quigley-Simpson, an independent, female-owned agency in Los Angeles that unites brand and demand for results that matter.

Sariah found photography in high school, a passion that led to her becoming an adnerd pretty early on. She worked at some great agencies from back in the day. Adnerds will recognize Dancer Fitzgerald San Francisco and Della Femina LA. She finally got her dream job at Chiat Day Mojo, but sometimes achieving yourdreams isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. (There’s a reason they called it "Chiat Day and Night" back then.)

Sariah and Tom talk about interpreting feedback, the importance of guidance when you’re just starting out. And the three keys to a great book: (Be yourself. Have an attitude. And say something interesting.)

Oh and there’s a very funny story from Sariah’s Della Femina days involving a stripper. (The Mad Men era lasted well into the 80s and 90s.)

The A-List is brought to you by Adhouse Advertising School, where you get 10 weeks of Zoom instruction from a working creative pro for one low price. To apply, go to adhousenyc.com.

Music by Ross Hopman at Duotoneaudio.com

Welcome to another episode of The A-List Podcast, the podcast that asks the world’s top advertising professionals how they got started in the business. In this episode, Tom Christmann chats with Bianca Guimaraes, Executive Creative Director at Mischief.

Bianca was born and raised in Brazil and started her career in advertising in São Paulo at age 18. At 22, she bought her first pair of winter boots and moved to New York without a job, eventually finding a spot at JWT. 

Bianca has been featured in Business Insider’s list of the ‘30 Most Creative People in Advertising Under 30’ as well as AdWeek's Creative 100. She's been named among the 10 'Next Creative Leaders' by the One Show and the 3% Conference, as one of Shots Rising Stars. She was most recently featured on the AdAge 40 Under 40 list. Her work has been nominated as Outstanding Commercial at the Emmys twice.

Tom and Bianca talk about creating your own brand, taking chances and the future of independent agencies.

The A-List podcast is sponsored by Adhouse Advertising School. Apply today at Adhousenyc.com.

Please subscribe to our show wherever you listen and if you could leave a review, it would really help us reach more #adnerds.

Music by Ross Hopman at duotoneaudio.com.