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Our Favorite Stories

• Alec's journey as the "Photoshop kid" at Grey Entertainment, helping build the Batman movie's first website.
• His reflections on surviving the Web 1.0 era and the exciting chaos of startups in 1990s New York.
• Using virtual reality for healthcare. Talk about ahead of the curve! Alec tells us about a 1993 college paper he wrote at Columbia on VR as a treatment for schizophrenia.

Big Moments from Doing the Work

• Alec's transition from startups to healthcare advertising, driven by his desire for stability after his daughter’s birth.
• Leading engagement strategy at Area 23 and Neon, crafting human-centered storytelling for pharmaceutical clients.
• Exploring the potential of AI tools like MidJourney and Leonardo.ai for creating impactful healthcare narratives.

Career Advice We’ll Live With

• Embrace storytelling non-linearly; start with the compelling "hook" and let context follow.
• Use new technologies as creative extensions, not replacements, to enhance ideation and storytelling efficiency.
• Stay curious and connected: Participate in communities (like MidJourney’s Discord) and actively seek inspiration from creators and innovators.
• Balance passion with teaching—spread your enthusiasm to inspire and uplift others in your field.

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Our favorite stories: 

• From record label & photography studio to ad agency; shaping incredible brands like Lollapalooza and Pitchfork to now Kimberly-Clark and Patagonia
• Renting a $700/month, 2,000 sq ft industrial space to make band posters & album art, produce music, and photograph musicians. 
• Creating Someoddpilot at 25 - "the gusto, the sincerity, the sureness even though I had no idea what I was doing" 
• "I'm the kid that walked out of art school and wanted to keep that feel going... of critique, of discovery... that's the dream. That's why artists are artists." 
• The record label was still going but it wasn't working and making money, I considered it a failure. But looking back it was exactly what I should be doing, what I loved doing. 
• "I never wanted to web design, it was just a giant door for us to walk through in 1999." 
• Launching the Public Works gallery

Big moments from doing the work: 

• "I had shown artwork in galleries when I graduated college and thought that was the end all be all... once I had a chance to experience that, and contrast with band shows, and feel the palpable difference of what it was like to be in those environments, it got me thinking that there were other ways to apply my skills... the camaraderie... the art gang that can laugh and pal around and make work, and get excited about something..." 
• Making a better website for The Empty Bottle and charting a rebrand. T-shirts, flyers, and digital for $3,000 of bar tabs. 
• "Pitchfork were the only ones who got up five days a week and published 3 articles by 9am" - sending records to Pitchfork and getting an in with the intern up the street. "They do websites too!" 
• An age-old problem: "I have a legacy brand with a generation of users that treasure and love what we're doing but we need to modernize and bring it forward to the future, expand what it can be, mean something to a new consumer, but not lose the thread on the old" 

Career advice we'll live with: 

• "I've always been a Straight-A student that had a bad mouth... I've always felt  good about expressing very honestly and very vulnerably... there's something about cursing or speaking as yourself." 
• "You didn't know what you were doing... there's no course at that age to explain diplomatic or democratic creative decision making... "
• "I didn't know what graphic design was but I knew I needed to make this flyer." 
• On getting a foot in the door: "How do you get half your body stuck in the door screaming your head off. Even if you know someone, they don't always know." 
• "Game of Thrones is a great example of a creative property that should be for nerds only. By definition it should be for DnD nerds, but what ended up happening is that everyone in the world loved that show because it was so well done, and the story was so rich."
• "You aren't going to pull the wool over anyone's eyes... who you are and the mythology around the work you are doing... it's not going to come from any briefs or approaches, that's going to come from a badass dedication to the heart and soul of what this business is, and going out in the world and communicating it in a way that turns heads, and inspires the shit out of people." - making a friend for life. 

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Our favorite stories: 

• Mass media shaped by sight-sound imagery, inspired by watching a ton of TV and critiquing the commercials as much as watching the programming. Recalling jingles, surgery cartoons, GEICO ads...
• On trying research journalism - "something just wasn't clicking, it felt like it drained me of energy." 
• Part time restaurant job and appliance & repair parts marketing... the perfect recipe for becoming the future Head of Strategy at Sid Lee? JK - it helped with learning how to relate with people. (KEY SKILL) 

Big moments from doing the work: 

• Originally applied to VCU for copywriting, but was identified as a strategist. Found mentorship in Earl Cox, late CSO of The Martin Agency
• On trust and taste: critical ingredients for a successful collaboration between strategy and creative. "you have to figure out the references that connect with them... but do not be the Judge Judy in the room" 
• On working with younger creatives: "get them into the habit of explaining their rationale... it makes for more fruitful working relationships." 
• Bringing together a high-velocity team: hiring for the right skills, but also leaving room for individuals to surpass their own expectations for themselves. 
• "I like seeing people's faces" - Earl Cox was great at taking a room and working it... reading it and regurgitating it... 

Career advice we'll live with: 

• On imposter syndrome: "Find people who are going to be your advocates... if you have someone accomplished that thinks you can do XYZ, maybe you can!" 
• Jargon Monoxide creates a fall sense of competence... folks from non-traditional marketing backgrounds have these razor-sharp minds but don't have that marketing-ese... Cardi B is a brilliant marketer but she does NOT sound like the people I'm in meetings with
•  "I love a From > To" - the more honest you are with that, the more provocative... that is always a money maker... when you can capture the mood of the clients, in addition to their ambition... reshape it in a way that gets people excited to hear what you have to say.
• On setting a vision for success: "all strategy is to get people to take the time to align on where we're going"
• "An informed opinion delivered with conviction delivers hope." On helping people find their own 'lightbulb moment'. 
• "Rigidity is the pitfall of strategy... overconfidence, over complication, too 'inside baseball'... those are all off-ramps." 
• "If I don't understand this, there's no way the consumer will understand it."

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Our favorite stories: 

• Trained as an industrial designer (furniture or automotive) but later found advertising
• Global experience from Japan to France to The UK to NYC 
• Horizontal education style and curiosity led to scores of career pivots
• A lot of interviews, and because of the duality of my experiences, someone would tell me you're too much of this but not enough of this... Until I found a place that accepted me for me and service both sides of my experience: product and advertising - what they've done in the past hasn't worked and they are ready to try something new. 
• On Wells Fargo - multiple signs pointing to potential success; leadership, resources, talent scoping...

Big moments from doing the work: 

• Required reading: Banking on Joy
• Covid-inspired: "there is no real safety-net, so if you lose your job, you're on your own... the anxiety level is enormous." - The idea of avoiding banking in personal life leading to the the insight that, banks are big, people are small. 
• On researching Financial Services user journeys: looking at sports, dieting, cancer... where things are long and difficult, and easy to give up. 
• Helping consumers feel like banking is attainable...like they're in control... valuable, empowered, confident - all emotional things. 

Career advice we'll live with: 

• "In banking, people come from other banks so you're inherently different" - on confidence and knowing what you bring to the table - especially as an introvert 
• "I grew up in a very international background... school... you have to make friends quickly, you have to learn the set of rules of the space you're in..." 
• "For many years I tried to blend in and adjust to the environment, but there was a moment fairly recently that... I decided I didn't want to blend in anymore, this is me." 

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"If you got one foot in tomorrow and one foot in yesterday, then you're squattin' on today." - Brian's grandma

Our favorite stories: 

• 3x author, professor, and agency chief turned clinical therapist 
• Over 20 years in China leading perhaps the most storied industry-shaper J. Walter Thompson on accounts like Kraft, Nike, and Microsoft. 
• There was a lot of proud when you saw your work up there... there was a lot of social cache. Investment banking was a big thing and consulting was too, but there was no shame in saying "I went to a business school and went into advertising." 
• "There was never a CMO... the relationship between agency and client was taken very seriously. Agency reviews were meant to consolidate relationships instead of cracking open fissures that might be helping in reducing fees." 
• On moving to China: "You could tell very quickly who was going to thrive... I came in and was immediately moved by the aspirational sparkle in their eyes... the willingness to absorb information..." 

Big moments from doing the work: 

• "There was tremendous focus on strategy and creative as the center of gravity... Leo Burnett and JWT had review boards making sure the leadership of the agency was collectively endorsing what was going on. There was no question the decision making was not focused on media." 
• "I helped launch Lunchables... the marketing head and I were very good friends and I knew his family and we went to multiple football games... cookouts... that relationship was particularly warm but not unheard of at the time." 
• "Living in the lanes... not a high rise where the ex-pats were... once you learn the language (Chinese), it gives you insight into how the Chinese view their relationship between the individual and society and the cosmos..."

Career advice we'll live with: 

• People are very frightened about digital technology. The people who have command over the digital ecosystem are the new aspirational characters in the industry.
• Down-funnel: a shift in the center of gravity; those who could understand and could harness the power of data vs ideas. Ideas were left by the wayside. 
• "Clearly there are areas in communication communities that are still brand-centric. The question that I have is, whether people that are part of these part of these functions are ultimately going to scale the ladders of the power structure." 
• Ask yourself, where can I feel most at home? 
• The fundamentals of what a good insight is... what a good brand purpose is -- these are not being taught, in fact they are being slightly ridiculed. You fall back on brand guide books that are overly prescriptive. 

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Our favorite stories: 

• "I started Bakery when I was 27... I didn't know how to do anything but I thought I knew how to do everything better than everyone else."
• "If you're from a place like the Dominican Republic, you're surviving... there's very few career tracks. You have a main career and a lot of side (hustles)."
• "Once puberty hits... I was out there tagging walls... and then I had a mentor." 
• "This is the passion of my life, working with people who are way more talented than I'll ever be." 
• "As an immigrant kid, you feel like there are these gatekeeping moments. Like that's not for you, and then you get into it, and people want your opinion..." 
• "Having great people in this industry, with nothing in return, give their time to someone that they don't know... it honestly makes you very humble, it makes you understand this is a give-back industry..." 

Big moments from doing the work: 

• Launching BioWare / EA Games - "it was like a school I never had"
• From :30s at a time to an industry that keeps people's attention for 200 hours at a time
• Failed multiple times - Bakery went out of business 4x - "I had to reinvent myself and the agency." 
• "...Decidedly an old school place. I wanted it to be a creative hub... like the agencies I grew up idolizing. Less digital, less data-driven... boring the crap out of me. Vaporware." 
• Starting KEN media with Shiner Beer AOR - a great example of clients giving you opportunity to grow. "I wish this kind of relationship on any agency. We use the word Partner so often... when I say partnership, they are on my mind. We are both in for the benefit of our people." 

Career advice we'll live with: 

• "Please stay dumb and curious"
• "I'll out-work anyone in any room I'm in. That's the super power..."
• Moving from survival to thriving model of thinking - "...we're in a Renaissance of indie agencies... there is something to be said about the agility afforded to you by independence." 
• "Capitalism never sleeps. Every time the checks have more 0's on them... as an immigrant to this country, the idea of the US is to make it. You have to come to terms with what that means to you." 
• "There was a pitch floating around... I want to do this just to see all the things we need to fix. If Bakery took off at this rate [like KEN], I'd be calling you from Air Force Bakery." 
• "I believe in know what you're good at and what you're not good at, and letting people do what they're good at." 
• "Watch Canada."

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Theo Gibson, ECD of Joan Creative and visual artist Bank Moody, joins us from Joan's NYC office to share his Jedi-like wisdom around authentic artistic creation, and how it has served him during an award-winning advertising career, from his early days building a creative community in Toronto, Canada, to his current role and life in NYC.

Our favorite stories: 

• How a friend's words, "sketchbook Theo is the best Theo," reminded him to re-prioritize making art with his hands
• Intentionally curating your own inspiration; "our experiences shouldn't just stay with us" 
• Being a horror buff and Theo's favorite quote (and solid advice) from "Hellraiser"

Big moments from doing the work: 

• Learning how to and the value of picking your agencies even as agencies are picking you
• Straddling/pushing the line of safety to make good work
• While others are focused on RTBs, KPIs, etc. focus on making the work resonate with those who are watching

Career advice we'll live with: 

• Your own essence will inform the work better than the industry standard
• If you haven't made anything in 2 years, it's on you, not the agency
• Never think of it as a performance

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This episode, we sit down with Lameya Chaudhury, the driving force behind social impact at Lucky Generals, the UK-based advertising agency known for work that doesn't just resonate—it challenges perceptions and drives meaningful change.

With over 15 years of experience connecting brands to their communities, Lameya shares her journey of being curiosity-led, collecting mentors, and helping brands align their actions with their words.

Our favorite stories:

• Making a complicated topic simple and working with an oil-drinking national treasure for Make My Money Matter with "Oblivia Colemine" (Olivia Coleman)
• Matchmaking client partners e.g. The British Army + The Black Curriculum, educational partnership
• The difference between UK and US cultures in business and social impact

Big moments from doing the work:

• Getting brands to be brave, invest robustly, and have receipts 
• The value of forging relationships and partners within an industry where a Head of Social Impact has few to no peers
• Navigating the stages of a client relationship 

Career advice we'll live with:

• The benefits of curating a curiosity-led career
• "Never stay in my own lane"
• How can we make social impact "a core component of the brand platform, not an addition?"
• Collect mentors everywhere you can

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Multi-hyphenate creative legend JoRoan Lazaro, ECD of Experience.Monks joins us to talk all things emerging technology, career lifecycles, and getting his start AOL in a time when UX design was still a nascent discipline.

Our favorite stories:

• One of the odd birds in both product design and brand communications
• Going against the grain: started in client-side and transitioned to agency
• "Instead of choosing one major I chose three. Computer science, psychology, and art - it didn't make sense at the time. It goes back to the Asian experience because you're afraid to tell your parents that... I want to do art..." 

Big moments from doing the work:

• "One of the first things I did was the actual concept of the yellow running guy with a pencil... the idea was an easily identifiable icon or visual." - it changed how people use technology and helped usher in social
• "There was no usability testing. We just did it." 
• "In general, I already know all the questions I want to ask, but I'm always still really really surprised when I land."
• Pitching: receiving a standing ovation but losing the pitch. It is about relationships and it is about chemistry. There's just so much you don't know.

Career advice we'll live with: 

• Financial safety-net to take risks; "if I don't like it, I could always move again." 
• "Nothing replaces doing it."
• "A little bit of luck, a little bit of bravery" - the idea of working in a space that is deeply unsexy to designers, but makes a gigantic difference for every day people. 
• "The following your passion sounds really obvious but it makes more sense the older you get, because if you are doing something you are deeply interested in, you're gonna stick with it and work hard, and that's important for longevity." 
• "The contact in America is... you have a job. They will pay you for the work you are supposed to be doing. Everything else is up to us to make great or wonderful... nothing is entitled." 

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