Mike Perry, Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Tavern, has built his career at the intersection of culture, sport, design, and brand storytelling. From early days sketching hockey logos to leading creative strategy for global brands, his journey reflects a deep belief that the strongest ideas come from understanding the culture surrounding a brand. Today, he remains closely involved in shaping strategy, design, and creative direction across the agency.

In this interview, Mike shares insights from his career path, the lessons that shaped his approach to creativity, and why he believes the industry should focus less on chasing trends and more on building meaningful, enduring brands. He also reflects on leadership, collaboration, and the mindset that helps creatives produce their best work.

Tell us a bit about your role! Is there a “typical” day?

There’s really no such thing as a typical day for me. Every day looks different depending on what projects are live and which clients we’re working with at the time.

I’m still very hands-on across the business, particularly when it comes to strategy and design. Some days I’m deep in the work with the team, shaping brand strategy, reviewing design, and pushing ideas forward. Other days I’m more client-facing, running workshops or working closely with partners to define the direction of a brand. It really depends on where we are in the process.

What is your personal background and what role did it play in your career?

From a young age I always knew I wanted to do something creative. I was obsessed with drawing old hockey logos and would even charge a dollar to monogram black leather binders and Trapper Keepers for classmates in middle school.

That early love of design led me to art school, where my interests really centered around music, sports, art, and culture. Those themes ended up shaping my entire career. I started working in sports at NBC Sports and later moved into the spirits industry, but even there the work often sits at the intersection of culture, music, art, and sports. In a lot of ways, the things I was interested in as a kid still show up in the work I do today.

What is your biggest career-related win? What is your biggest loss?

One of the biggest wins in my career was the pigeon campaign we created for New York City Football Club. The pigeon had always been this unofficial mascot among fans, so we leaned into it and turned it into a larger cultural moment. What started as a slightly absurd idea quickly took on a life of its own and became something the entire city seemed to embrace.

For me, it was a reminder that the best ideas often come from paying attention to the culture around a brand rather than trying to invent something completely new. When you tap into something people already love and amplify it in the right way, it can break through far beyond traditional marketing.

Which individuals and/or agencies do you gain inspiration from? Do you have any heroes in the industry?

It might sound a bit obvious, but David Ogilvy has been the biggest source of inspiration for me throughout my career. What I admire most about him is that he wasn’t just a great copywriter or creative thinker, he understood how to build and run an agency.

Ogilvy believed the work should be the engine for everything. The work brought in new business, taught the team what great looked like, and set the standard for the entire organization. That philosophy has always stuck with me. The best agencies aren’t built through process or positioning alone. They’re built through consistently great work and leaders who are deeply involved in creating it.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

Be patient. A great career takes time to build.

Early on, I was always trying to skip ahead to the ending. I knew I eventually wanted to start my own agency and I was impatient to get there. Looking back, working across many different environments, in-house, at studios, and at agencies, was incredibly valuable. Each place shaped how I think about brands, creativity, and running a business.

At the time I felt like I was moving too slowly, but in reality I was learning exactly what I needed to learn to eventually start Tavern.

If you weren’t in your current industry, what would you be doing?

I would absolutely be running a bar while trying to build a spirits brand on the side. I’ve always loved the world of hospitality and the culture that surrounds it. Bars are these incredible places where design, branding, storytelling, and community all come together in a very real way.

In many ways it’s not that different from what I do now. I’d still be thinking about how a brand feels, how it shows up in the world, and how you create something people genuinely want to gather around.

What’s your one big dream for the future of the industry?

My biggest hope for the industry, and honestly for culture more broadly, is that we get back to real life. We’ve become so focused on the internet and the endless churn of digital content that a lot of work now feels disposable and poorly considered.

The most powerful brands create things people can actually experience. Whether it’s a space, an event, a product, or a moment in the real world, those experiences stick with people in a way a social post never will. I’d love to see the industry move back toward creating things that exist beyond the screen.

What are your top tips for aspiring creative professionals?

One piece of advice I often give, both internally to my team and to younger creatives entering the industry, is simple: always solve the brief exactly as it was asked first.

Most creatives immediately want to reinterpret the brief or push their own agenda. There’s nothing wrong with that, but the first responsibility is to listen carefully and deliver the solution your client or creative director actually asked for, and do it well.

Then, once you’ve done that, bring your own thinking to the table. Show an alternative approach or a different way you believe the problem could be solved. It’s more work, but it demonstrates that you’re listening and respecting the direction while still contributing your own ideas. Showing both solutions is far more powerful than simply arguing for your perspective.

Do this and you will be the Creative Directors Pet ;)

How do you approach collaboration with other creatives or teams and what do you believe makes for successful partnerships?

We genuinely enjoy collaborating with other creative teams, especially when our clients have strong in-house design groups. Some of our best partnerships have come from working closely with those teams because they speak the same language and care deeply about the brand they’re stewarding every day.

When that kind of collaboration works well, it becomes much more of a creative partnership than a traditional client–agency relationship. Everyone is aligned around making the best work possible for the brand. A great example of this has been our work with Chick-fil-A. Their in-house design team is fantastic, and by working closely together we’ve been able to create work that likely wouldn’t have happened if we were operating separately. That level of trust and shared ownership tends to produce the best outcomes.

What industry trends do you foresee taking hold in the coming months?

Honestly, I hope fewer trends take hold.

We don’t believe in trends at all. Our philosophy is to put the brand at the center of everything you do. When you truly understand the brand, its history, its values, and its role in culture, the work becomes much more enduring. Trends tend to create short-term attention but very rarely build long-term brand value.

Our goal is always to create work that feels timeless rather than timely. If the industry can shift even a little bit away from chasing trends and back toward building meaningful brands, I think the work will be much stronger for it.

How do you prioritise self-care and maintain a healthy work-life balance?

I don’t really subscribe to the idea of strict work-life balance. I genuinely love what I do and I’m constantly thinking about brands, products, and ideas. In many ways that curiosity is part of what makes someone a great designer.

That said, I do believe that everything you experience outside of work should feed the work. The more you explore different interests, cultures, places, and ideas, the more source material you have to draw from creatively. Whether it’s travel, food, music, sports, or completely unrelated hobbies, those experiences shape how you think and ultimately make you a better designer.

For me, it’s less about separating work and life and more about letting the two continually inform each other.

How do you handle creative blocks or burnout?

There is no such thing as a creative block. Push harder. Look at the problem differently. Push thru the pain of not solving it.

Do you have any websites, books or resources you would recommend?

I tend to gravitate toward books that explore human behavior, persuasion, and creativity rather than traditional design books. Understanding why people think and act the way they do is incredibly valuable when building brands.

A few that have had a big impact on me are Linchpin and The Practice by Seth Godin, Alchemy by Rory Sutherland, Finite and Infinite Games by James P. Carse, Obvious Adams by Robert Updegraff, Start with Why by Simon Sinek, Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely, Pre-Suasion by Robert Cialdini, On Advertising by David Ogilvy, and The Illusion of Choice by Richard Shotton.

They’re not all design books, but they all help you better understand people. And ultimately, great brands are built around understanding people.