Tell us a bit about your role! Is there a “typical” day?
My days are incredibly diverse, spinning multiple plates at any given time. I think the only typical moment within my day is drinking coffee. I could be writing briefs, reviewing creative work, and meeting with external suppliers one day, and then budget planning, having debates with my VP of Marketing, travelling to see the Lysol brand in local markets, and strategizing for the future another.
Sometimes it’s working into the detail, other times it’s looking at the bigger picture. But most of the time is spent in project discussions with colleagues in local markets who are having different challenges, all viewed through the lens of brand experience.
What was the biggest challenge in getting to your current position?
The decision-making process of: “Should I stay working within the creative agency network or go client-side?”.
After 25 years in the creative industry, I needed to try something new and something that scared me a little. I had never worked client-side before, let alone for a big global corporate like Reckitt. But doing things that scare you is a good thing.
It challenges your perceptions, enables you to be stretched, and helps you to become a more well-rounded person, creative individual, and a much more empathetic leader.
What is your personal background and what role did it play in your career?
Being from Halifax (a small Northern town), it helped me to stay grounded and humble. I am incredibly thankful for the encouragement and support of my parents. However, you must work hard to get where you want to be in life.
Being a Yorkshireman instilled in me the appetite to experience the world and to embrace every opportunity life gives you. This has led onto a diverse career within different agency cultures, in various locations – all of which have collectively shaped how I like to think and work.
I still embody the mantra from my days at Saatchi & Saatchi in London: ‘Nothing is impossible’.
What is your biggest career-related win? What is your biggest loss?
My biggest win is DOPA (The Department of Pro-Activeness), the podcast platform I designed, host and produce to help fuel conversations around creative wellness.
It’s aimed at anyone working within the creative industry. A completely self-initiated project that was born out of some tough professional circumstances, it gave me a renewed sense of self-confidence and self-belief. It also went on to pick up three global design awards for branding, which was a nice little cherry on top of the cake.
Biggest loss? Not being able to meet George Michael in person whilst working on the campaign for the re-release of his seminal album ‘Listen without Prejudice’.
Which individuals and/or agencies do you gain inspiration from? Do you have any heroes in the industry?
Too many to mention, but I’d call out Vince Frost, Jessica Walsh, Paula Scher, and Dieter Rams as individuals. Then Johnson Banks and Collins as agencies creating new and innovative work.
However, whilst we all have individuals’ and agencies’ work we admire, I strongly believe that if we are all looking for inspiration in the same places, then the work will end up becoming vanilla. We need to look beyond design to gain true inspiration.
Read something different, watch something you wouldn’t usually watch, get inspired from alternative sources. It’s a big world out there.
If you could go back to your teenage years, would you have done things differently?
Do you have any regrets?
I would have fully embraced the iconic era of the 80s more. So much good music, cultural references and design cues that have been used in beautiful ways recently, like in Stranger Things and Cobra Kai.
Only regret: I never owned a Raleigh MK1 Turf Burner BMX.
If you weren’t in your current industry, what would you be doing?
I’d like to think that I’d be playing jazz piano somewhere in a bar in New Orleans, or on tour. But in reality, my jazz piano skills are not that good. I do play piano but the discipline of studying jazz piano is a lifelong pursuit.
I used to walk through the arches of the old Jacob Kramer college buildings in Leeds just to listen and get inspired by the free lunchtime jazz as the musicians practised.
What’s your one big dream for the future of the industry?
To be more open, accessible, and inclusive. To enable people with talent (whatever their background, class, race, financial status etc) to have equal opportunities within the industry. The D&AD Shift Programme is a perfect example of this. Imagine if all universities and creative agencies had the same approach to this issue.
I also think we need to be using design thinking to solve some of the biggest problems on the planet. Life is too short to just think about logos, branding and distinctive assets. How can we use design for good and change the world for the better?
What are your top tips for aspiring creative professionals?
- Don’t give up, always persevere.
- Don’t be afraid to ask for help and advice along the way.
- Work hard, listen, and embrace every opportunity to learn something new – even if it feels uncomfortable.
What are your top tips for other creative leaders?
- Be your true authentic self. Don’t play political games.
- We are all human, which means we don’t always get it right.
- It’s okay to be real, vulnerable, and honest.
I believe these values are the currency of the day and the markers of true entrepreneurial leadership.
When you think about your team, what is the thing that matters to you the most?
What I value most is having open conversations. We spend a lot of time at work, talking about work, and doing the work. But how often so we take the time to see how people really are, what’s going on in their life. Having those candid conversations, checking in with everyone, those are the most precious interactions.
Do you have any websites, books or resources you would recommend?
Of course, everyone does. However, I’d rather think about it in these terms. Be a sponge. Soak up information from a diverse pool of resources around you. Get offline and off screen – re-engage with the delights of physical things and printed matter. You never know when you might need it.
