About me

Valerie Carlson is the Global Chief Creative Officer for Critical Mass.

Val is an avid storyteller with over 20 years of creative experience. She has worked across many disciplines, ranging among design, product, AR/VR, film, brand strategy, marketing, retail innovation, gaming, and applications for some of the world's biggest brands, such as FOX Entertainment, JP Morgan Chase, Coke, Microsoft, AT&T, Honda, Kraft, Treasury Wine Estates, Lululemon, and many others.

Prior to joining CM, Val was the ECD for Wunderman Thompson California, where she focused on digital transformation and loyalty experiences. Prior to that, she was the Global VP Creative at Method Products (People Against Dirty), where she led global creative and innovation for Method and Ecover brands. Before that, she was the Executive Creative Director at EVB, where she led work for the NBA, Facebook, Twitter, and Mamba Candy. She was also the Executive Creative Director, Global Innovation Lead at SapientNitro, where she led the AVATAR digital ecosystem for James Cameron's Lightstorm. Earlier in her career, Val held several top creative positions at Razorfish.

Val taught college-level graphic design at an engineering school for seven years before jumping into digital in 2000. It is her love for teaching that has helped her mentor and lead in an industry where it is hard for women to succeed. She is also an advocate for women's diversity and junior talent programs, leading them at several agencies over the years.

She has a huge passion for ecosystem connections, interface layer personalization, and the evolution of e-commerce. TWITCH, Minecraft, and old school games fascinate her, and she believes mixed reality, streaming and experiential models can unlock solutions to business problems in ways that traditional marketers haven't tapped into yet. She holds a Bachelor of Science from Bradley University.