The Experts
Meet the 15 experts whose stories we hear in the book.
“Business is about selling more of something we sold last year. Creatives are the ones who first start asking the questions in order to discover what’s next.”
— Adrian Nyman, Chief of Brand at the global electric vehicle company Arrival, former Vice President and Creative Director for Nike's Sportswear division.
“You can be lighthearted, have a personality, be human and still run a big, impactful business – you don’t need to lose yourself in the corporate identity.”
— Alex Bec, Co-founder of creative media company It’s Nice That.
“I think we should be more open about the hardships we face and the pitfalls we have to conquer during our careers. Success is rarely a linear line.”
— Artwell Nwaila, Head of Creative at Google in South Africa.
“To feel seen is always empowering. For someone to make space for you and not cast you out, even if you have a bad idea, is empowering.”
— Fri Forjindam, Chief Development Officer and Executive Creative Director for the entertainment development company Mycotoo.
“Innovation by my definition is a solution to a problem. The more diversity there is in an organization, the more diverse problems the business can discover and solve.”
— Maria Mazzone, Managing Director at Innovation Accenture.
“It’s very hard for someone to believe in you if you don’t believe in yourself first. There are many people who have supported me, but I was the one who supported me the most.”
— Merlee Jayme, Advertising mogul and entrepreneur.
“A creative workplace is a safe environment where one doesn’t feel unsafe to have dangerous ideas.”
— Natasha Romariz Maasri, Executive Creative Director at the ad agency Leo Burnett in Beirut.
“Part of being a creative company is not to have a homogeneous culture or definition of creativity.”
— Nick Law, Global Lead, Design & Creative Technology at Accenture Interactive.
“The power all creative minds have is the ability to make the world better. Every decision I make, I can make a change.”
— Nicola Mansfield, One of Australia's leading business change-makers and strategic creative thinkers.
“People who are special are people who are caring, keep promises, expose vulnerability and take responsibility.”
— Nicole Yershon, Founder of Ogilvy Digital Innovation Labs and NY Collective.
“Feeling like an imposter has been a helpful part of my career. I acknowledge that where the most exciting things happen, a disaster could follow.”
— Rob Campbell, CSO at Colenso BBDO.
“I want to be the toughest and the nicest person in the room. It means that you have to make the toughest decisions, while still being nice to people.”
— Ruchi Sharma, Global leader at agency networks including FCB, Ogilvy, BBDO, Young & Rubicam, MullenLowe, and Saatchi & Saatchi.
“The most important thing for anyone leading creativity is to demonstrate an appetite for risk – not a crazy risk but a calculated risk.”
— Steve Clayton, Vice President of the Global Public Affairs team at Microsoft.
“The best creative ideas don’t necessarily come from someone with the word ‘creative’ on their business card. Everyone needs to feel their ideas matter.”
— Ted Lim, One of Asia’s most reputable advertising executives.
“We should take huge risks of employing strange people.”
— Tom Goodwin, Co-founder of the consultancy All We Have Is Now.