"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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Suzie Bao, IW Group's new VP Account Director for McDonald's stopped by the Bad Pod to talk about...

• Joy work; engaging career growth and creativity with a focus on multicultural representation
• Lessons on finding mentorship early and often; the courage it takes to embrace people willing to tell you what you are bad at
• Accelerating and championing Asians in Advertising, a non profit organization dedicated to elevating traditionally overlooked voices and faces.
• Superpower: being a “fixer” and “client whisperer” — someone who packages an idea in a way that will get it across the finish line
• “It’s so nice to not be the only. I collaborate with clients that want to be a cultural icon.”
• Virtually every brand wants to capture the Gen Z audience. To them, multicultural marketing IS marketing.
• Learning by osmosis: "I know how to be an Account person. I’m NOT a strategist, so how can I become more strategist? I hang out with Strategists. I'm NOT a creative, so I hang out with creatives. I rather be around what I cannot do for a living."
• “Account is a thankless role and people often don’t fully appreciate it until I leave”

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You'll be glad you caught this one. Matt Johnson has paved his ad career as a strategist and now agency founder with determination, humility, and of, course, a heaping helping of creativity. He cut his teeth at some of the most iconic names in LA advertising; Goodby, 72&Sunny, 180LA, and now Haymaker

Matt tells us about sharing an alma mater with Dan Weiden and “growing up” in his career path alongside the rise of Jordan in the ‘80s when, for the first time, a single athlete was defining the culture of sports and beyond.

Episode Quotes:

• Almost leaving advertising: “when you’re a competitive person, and a really hard worker, advertising is really easy to get sucked up into because it’s such a tough business and demands a competitive fire.”
• “There’s never an end to the work… you could go forever.”
• "Strategy IS creative." Say it back.
• On new business: “Hire the partner not the idea”
• On modeling the agency: "Haymaker is a reflection of the founders’ partnership and friendship"
• Industry friction/ truth: “Not everyone can eat a Creative Idea”
• On life: “I found my way into opportunity and listened.”

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• Introducing our guest all the way from Lincoln, Nebraska… Clint Runge, CEO & Founder of Archrival!
• Turns out, advertising was a second chapter for Clint, who actually started out in architecture and design.
• Archrival is a youth culture agency setting out to reinvent how brands with the hearts and minds of young adults, teens to twenty-somethings.
• Clint and his team of 65 have worked with brands like Spotify, Adidas, and Epic Games, and they aren’t slowing down.
• “Rewriting the Ten Z playbook” - Vogue, March 2024
• Gen Z is breaking the traditional marketing funnel, moving away from a top-down broadcast model towards a bottom-up, grassroots approach to building brand identity
• We chat about the job search, career satisfaction, creativity vs creativity management

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