SVP, STRATEGY - hero collective
OCT 2021 - FEB 2024
I got to help build and grow an agency into one of the fastest growing Black-owned agencies in America by helping it find its feet in strategy.
Founding and then leading the strategy department through periods of uncertainty and rapid growth.
Working across the Hero Group of agencies as part of the senior leadership team to build and mentor teams, drive and guide agency growth,
and inspire culturally compelling, breakthrough creative work.
Across brand, social, experiential and broadcast.
Select clients: Nike, Jordan Brand, Twitter, SC30 (Stephen Curry) Inc, Google Pixel, Lenovo, Diageo
Leadership of creatively compelling, actionable and culture-forward brand strategy for campaigns big or small, including:
Built Steph Curry’s SC30/Thirty Ink brand vision and strategy from the ground up, launching its purpose-led platform to ‘Elevate the Under’ to unify their expanding ecosystem of businesses, partners and philanthropy for the future
Elevated Lenovo’s North American brand presence with culture-forward, partner-driven engagement for a premium-purchasing Gen Z audience that helped sustain YOY PC growth of 20% in a crunched marketplace
Shepherded a shift for Nike Jordan’s ‘beyond’ platform in global content strategy to maintain its relevance for a new generation
Helped Twitter find its voice in the way it connected with marginalized voices on its platform
Changed the way we do strategy work.
Established agency POV on culture as key to deep and sustainable brand engagement, and built a ‘Hero-flavored’ process for the role of the strategy department in contributing to this vision
Helped teams navigate periods of uncertainty and rapid growth, from agency counsel and cross-department mentorship to best practices in defining and scoping strategy as integrated offering
Enhanced and elevated thought leadership through proprietary trend reports and external communications, surpassing agency benchmarks for comms engagement and new business lead acquisition
VP, DIRECTOR STRATEGY - DIGITAS
jul 2014 - sep 2021
Partnered with clients to establish and augment their consumer marketing strategy, and built work that encourages them to step out of their traditional comfort zone. From social-first sexual health education campaigns on tumblr/ snapchat, to broadcast TV campaigns that helped reduce new incidence of HIV (and as a personal highlight the ad got a shoutout from Sheryl Lee Ralph one of my childhood heroes)
Research, analysis and concise interpretation of cultural trends, consumer research and data to drive effective, evidence-based insight. From ethnography with ballroom families in Chicago to focus groups on sex and intimacy after menopause
Mentorship and management of strategy team, in addition to upskilling of brand/comms strategy and cultural competency across agency
Additional agency focus on best practices in LGBTQ marketing and maximizing diversity of perspective and fostering inclusion, within work and within agency. From campaigns advocating for Title VII of the Civil Rights Act to developing a curriculum on sex-positive communication for clients
SENIOR WRITER - PUBLICIS LIFE BRANDS
SEP 2013 - JUL 2014, NEW YORK, NY
MANAGER, STRATEGY - LANGLAND
JAN 2010 - SEP 2013, LONDON, UK
Education & other EXPERIENCE
2023-4 NYU Guest lecturer
Innovations in Marketing
Recurring guest lecturer in Department of Media, Culture & Communication, examining the role of cultural relevance in contemporary brand strategy within the Innovations in Marketing course; consistently one of the best reviewed courses within the department.
2023 Next Gen Mentor
3AF/Asians in Advertising
Mentor within the 2023 cohort of brand strategy track of NextGen mentorship program, aimed at nurturing emerging AAPI leaders in marketing, advertising, and creativity.
Clare College,
University of Cambridge ,
MA (Hons) Natural Sciences
2006 - 2009, Cambridge, UK
Majored in Virology, but learned a lot across the spectrum; from effective public health policy in combating emerging pandemics to cognitive dissonance in behavioral psychology (e.g. how do you get people to fall in love with something/someone) to the evolutionary genetics of heads and tails.