i started a substack, too.
My mom: "if everyone is jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge, would you jump, too?" I guess the answer is yes?
I normally roll my eyes at trends, but here I am, starting a substack.
So why am I starting one? With all things with me, there are three reasons:
* Because I keep finding myself in rooms of powerful women, learning mind-blowing lessons. And I want to write them down, if only for myself to reference later.
* Because there are interesting things going on with branding and business and team development, and with my perspective as a former in-house marketing leader, certified executive coach, and now independent operator, I have a lot of thoughts.
* And because I met Gloria Steinem in 2015 and when I told her she inspired me to write, and then she asked me what I write, and all I could say was : bullshit marketing copy. She smiled and said something along the lines of “maybe you should change that.”
So this is me, trying to write a little more than bullshit marketing copy.
Why should you care what I have to say?
I’m a 41 year old woman in the NY metro area who married her high school sweetheart (seriously) and we became parents after being together for 23 years. An integrative doctor saved my life - so I often annoyingly give unprompted advice and supplement recommendations (everyone should be taking NeuroMag before bed). We have an all black Belgian Malinois named Augustus who I love very much. And we are happiest when hiking and vacationing in remote fishing villages.
I’ve worked with some of the top luxury and design brands in the world (Zenith Swiss Watch, PANTONE, Farrow & Ball, Henrybuilt) and proudly made some interesting ideas come to life. Like a flagship showroom in WeHo with totem poles instead of a color wall, for heritage British paint brand Farrow & Ball. And a dinner with Lewis Miller in a grimy park on the Lower East Side to celebrate flower flashes and wild-pasting campaign across the city during NYFW. That time I convinced Instagram to pay graffiti artists in different cities to throw up the new DOUBLE Colors of the Year 2016 and then stitched together this video because we needed that much more to convey the emotion behind this double pick. And Jason Wu Grey. And Minion Yellow. And and and.
Now, I’m working with brands in the design space (whether early stage challenger brands building something new for the right reasons - or legacy manufacturers who are ready to make a change), non profits (particularly those focused on women & children and the built environment), and individuals who need an experienced guide - whether to navigate new roles or how to get out of their current ones.
And every once in a while, I’ll throw in a recap of my Fun Friday adventures with my toddler daughter, Saoirse. Because life is worth living, and I’d rather spend it aimlessly walking around gardens than sitting in a cubicle. And I am able to do this, because of all the years I spent in said sad, gray, cubicles.
I don’t know if I’m doing this right, but here we are. Let me know if you are here, too.
