Let's Bring It In: Discussions with In-House Creative Leaders

Head of the Creative Lab at Spotify, Kay Hsu talks about curiosity, entrepreneurship, and diversity. And by the end of the episode, you'll be googling "Ice Festival Harbin China."

A few weeks ago, some of the industry's best creative minds gathered in Scottsdale, Arizona, for The One Club Creative Leaders Retreat. Among them was Mollie Wilkie, Senior Global Creative Director at Hasbro, who took the stage to share her insights. In this episode, Mollie breaks down the key lessons from her presentation, what she took away from the event, and how creative leaders can drive...

Julia Melle, Director of Brand and Content at Southwest Airlines, shares what she’s learned stepping from the agency world into a brand she already knew (and loved). We talk about the power of influencers, why customers trust them more than brands, the difference between balance and finding windows , and the rigor of truly taking care of your people. Plus, why she and her team are just getting sta...

Ginny Golden is the Executive Creative Director at YETI, AdAge's 2024 In-house Agency of the Year. In this episode, she talks about gaining trust as a leader, the difference between execution-led and idea-led cultures, and why the Camino tote is her go-to YETI product. She also generously shares her experiences integrating family planning into her career. And how a sabbatical led to six months...

Michael Lentz is an Art Director and Creative Lead at NASA. On his studio wall are the following framed albums: U2 - The Unforgetable Fire Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams The Police - Ghost in the Machine David Bowie - Diamond Dogs , 1. Outside , Black Star , Heroes , and Low Laurie Anderson - Home of the Brave The Cure - Standing on the Beach Siouxsie & the Banshees - Tinderbox , and Peep Show Love and...

Creator of BMW Films. Former ECD of Fallon. Partner of a Civil War-era mill that makes blankets. And current ECD of Best Buy. Bruce Bildsten is a really interesting guy. Hear what he has to say about Best Buy's new production facility, how marketing people jump around within their discipline, and how Dan Wieden created the Titanium Lion. We also talk a bit about skiing.

Duo on Ice. Crafting a sword from Valyrian steel. And a Super Bowl commercial with an owl coming out of another owl’s butt. These are just a few of the efforts that make Duolingo more than another language learning app. James Kuczynski, Creative Director of Brand and Marketing tells us all about them.

Quit your job and travel while freelancing. Stop making decks and start presenting your ideas in Word docs only. Learn to be smart and dumb at the same time. Start an ultra running podcast that makes fun of ultra running podcasts. These are just a few of the how-tos you’ll hear in this episode with Andy Pearson, VP of Creative at Liquid Death.

After two decades at creative powerhouse GSD&M, Ray Longoria’s freelance career took him to a number of in-house agencies, including a 5-year stint as the execuitve creative director at Charles Schwab. In this episode, Ray talks about the importance of working with clients who have a purpose and why going in-house is no longer Plan B for creatives. You can see Ray’s work at  raylongoria.com .

Chris Ryan George is Senior Creative Director of two pro sports teams in two different leagues - the NBA's Utah Jazz and the NHL's Utah Hockey Club, just starting their inaugural season. If you like sports and you like advertising, design, and marketing, this episode's for you.

Annie Castellano is Head of Brand & Agency at financial services giant Edward Jones. She talks about working in a culture where they say “yes,” what it means to “quantify the squeeze,” and how to show ROI to the CEO and other executive leaders.

Will Chau is the Vice President of Creative and Design at Whole Foods Market, where he leads a 50-person team responsible for all creative work, including advertising, design, and packaging for both Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh. Prior to this role, he was a Creative Director at GSD&M, crafting award-winning campaigns for clients like BMW and Southwest Airlines. He also founded The Austin Creat...

Kevin Lynch talks about his in-house work at Oatly and the Shanghai American School. He’s been the ECD of BBDO South China and is currently the proprietor of The Wrong Agency. In this episode, Kevin talks about the difference between selling t-shirts and selling conversation, how the Oatly Department of Mind Control doesn’t fit on an org chart, and why he’s never had an alarm clock.

Amanda Butts leads over 80 creatives across multi-brands for Elevance Health. This Blue Angels-laced episode was recording during the Chicago Air & Water Show and you'll hear Amanda's house get buzzed a few times early on in the interview. But you'll still be able to hear Amanda talk about her apprehension about leaving the traditional agency world and how that's panned out, el...

Matt Bijarchi is an award-winning producer and former assistant to Rich Silverstein and Jeff Goodby. Now he runs Blend, a creative production company (check out weareblend.la). He describes Blend as a "white label in-house agency for brands." In this episode, you'll hear Matt explain why relationships matter, and how to close the gap between marketers and makers.

Mollie Wilkie is Global Creative Director at Hasbro. Before that, she spent 10 years as an in-house creative director for the NFL. In this episode she discusses the difference between both in-house creative departments, how individual NFL teams use the League for creative, why in-house talent worked for Nerf, how to take the subjectivity out of creative reviews.

Michael Dhalliwal, Director of Brand Creative & Content at Topgolf discusses maintaining creative integrity on the client side and loving the brand you work on. Michael was born and raised in San Diego, got his advertising degree from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, then got a job at The Richards Group and moved to Dallas. After a couple of years, he left to be the internal copywrite...

Jim Bosiljevac, former ECD of Yahoo! and current professor at the University of Texas Austin discusses in-house leadership, culture, and the importance of red shoes.

Teaser for the Let's Bring It In Podcast - discussion with in-house creative leaders. A production of Barnes Creative Bank.