Strands of Genius: Have you gotten career crusty?, The dreamiest resource for AAPI visibility, and Research, but make it Ali Wong dope

Guest curated by Sean Choi

Jun 23, 2022

:: A BIT MORE ABOUT GUEST CURATOR, SEAN CHOI ::

LOCATION: Brooklyn, NY, USA

PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT: The Martin Agency

I’m a Myer-Briggs ENFJ-A. Or a Type 3 Wing 2/7 for you Enneagram folk. Perhaps, Pisces/Taurus/Libra for the Astrology fiends? More so, I’m a proud Korean-American who’s spent a lifetime being the choice outlier. Today, I tap into that superpower as a culture-mongering strategist and people investor at 2x AOY The Martin Agency. Most importantly, I’m forever a Stan of Rosie and Faris.

Editor’s Note (Team Genius Steals): How did we meet Sean?! I don’t know. Despite not remembering the specifics of our introduction, we remember the amazing tools he provides, his intellect, and his top knot. Sean is one of those strategists who knows about the theory AND execution. He looks into the background of problems but also is pragmatic in the preventions. We haven’t gotten to hug him in real life (yet!) but we’re very much looking forward to this happening one day. Thanks, Sean!

:: THE LINKS ::

HAVE YOU GOTTEN CAREER CRUSTY?

The further we get into our careers, the more we expect others to assimilate to our work styles. Considering how much time we spend with our coworkers, these relationships are rather neglected. The concept of user manuals for employees can offer the clarity, chemistry, and cutting of tension that we didn’t realize we needed. For a recent ERG workshop, I expanded more on these employee user manuals in relation to the cultural differences and challenges AAPI face in the workplace. Check it out! (Sean Choi)

THE DREAMIEST RESOURCE FOR AAPI VISIBILITY

API immigrants came here for the economic opportunity of the American Dream. The AAPI Dream differs as the next generation now has access to viable creative careers. But for us, it’s hard to aspire to this new dream when 42% of Americans cannot name a single AAPI cultural figure. So our ERG at Martin developed the AAPI Dreamlight - Curated lists of up-and-coming AAPI in culture which serves as a shortcut for our industry to boost our representation. Read more about it here in Adweek! (Adweek)

RESEARCH, BUT MAKE IT ALI WONG DOPE

Endless insights come from culture, The Pudding just makes it sexy. Not only do they dig into entertaining subject matters, their methodologies help reimagine the way we approach ‘data’. One of my favorites is an analysis they did of Ali Wong epic Baby Cobra special. Strategists have long known that we share roots with stand-up comedy. The Pudding confirms this by breaking down the structure and storytelling tactics that Wong used to make the audience’s faces hurt from laughing so damn much. What parts of your research could use a makeover? (The Pudding)

Looking for more from Sean Choi? Those enrolled in The School of Stolen Genius will receive a deep dive from him in their inbox shortly! You can access all our expert interviews for SOSG here.

:: AND NOW… SOME FAST FAVORITES ::

:: Game :: HYPERtheticals - You know those people that have a knack for popping into situations, sparking chaos for recreation, and smiling as they leave? That’s every single one of these cards for a strategist.

:: City :: CDMX - The culture. The energy. The food. Bliss.

:: Book :: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy - A children’s book for adults to remind them how to experience life through the eyes of a child again.

:: Podcast :: Stuff You Should Know - Sheer mastery in the depth and length of satisfied curiosity.

:: Album :: Well, I Should Have... - I’ve been exploring intentional discomfort lately and this is absolute musical havoc. It’s a jazz album with real musicians accompanied by disorderly novice pianist Jon Benjamin, or Bob from Bob’s Burgers.

:: CULTURAL PRIZES ::

44% of marketing execs state Cannes used to be about celebrating creative work but isn’t anymore. When’s the last time you were pushed to win an award like Cannes, D&AD, or One Show? I recently did some extensive research around similar traits that award-winning creative work share but ended up being drawn to questioning the actual function of these accolades. I was led to a book called The Economy of Prestige by James F English which helped my mind frame the very purpose(s) of awards.

An excerpt: "The root explanation for the simply tremendous growth of cultural prizes is their advantage over all other forms of exchange: They don’t just convert, they facilitate the transactions between cultural and non-cultural capital.” So what role do industry awards mean to you or your company?

New friends are my jam so these digital doors be open to everyone. BYOB.

Sean Choi

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanrichardchoi/

Email: seanrichardchoi@gmail.com

Website: www.seanrichardchoi.com

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It's called Genius Steals because we believe ideas are new combinations and that nothing can come from nothing. But copying is lazy. We believe the best way to innovate is to look at the best of that which came before and combine those elements into new solutions.

Co-Founders Faris & Rosie are award-winning strategists and creative directors, writers, consultants and public speakers who have been living on the road/runway since March 2013, working with companies all over the world. Our Director of Operations is nomadic like us, our accounting team is based out of Washington, our company is registered in Tennessee, and our collaborators are all over the world. Being nomadic allows us to go wherever clients need us to be, and to be inspired by the world in between.

Hit reply and let’s talk about how we might be able to work together :)

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