Strands of Genius: Let's Get Gender Equality Done, Listen To The Music, Give yourself head space
Guest curated by Carol Reay, Independent Director Quiet Storm
Each year we aim to highlight 50 creative thinkers that have inspired us by giving them the opportunity to guest curate this newsletter, Strands of Genius. This edition is guest curated by Carol Reay, Independent Director of Quiet Storm.
:: A BIT MORE ABOUT GUEST CURATOR, CAROL REAY ::
LOCATION: London, UK
Hello everyone! I met Rosie and Faris at BrandTech firm ProQuo AI when I recruited them onto our Advisory Board. Me? I'm an advertising woman. I founded a London ad agency and became the first woman to have her name above the door in UK adland. But I've also done a few other things like CEO-ing a big children's Charity, being a global CMO and chairing a BrandTech company. So I have been around the block. Today I have a mix of things I get up to - the buzz word for it is portfolio. I love being involved in lots - it's inspiring.
Editor’s Note (Genius Steals): Carol is truly a force to be reckoned with, and based on her introduction above, we can add ‘humble’ too! She started, ran, and eventually sold her agency, all before we even met her. And she’s still got her finger on the pulse today!
:: THE LINKS ::
LET’S GET GENDER EQUALITY DONE
This is Women in Advertising Communications Leadership. We are here to accelerate gender equality. On the link you'll find not only big demands we make for the whole industry like let's work to get to 50% of CEOs being women, but also wonderful mentoring schemes, our latest ad campaign which is themed #RepresentMe, our awesome 100 year history (where you can see the work of fab women pioneers across the 20th century into the 21st), all the work done to nurture and support young up and coming talent including bursaries. It's fab! And check out the work of one Member Lori Meakin who has written this incredible book called No More Menemies which is about getting beyond the gender wars, fear, blame, resentment, confusion and cancel culture that costs all of us dearly in life and business AND finding ways of motivating men to genuinely want to lean in to gender equality, rather than telling men that they should think/feel differently, or trying to ‘change them.' She's launched a new consultancy which is going to help businesses put this into practice. I like this 'let's change the world' kind of action. (WACL)
LISTEN TO THE MUSIC
I recently had the pleasure to work on a sonic branding project with Elias Audio Branding and the process was so fabulous and outcome so brilliant I thought I'd mention them here. They're outside the regular advertising/branding world and inside the world of music but the way they work with brand values and bring them vividly to life is way beyond anything I have experienced - and I've experienced a lot. (ELIAS Music)
GIVE YOURSELF HEAD SPACE
I have dabbled with meditation on and off for a few years but recently been getting closer to it. The penny has finally dropped that I need to approach this without an agenda - I want this or I want that - and give myself to the feeling of setting aside some time to simply be, rather than do. It's truly like drinking cool water in a desert sometimes. (Head Space)
Looking for more from Carol? Coming Friday, look for an interview from her in your inbox!
:: AND NOW… SOME FAST FAVORITES ::
:: Game :: Cluedo
:: City :: London
:: Book :: Pride and Prejudice
:: Podcast :: The Tennis Podcast
:: Album :: With the Beatles
:: PRESSURE IS A PRIVILEGE ::
One of my favourite people is Billie Jean King. Her autobiography All In is a must read. Tennis is a microcosm of life and BJK draws open parallels between sport and business. Her phrase ‘pressure is a privilege’ can keep you real in moments of stress.
Support gender equality. Actively. It will make life better for everyone.
- Carol
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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 :)