VMLY&R: Women Around the World

Being open at work. What does this mean to you? Join members of our London teams, present, and past, as they openly share their personal stories on bringing their authentic selves to work. VMLY&R Proudly Said is a podcast series designed to give listeners a deeper insight into the LGBTQ+ community - free of judgment and full of pride.

Our latest Proudly Said podcast honors Transgender Day of Remembrance and Trans Awareness week. April Marshall from our Kansas City office and Dalia Petronilha from our Brazil office discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the Trans community. Join April and Dalia’s for an open conversation on their personal experiences of coming out as Trans women, how we can better support the trans community and their hopes for the future. The conversation shared on this episode sheds light into two individuals experiences navigating their own gender and sexuality and is not meant to represent the entire community or all transgender people. VMLY&R Proudly Said is a podcast series designed to give listeners a deeper insight into the LGBTQ+ community – free of judgment and full of pride.

On the inaugural episode of VMLY&R’s Human Centered Design podcast, host Nick Brunker visits with VMLY&R Global CEO Jon Cook and Global Chief Experience Officer Jeff Geheb. The group chats about the evolution of CX, navigating change during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the importance of building a human-centered culture to drive success.

National Coming Out Day is on October 11 and marks the anniversary of the 1979 March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. In this episode, you’ll hear from Jef Martins, Marissa Jones, Alan Schieber and Gretchen Menter. These VMLY&R employees from across the rainbow spectrum share their coming out story and experiences.

For this very important episode, Beth sat with five wonderful women from our New York office: Amber Chenevert, director of strategy and insights, Belle Frank, chief strategy officer of our global health practice, Clara Luo, VP, Director of Strategic Growth of our BAV Group, Jennifer Kohl, SVP, Executive Director Integrated Media and Lanier Gilbert, senior strategist. This amazing group of women are all from different teams, they have different backgrounds, different paths and different experiences. They are mothers, daughters, wives, grandmothers. They are different ages and races. Yet they come together regularly to chat and most importantly listen to other perspectives. They have a goal of using their intersection identities to impact and become more of an ally for each other. Please take the time to listen to this very important and relevant discussion. It’s a fantastic resource on how to develop a better relationship other and of course, yourself.

For this episode of Women Around the World, Beth sat down to chat with Sarah Bailey, managing partner of VMLY&R Melbourne. Our Melbourne office has received incredible accolades in the past 12 months including being awarded #6 Regional Agency of the Decade in the Pacific region by Cannes Lions for 2020. Sarah and Beth chatted about the structure, culture and the success of the office, particularly how they are rallying in our new virtual world. As well as Managing Partner, Sarah is also a mother of two young boys and a very successful published author of three crime novels. We spoke about the importance of mentorship and entrepreneurial skills and why it’s so important to follow your passion.

VMLY&R Proudly Said is a podcast series designed to give listeners a deeper insight into the LGBTQ+ community – free of judgment and full of pride. In our latest Proudly Said podcast, Aubrey Carr and Colt McArthur discuss the adoption challenges and opportunities facing the LGBTQ+ community. Join Aubrey as she chats with Colt on how he is raising two daughters of color, adopted nationally and internationally, at home in Kansas City.

Beth Wade, global chief marketing officer sat with to chat with Community Outreach Manager and VMLY&R Foundation Lead, Lauren Ziegler. The VMLY&R Foundation has been the backbone to all of VMLY&R charitable efforts and most recently, raised almost $50,000 to support COVID-related relief efforts and the Black Lives Matter movement. Lauren has been a part of VMLY&R Foundation from its very early days and chatted to me about its incredible evolution, her favourite memories with the Foundation and how she and the entire advisory committee are continuing to find unique ways to give back even in our remote working world. Lauren talks about one of her favourite other podcasts during this episode, which is available here: https://spoti.fi/30KpJSz Thank you for tuning in for this very important episode of Women Around the World.

For part two of this very important episode Beth Wade, global chief marketing officer, sat back down with four wonderful women from our Black community: Amber Chenevert, director of strategy and insights, Destiny Chambers, marketing and events manager, Sarah Hodge, associate director of commerce and Tosha Turner, senior director of client finance. The women chatted to about their personal feelings and experiences as Black women in the ad industry, both throughout their careers and during this pivotal moment in history.

For this very important episode Beth Wade, global chief marketing officer, sat with four wonderful women from our Black community: Amber Chenevert, director of strategy and insights, Destiny Chambers, marketing and events manager, Sarah Hodge, associate director of commerce and Tosha Turner, senior director of client finance. The women discussed VMLY&R closing their doors for Juneteenth and how the women choose to spend the day as well as ways they have previously commemorate June 19th with their families, friends and communities. Thank you for tuning in for this very important episode of Women Around the World. As this was such an important discussion this episode will be released in two parts so stay tuned for next week’s episode.

Rashel Hughley is our new director of employee experience and joined our Kansas City office on the very first day of the stay at home order in the city. Rashel and Beth spoke about everything going on in the world right now and how to navigate some of the pressures and overcome fear. They also spoke about how individuals measure success and why this may look different for various people. Rashel is also a working mother and spoke about strategies that work for her when it comes to navigating the pressure to be a great mother at the same time as being great at her job. Enjoy!

Tracy Moore and Alan Schieber discuss the differences between gender and sexual orientation, the importance of compassion and living life as your true self. Listen to their personal stories and experiences as non-binary and pansexual members of the LGBTQ+ community. The conversation shared on this episode sheds light into two individuals’ experiences navigating their own gender and sexuality and is not meant to represent the entire community or all non-binary and/or transgender people. VMLY&R Proudly Said is a podcast series designed to give listeners a deeper insight into the LGBTQ+ community - free of judgement and full of pride.

Beth recently sat down with Jacquelyn Baker from our Cincinnati office. Jacquelyn is commerce practice lead at VMLY&R but like so many of us, she wears many hats. She has amazing experience, both agency and client-side, leading teams for some of our biggest eCommerce clients. Jacquelyn has had an incredible career so far, so I wanted to speak to her about her journey, role models in her life, and the role mentorship has played in her career. As two working moms, we also touched on the importance of creating a work-life balance This episode is packed of loads of great advice I know you’ll enjoy .

For a very important episode of Women Around the World, Beth Wade passed the microphone over to Claire Charruau, marketing director, EMEA, to host the podcast live from VMLY&R London. Claire sat down with Lindsay Pattison, chief client officer at WPP, Nancy Lengthorn, head of inclusion and belonging at WPP UK & MediaCom and Eileen Hanna, Baileys Europe marketing manager at Diageo. The women discussed this year’s International Women’s Day theme: Each for Equal and what it meant to them. They also touched on ways to make a positive impact on gender equality and how we bring everyone further into the conversation. Finally, they shared some personal tips and practices for staying grounded, taking care of your mental and physical health and practicing self-compassion. Take a listen and enjoy this wonderful episode of Women Around the World. Enjoy!

On Beth's last visit to Europe, she got to catch up with Arzu Unal. Arzu is chief executive officer of our VMLY&R Turkey office. Beth chatted to Arzu about the incredible journey to becoming a CEO, her determination, stepping out of the comfort zone, and having the self-confident to lead. Arzu is passionate about mentoring young women throughout their university years. She spoke to Beth about the incredible work she is doing with a number of organizations to provide amazing opportunities to young females in Turkey. Enjoy!

William Brown, Roy Milton, and David Seymour sit down to discuss issues that impact black communities and how they run parallel to the LGBTQ+ community. Listen to their personal stories as an ally and queer people of color. VMLY&R Proudly Said is a podcast series designed to give listeners a deeper insight into the LGBTQ+ community - free of judgment and full of pride.

Recently Beth joined our EMEA leadership team in London for some planning meetings. Whilst there, she sat down with Simona Maggini. Simona is chief executive officer for VMLY&R Italy. Simona's leadership has been recognized for her incredible transformation of the office from a traditional agency model into an agency of the future. Just in the past year, NC awards had named her 'manager of the year'. Throughout her career, Simona has lived in a number of cities across Europe and was able to speak to various cultural challenges for women across different countries. We also spoke a lot about collaborative leadership and forming valuable partnerships with other leaders beyond gender. Enjoy!

Co-owners Buck and Joey own the Kansas City boutique "ULAH" (seen on Netflix's Queer Eye). Listen as they share their POV on the LGBTQ+ culture and entrepreneurship.

Recently, agency leaders from across the VMLY&R global network travelled to Kansas City for our annual leadership conference. The four-day event featured strategic leadership meetings, in-depth presentations, panel discussions, and inspirational guest speakers. During the week Beth got to sit down with Natalia Romanenko, Lucy Wilson, Ha Nguyen, Lianne Rodriguez for a live recording of Women Around the World. They are such an inspiring group of female leaders from four different corners of our network, Moscow, Sydney, Ho Chi Minh City and Miami. In front of a live audience, the ladies discussed their various career paths, the inspiration behind getting to a leadership position, significant barriers they have overcome, work-life balance and mentorship. Thank you for listening to Women Around the World in 2019, Have a wonderful holiday break and ensure to tune back in as we continue to travel the world and meet more incredible women leaders in our network throughout 2020.

Beth recently visited some of our offices across Australia and New Zealand, while there she got a chance to catch up with Natalie Frischknecht, our practice and capability director based out of the Sydney Office. Natalie had the opportunity to attend this year's WPP Walk the Talk, a two-day conference addressing gender diversity in our industry. They spoke about everything she learnt during her time there including, facing and embracing your vulnerabilities. Enjoy!

During Beth's last trip to San Juan, she had the chance to catch up with Catalina Sánchez. Since joining the team, Catalina has worked hard to raise the creative bar and boost the agency's reputation in the region as CEO of VMLY&R Colombia. They dove into the reasons why women sometimes hold themselves back and how can women continually support and raise each other up as both a co-worker and as a leader.

Suba Nadarajah, one of VMLY&R's director of diversity, equity & inclusion, speaks to Joel Barrett, speaker, writer, and survivor of conversion therapy. Joel shares his compelling coming out story and living an authentic life.

For our next episode of VMLY&R: Women Around the World Beth Wade sat down with Kylie Scheicher, managing director of technology. Kylie is passionate about mentoring and is making strides to get more women into the technology industry. Beth and Kylie spoke about how everyone can develop their own front row of support, stop self-criticism and practising self-compassion. In addition, Kylie is also a working mother to triplets, so Beth had a chance to chat with her about work-life balance and the benefit of being a working mom and the incredible attributes that show up in her kids. Enjoy!

During Beth’s last visit to Shanghai, she had a chance to catch up with Camy Tan, managing director of network development for Asia. Camy plays a huge part in bringing new talent and capabilities into our growing family across the entire network. She has an incredible desire to get to know people and build relationships. Based out of our Singapore office, Camy was also able to talk about some of the unique advantages for women in the country. Enjoy!

For our third episode of “VMLY&R: Women Around the World,” Beth Wade sat down with Stephanie DeCelles and Shali Wade in her hometown office in Kansas City. Stephanie is managing director for VMLY&R KC and Shali is executive director in the office of the Global CEO, Jon Cook. Stephanie and Shali are both amazing leaders and wonderful mothers to their children. This episode is a fantastic, honest discussion about how they best navigate the pressures to be good mothers at the same time as bringing their best to work every single day. They also touched on the kind of examples they love to set for their children by being a working mom and building up a supportive community around yourself.

For our second episode of VMLY&R: Women Around the World, Beth Wade sat down with Karen Boswell who joined our VMLY&R family as Chief Experience Officer, EMEA earlier this year. In this episode, Beth speaks to Karen about her incredible career journey, particularly taking risks and the importance of opening up, being vulnerable, and having the confidence to ask for what you want.

At the end of VMLY&R’s incredible week at the Cannes Lions Festival, Beth sat down with two VMLY&R attendees, Tasha Gilroy and Jasmine Green. Tasha is a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion director based in New York, and Jasmine is a senior connections manager in our Kansas City office. In this episode, Tasha and Jasmine discuss their different experiences at the festival. Jasmine attended as a Young Lion in the Media Academy and was involved with the Diversity Collective, while Tasha attended from a leadership position focusing on the evolution and importance of diversity within our industry. Enjoy!