At Zulu Alpha Kilo, DE&I principles have been the foundation of the culture from day one

Can you tell us a bit about your role and your journey to arriving there?

My role as Chief Design Officer is to inspire teams and clients alike to create the most meaningful and relevant design solutions that can positively impact peoples’ everyday lives and our client’s businesses.

I started my design journey as a university dropout. After a year of studying English Literature, Social Anthropology, and Semiotics, I realized that creative writing was not my forte. What really interested me was the deeper understanding of people’s behaviours as it related to society and culture.

At this point I pivoted into a formal design education. My career started at a boutique design studio where I learned to push and hone my craft. I then moved agency-side to TAXI, where I learned the importance of collaboration and how to best deliver an end-to-end experience. My previous role at Smart Design, an innovation and design consultancy in New York, probably had the biggest effect in the way I view design today. I spent a decade in the strategic translation of brands into new experiences, products, and services for the likes of PepsiCo, P&G, Sephora, Amex, and Under Armour. It taught me that design is about people, not things, and that leveraging the power of design can solve for real human needs and transform businesses.

What barriers do women still face in our industry and how can we challenge them?

A real barrier that women face is Imposter Syndrome. I still have it as a leader, that inner voice of self-doubt “that I’m not good enough”. It persists despite how many awards I win, or the number of business successes I help my clients achieve. Because of this misperception, I think a lot of women might not go for that promotion because they don’t feel they have what it takes. If left unaddressed, research shows that Imposter Syndrome can lead to anxiety, depression, and guilt. I’ve challenged it by leaning into those opportunities where I would typically withdraw. I make myself say “yes” more than “no” and reaffirm that I am an expert in my field, while hopefully inspiring other women along the way.

Another barrier faced by mothers, typically considered primary caregivers, is achieving the perfect work-life balance and letting go the expectation of being outstanding at both. I challenge it every day by surrounding myself with people who value family as I do, and who know it’s as important for me to make pickup time for my daughter as it is to make a meeting with a co-worker. Also important is knowing when to delegate and be more efficient with your work time, so that you can have more of that life time.

How do you use your position to build equitable teams that are diverse and balanced?

One of the fortunate things about my position that I’m grateful for is having a stronger voice in key decision-making opportunities, and the ability to help build up other women in leadership roles. I’m proud to say that women are well represented at Zulu Alpha Kilo as most of our department heads are women. You need to continue to find opportunities to lift up women because they don't get those opportunities often enough.

Because our agency was founded by a BIPOC creative, Zak Mroueh, DEI principles were baked into our culture from day one. We have the belief that the world needs more creativity, and that creativity and design can be leveraged to solve for real-world problems. This belief led us to create the Micropedia, the first encyclopedia of microaggressions built in partnership with a community of leading DEI groups. It allowed us to start that dialog of unconscious bias with large companies, government, and the private and public sector.

Who are your female advertising icons/role models and why?

Janet Kestin and Nancy Vonk are icons and strong role models for so many reasons. Creatively, they’ve had a huge impact on businesses like Unilever and Kraft, as well as on culture. They literally changed the way the world sees beauty – it blows my mind. And now, they keep on giving back to the industry through the work they’re doing with the Swim Program.

If we’re chatting about design, Paula Scher has always been a role model for me. Her inspiring work has had a lasting influence on generations of designers. She’s truly prolific, and you can see her work around the world whether you’re walking the streets of New York or at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. As she very simply stated and distilled, “design always has a purpose.”