Probably the closest I will ever come to the White House, but it’s a better view with even better company. A true honor and damn good time leading this jury for one of (IMO) the best emerging categories in the show.
Pinch me! Cos I still don’t believe it. Thank you to everyone in the jury room who voted in my favor. Read all about it here.
[Illustration: Nhung Le]
Shannon Washington has become a go-to creative mind for corporate brands that want to weave no-nonsense, inclusive messaging into their campaigns. Washington, who was promoted last year to lead creative in the New York office of the digitally savvy ad agency R/GA, has since won awards for a Sephora campaign that declares “Black Beauty is Beauty,” and her work on Uber’s “Vaccinate the Block,” a Spike Lee-directed ad that offered free rides to vaccine sites for people in underserved neighborhoods. (R/GA reportedly generated $400 million in revenue in 2021.)
Underlying all of Washington’s work is her desire to distill complicated conversations about race and gender and commerce into tangible, memorable insights. For Sephora, for example, she and her team homed in on the revelation that when users search on Google for the phrase “Black beauty,” the top result is frequently a picture of a horse—a fact that never failed to provoke a reaction once she called it to anyone’s attention.
Doing this kind of work is difficult, says Washington, who joined R/GA in 2020 after stints at Deutsch and Droga5. “Uber came to us wanting to do one thing, and we just had to push them in a different direction,” she notes. “Same thing with Sephora.”
Everyone knows that there are under 5 holding companies that make up close to 80% of the advertising content shown around the world. But did you know that (at the time of filming) in the US, those holding companies employ under 10 Black Executive Creative Directors? That means we make up less than 1% of creative leadership.
Just in time for the 2022 New York Festivals season, I got together with 6 of them to talk about this, our journeys, and how we are holding the door open for more.
A huge surprise and a great honor.
“A new recipe means tough conversations, tougher choices, raw introspection and redefining not only what we know to be true but to be right. It means evolving how we operate and creating a space to listen and engage all levels of people. ”
I love to cook. But when I took up baking, I learned a hard lesson about what it means to be a creative leader in this day and age. This is a short essay based on a presentation given at the 2019 One Club Creative Leaders Retreat.
Read the full piece here.
In early 2018 I had a realization: in my career, I had never a panel featuring creative directors that were all women of color. So I reached out to Kat Gordon of the 3 Percent Conference and soon after found myself alongside Candace Queen, Della Mathew, and Tracie Roberson to give a glimpse into what it takes to build and lead teams at large agencies and larger client expectations. Watch below!
Just being in the presence of ADCOLOR’s board and supporters is a blessing, so words still can’t describe how honored I was to receive the 2018 Creative Award from ADCOLOR and the One Club alongside the legendary A.J. Hassan of RGA. A wonderful evening!
"Your failure determines your future." In early 2018, I sat down with Refinery 29 to talk all things failure, including getting fired from my first job, failing at medical school and all the others fails that created the life I have today. Read/watch the full editorial here.
Also, I didn't think Kadeem Hardison was that cute. I'd risk it all for Dwayne Johnson tho.
Always nice to take a break from talking about my work and celebrate that of others. Anomaly, you stole my heart, timely as my family and I just overcame a huge citizenship hurdle. Read and watch the full story here.
Very cool to be featured with my Droga5 / CoverGirl team in this look at the power of diverse ad teams in our industry. Read the full story here.
"The world won't wait."
A fun interview about the unicorn life, live from Cannes at the Girls Lounge with AdForum. Watch the full interview here.
Guess what the benefit to diversity is? DIVERSITY! I was very very honored to be included in this panel at 2015's 3 Percent Conference and am looking forward to attending in 2016!
See the full recap here.
This was fun. I joined some good friends in the Black and Brown girl creative world to discuss the importance of design and tech within our communities and how they are shaping diversity within our industries. Which eventually became one big homegirl love fest. Still, so much fun!!
In December of 2014, I was asked (and psyched) to deliver a quick keynote at the launch of Lady Boss, a new initiative for women in creative industries that are looking to take their careers to the next level. I wrote it at 5am the day of the event and realized that there was no way I could fit everything I wanted to deliver in 5 minutes. So while the lucky ladies who were in attendance (a packed house of fly girls!) got to see me deliver this in person, I published my talk with a little more context. This was a great experience. I met a ton of young, creative women and have continued to collaborate with them beyond the event. Read the full talk here.
Another Refinery piece! Super appreciative of all of the love. Style is a HUGE part of my every day as with most creatives. Here I talk about my own personal style at work, and dish advice on how to "show up" and remain your true self in the process. Read the full interview and get into the Steven Brahms spread by clicking here.
Recently, I was invited to speak at the Brooklyn Museum for the first of three discussions that focused on feminism and contemporary culture entitled 'Triple Consciousness.' It was a great discussion, watch above!
I really do believe in the power of effective mentorship. Another great interview with Refinery on the effect that mentors have had on my life, and how to use them to further your career. Click here to read the full article.
A look into the launch of my image/video project, Feminist Enough, the inspiration behind it—and what it means to be a unicorn. Very fun interview - read up here.
