Three Questions for our Female Production Stars
We have some amazing female talent in core roles within Publicis Production, so as Women's History Month draws to a close we thought it would be a great time to put some of our most inspirational women in the spotlight, and ask them three simple questions.
Jenny Read - Chief Production Officer USA, Publicis Groupe
What do you love most about your job?
If COVID taught me anything it made obvious the joy in my job came from the in-person interactions I had with my colleagues. I LOVE the people. Being at home alone day in and day out took away those pleasures and turned my job into work. I am happiest and the most productive when in an environment that allows for spontaneity, culture, camaraderie and most importantly, unscheduled trips to the bathroom!
What advice would you give to your younger self?
Do not fear any person or circumstance when speaking the truth for the sake of the business. Living and experiencing your job without an agenda gives you the freedom to be exactly who you are without compromising yourself. It’s amazing what can be accomplished when you focus on making decisions from a place of good intent mixed with doing what you love.
Who is your greatest role model or mentor?
If there was only one person I looked up to and wanted to emulate, then the daily lessons and qualities I discover from others could be missed. There are basic characteristics I admire, strive towards, and am drawn to in people which are kindness, bravery, and drive. If I come to you seeking guidance (for anything at all), chances are you hold these qualities, and your mentorship is at work in me.
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Clare Donald - Chief Production Officer, Publicis UK
What do you love most about your job?
The magical feeling when an amazing creative project comes along. And the people. I love the team.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
Rise above. Don’t take things personally. And have faith in your instincts.
Who is your greatest role model or mentor?
I have many – both men and women. My role models have always been those who combine passion for the job with kindness, compassion and a healthy sense of fun.
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Deepa Kadam - Regional Head of Technology Solutions (APAC & MEA), Publicis Production
What do you love most about your job?
Grappling with complex production challenges and finding creative solutions by aligning processes, teams and technology. This job allows me to take a peek into the future and convert possibilities into reality. I love the autonomy and freedom to contribute to the growth strategy.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
Stand up, speak up and believe in yourself. It’s all about self-confidence – you are the designer of your destiny and you can achieve anything you set your mind to.
Who is your greatest role model or mentor?
Scarlett O’Hara from Gone With the Wind – love her never-say-die attitude, the gumption to face each challenge head-on and find a solution - no matter what life throws at you.
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Fabienne Queyrane - Global Growth Lead, Publicis Production
What do you love most about your job?
Making the complex simple and attractive. Most of my job consists in building complex production solutions. What I love most is turning that into one smart, attractive and differentiating idea.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
Take more care of yourself. Professional success is just as much about achieving and raising the bar as high as you can, as it is about taking care of yourself, as a person, as a friend, as a member of a family.
Who has been your most important role model or mentor?
I don't think I have one but many. I love being inspired by the best from people all around me, whatever their role, whatever their position, I often find there is something to take away, that I can learn from and I like to think that it's that diversity that helps me improve.
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Christine Saouda - Production Lead Latam and CEO Publicis/Digitas Colombia
What do you love most about your job?
Developing and creating innovative production business models and services that are tailored made to clients needs. Using creativity to deliver best in class crafting from origination to transcreation. And finally being able to roll-out these different models across the LATAM region.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
Be ambitious and brave, be empowered and think as a start up. Never stop learning that is what makes us a better person, helps us reach our goals and make us get better and better at what we do. Never take no for an answer, there is always ways to make things happen when you love and feel passionate of what you do.
Who is your greatest role model or mentor?
All the talented people that work hands on in this business with compromise, team work, ambition, resilience and braveness to deliver the best product. Different generations working together, with different points of view, but with one thing in common business growth and creativity at the core, that is the magic that makes our business be in an always on transformation mode to be ahead of the competition.
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Laurence Ferry - Europe Production Lead, Publicis Production
What do you love most about your job?
Connecting people to build new ways of working. I oversee operations in many markets. All have similarities as European but also cultural specificities. My job is to unite all teams around a transformation plan to deliver smarter solutions for clients, HQ and local marketing teams.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
Be passionate in what you do. Believe in the power of teams. Never underestimate your talent. No one fits all needs. Only a group can deliver them all.
Who has been your most important role model or mentor?
I’ve had the chance to come across many people who inspired me but also gave me their confidence and pushed me beyond my comfort zone. I learned a lot and continued to progress in my career.
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Andrea Brown - Global Project Lead DCE, Publicis Production
What do you love most about your job?
The thing I most love about my role is the variety and transversal nature of it. I work with creatives, production teams, data folks and media teams, developers and data scientists, all of whom are pretty smart and keep me on a learning path every single day.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
Be less risk adverse. This is a real cliché, but moving into areas where you can feel the stretch always pays off in spades.
Who has been your greatest role model or mentor?
This is tough, I look many places for inspiration and advice, from family and friends to colleagues. At Publicis we are fortunate to see many women in senior roles. I have had the good fortune to work for Sue Frogley whose frank, open, strategic and very human approach has been a powerful source of inspiration and practical advice.
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Sumitra Sarkar - APAC Client Lead and Ops Head (Ecommerce) at PubHub
What do you love most about your job?
The best part of my role is turning a vision into reality. Content production at scale is an extremely large and complex ecosystem. Each bespoke setup requires understanding individual brand market needs and finding a way to simplify this complexity for easy adherence. The process of taking a global model and converting it into a successful regional implementation is what excites me the most.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
Think not about ‘my jobs for today’, but ‘what do I want to do tomorrow’. It is not easy to find time to focus on long term goals when everyday to-do lists are never-ending. Yet, not doing so makes us live day-to-day and not be ready in time, for tomorrow’s opportunities.
Who has been your greatest role model or mentor?
Throughout my education and career journey; I have been enriched by various people at different stage in life. A teacher who believed in my capabilities when I didn’t; a reporting manager who pushed me towards independently managing larger challenges or friends and colleagues who have continuously inspired me and motivated me to be a better version of myself. Each person who touched my life has been my mentor.
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Joanne De Rozario - Managing Director, Prodigious Singapore
What do you love most about your job?
Our people. I have the pleasure of working with some of the most talented creative production specialists, producers, project managers and suits in Singapore, who are also some of the most humble and hardworking people I know. It’s the team that really keeps me going.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
Cut yourself some slack. Maybe pay more attention to your personal relationships outside work. Don’t wait till you’re 40 to say “no, I cannot take a call at 7pm or deliver this deck overnight.” Happiness is more than professional success. Chase the things you love – like a job in Formula1.
Who has been your greatest role model or mentor?
I used to idolize Christian Amanpour. But I am not afraid to say it was a man that was my mentor. He taught me the basics of producing and live directing – because he was a man that saw to it that a 22-year-old woman with potential was given the power to grow and lead.
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Robyn Campbell - Managing Director, Machine & Prodigious Cape Town
What do you love most about your job?
Making magic. Being able to foster a positive, trusting relationship with our clients and turn a functional brief or business problem into work that makes people feel something when they see it. The power of great creative work is addictive and wonderfully fulfilling to be part of.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
Look for opportunities to be kind to those around you, to be more curious about those you spend you time with and find moments to build people up every chance you get. It’s easy to get caught up in the speed of it all, slow down and enjoy the magic.
Who has been your greatest role model or mentor?
I haven’t had just one person who has inspired me, but rather a number of talented women in the industry who have been generous in their time and advice. As I’ve journeyed in my career, I’ve been fortunate to have developed a wonderful network of supportive, talented women peers who have always been in my corner and been wonderful sounding boards during tough times.
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Daphne Leurs - Senior Creative, Boomerang Agency
What do you love most about your job?
What I love most about my job is getting paid to make my imagination come to life. I really enjoy the fact that this job requires us to be on top of trends and topics that matter and need attention. I’m constantly developing myself which never leads to a dull moment! It also helps that I’m working with the most exuberant and inspiring colleagues who became friends.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
Don’t stress out too much when the road isn’t going as planned. Life will guide you to where you need to be #livelaughlove.
Who has been your greatest role model or mentor?
I don’t really have one role model or mentor. During life people walk along (and also sometimes leave) my path, but in the time they are there they are the best companions.
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Anouk Facee Schaeffer - Brand Manager, Boomerang Agency
What do you love most about your job?
I always tell people that I have the most fun job at Boomerang. I get to organize all the fun stuff like our in- and external parties and our upcoming ski trip for example! Besides that I’m responsible for our own Brand and socials. A big part of my job is working on Boomerang for Better projects, those are projects focussed on doing better for our world and people, which gives me a lot of satisfaction from my work.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
You will end up exactly when and where you need to be!
Who has been your greatest role model or mentor?
It’s my employer Alexander Veltman, his ‘we can do anything’ mentally is really inspiring.
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Jessica Boyd - Lead Producer, Prodigious UK
What do you love most about your job?
I love that every project is different. Having constant variety in the work that I’m doing, to keep challenging and learning with each new brief.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
I would encourage myself to speak up more, and trust my instincts.
Who is your greatest role model or mentor?
My greatest role model is my mum. She is the hardest working woman I know yet so generous with her time too.
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Carole Menke - Deputy Director, Prodigious France
What do you love most about your job?
I get to shake things up, setting teams and organizations in motion to invent new models, the models of tomorrow, the real levers of meaningful business performance. Our production roles are changing. Production and advertising/communication as we used to define them are being challenged. In search of meaning, our industry is at a turning point in its history, confronted with public mistrust. The last 2 years of pandemic have clearly accelerated this movement, it is urgent now to renew what we stand for.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
Trust in yourself! As Henry Ford said: “Whether you think you can, or you think you can't – you're right." If you think you'll get there, you will. If you think you can't make it, you won't.
Who has been your greatest mentor or role model?
A woman and a man 😊
Jacinda Ardren, New Zealand Prime Minister, for the lines she moves in politics. She proves that you can have a compassionate, progressive and humane approach to your responsibilities in this type of role.
Emmanuel Faber, former Chief Executive Officer of Danone, a great social and environmental visionary, jarring in the CAC 40. He shows that you can be both engaged and a leader of one of the biggest companies in the world. This costing him his position, but despite everything, he did not deviate from his convictions.