Ask a Unicorn

Interview with Polina Harkin, Senior Creative at St Luke’s London.If you need inspiration on what hobby to pick up next then this episode is a must listen, as we hear what got Polina into being a helicopter pilot!We talk about her journey into advertising all the way from Russia and how it’s all thanks to her mum asking a stranger in Holborn where the best art college was. How her career evolved from being in a team and then finding her groove as a solo creative post maternity. We talk making work that calls organisations out all the way to what the best bird puns are. Polina also talks about the reality of never seeing any creatives with kids until thankfully she saw another unicorn Hannah Talbut at her agency get pregnant, which gave her the confidence to know she could make it work. To see Polina’s work go to: https://www.polinaharkin.com/ If you're an advertising/marketing creative and mother please do join ‘The Unicorn Union’ - a group specifically set up to help them connect and thrive.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/groups/9305200/Please subscribe to my channel for bi-weekly new episodes.Also available on Spotify and Apple.This podcast is proudly sponsored by PICS UK, a CGI and AI studio https://cgipics.co.uk/

Interview with Claudi Potter, Executive Creative Director at Joe Public.This is a must listen if you want to know if it’s possible to have kids when you start out in the industry. Claudi has truly defied all odds by having two children in her mid 20s while working in her home country of sunny South Africa.Securing full pay but with fantastic flexibility at a time it didn’t exist she was able to stay working and in the industry while her kids were young.Eventually landing at Joe Public where she has been for a large chunk of her career she has been able to move to the UK with them. Along with making work that is about changing women’s health research and creating awareness of breast cancer.Full of positivity and an infectious smile Claudi is a shining example of how it is possible to have children young and have a successful career in advertising, and reach a top role!To see some of Claudi’s work go to: https://www.joepublic.com/ If you're an advertising/marketing creative and mother please do join ‘The Unicorn Union’ - a group specifically set up to help them connect and thrive.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/groups/9305200/

Interview with Belen Wilson, Creative Director at Jaywing.Belen has had an amazing career having worked mainly as freelance at top design and ad agencies before recently settling at Jaywing.She’s been responsible for campaigns like the launch of 3 mobile all the way to her most recent Yorkshire Tea’s Health and Safe-Tea social series. We discuss her creative journey from studying design in Spain all the way to now working as a CD for Jaywing that is based in Leeds.A proud mum of two teenagers and a real advocate for supporting women in the industry, Bel and I discuss the ways women can lift each other up. From the childminder Margaret that had her back to some scenarios where that hasn’t happened but still keeping the faith in the power of women helping and working together.A true creative at heart , she just loves solving a problem with something smart and beautiful or as she puts it - “as a freelancer I had to make lemonade from lemons”. She’s also unfazed by change and relishes getting into new platforms and is a confirmed lover of TikTok.To see some of Belen’s work go to: https://www.belenwilson.com/ If you're an advertising/marketing creative and mother please do join ‘The Unicorn Union’ - a group specifically set up to help them connect and thrive.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/groups/9305200/

Interview with creative director at bandstand (b corp), Lottie Marriner. We discuss her creative journey from studying English to then giving advertising a go because her grandfather worked in it. Yes she has true ad veteran genes!We talk about her move to South Africa where her career thrived and the awards rolled in. Her move back to the UK where her career continued to thrive along with having a family. She even managed to get a four day week on 100% pay, yep, listen how!She now vows to do work that serves her clients, change the perception of B2B and nurture the next gen all while being at global independent indie awards agency of the year.To see some of Lottie's work go to: https://lottiemarriner.carbonmade.com/If you're an advertising/marketing creative and mother please do join The Unicorn Union - a group specifically set up to help them connect and thrive.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/groups/9305200/

Interview with freelance copywriter, Lisa Harrison.We discuss her creative journey from starting out in marketing, having an instant love for internal comms and how that progressed to her focusing on only copy. She then set up her own business in order to make sure she could make the job work for her and her young family better and it has gone from strength to strength even with another maternity leave in the mix. She now vows to rid the world of corporate jargon and works hard with her B2C and B2B clients to give them all a distinct tone of voice.Currently she is also in the midst of writing a children's book series and one is about to be published. So keep your eyes peeled for her name in actual print soon.To see some of Lisa's work go to: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.ljhcopywriting.co.uk/portfolioIf you're an advertising/marketing creative and mother please do join The Unicorn Union - a group specifically set up to help them connect and thrive.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/groups/9305200/⁠

Interview with Strategic Creative Director, Kate O'Connor.We discuss her creative journey from starting out as a management consultant to then going back to uni in Falmouth to study creative advertising. She ended up finding her niche in experiential spending a long part of her career at Momentum. Keeping the love of strategy from even her management consultant days as now melded into her perfect role as a Strategic Creative Director at Identity. Kate prides herself on challenging all misconceptions about mothers, finding your third space and making sure you realise work is not the only place to get creative fulfilment from. She practices what she preaches as she also writes comedy and performs stand up every week as her side hustle.To see all of Kate's work go to: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.kateoc.com/To view her comedy on Tiktok go to: https://www.tiktok.com/@kateo_cIf you're an advertising/marketing creative and mother please do join The Unicorn Union - a group specifically set up to help them connect and thrive.⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/groups/9305200/⁠ 

WARNING: Contains conversation about PND and mental illness.Interview with Creative Director, Tash Rosehill.We discuss her creative journey from being kicked out of art class, managing Mummy bloggers, starting as a social strategist and all the way to making it to Global Creative Director. Tash prides herself on overcoming mental illness and shares her story with us which also lead to her being diagnosed ADHD. She has turned this into her superpower by becoming a neurodivergent leader beacon. We also discuss some of her fantastic work for BMW and her love for AI and what she thinks it will do to our jobs. She also speaks about her two gorgeous girls and the realities of being a Jewish mama.To see all of Tash's work go to: ⁠⁠⁠https://tashrosehill.myportfolio.com/projectsIf you're an advertising/marketing creative and mother please do join The Unicorn Union - a group specifically set up to help them connect and thrive.⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/groups/9305200/⁠ 

Interview with freelance Creative Director, Fran Leach.We discuss her creative journey from account woman to creative via a D&Ad course and then going on to making top award winning work such as Marmite Baby Scan. Fran also discusses the fairly recent diagnose of her son with Autism and how she is passionate about difference in the creative department as it's what we demand in the work. We laugh a lot as we also discover Fran has a few interesting past times when she's not writing ads and minding her two children. To see all of Fran's work go to: ⁠⁠https://www.franleach.com/If you're an advertising/marketing creative and mother please do join The Unicorn Union - a group specifically set up to help them connect and thrive.⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/groups/9305200/⁠ 

Interview with Creative Director at Liganova MaSH!, Mirella Aponte.We discuss her creative journey from Belgium via Amsterdam to the UK. Years working freelance and then her journey into perm and her unexpected joy at becoming a mother when she wasn't sure if it was for her. We also discuss Mirella's fantastic work as specialises in luxury and is now also directing some films.To see all of Mirella's work go to: ⁠https://www.mirella-aponte.com/If you're an advertising/marketing creative and mother please do join The Unicorn Union - a group specifically set up to help them connect and thrive.⁠https://www.linkedin.com/groups/9305200/⁠ 

Interview with Senior Content Creator, Alice Cuffe.We discuss her creative journey from fashion to editorial to advertising along with the rollercoaster of motherhood and dealing with pre-eclampsia and pre-natal anxiety.Alice is currently freelance and open to work so hit her up!To see all of Alice's work go to: http://www.alicecuffe.com/ If you're an advertising/marketing creative and mother please do join The Unicorn Union - a group specifically set up to help them connect and thrive.https://www.linkedin.com/groups/9305200/