There is nothing quite as humbling than inspiring the next generation of creative talent, let alone helping those from underprivileged or diverse backgrounds find a way into the industry like never before.
But to chat with Kwame Taylor-Hayford, the new president for D&AD, it's a mission he's keen to fulfil.
Though some progress has been made in recent years, Kwame says there's still so much work to be done and it's going to be a continued effort over the next year at D&AD, a charitable organisation that is striving to make a difference and having much success doing so.
But the other thing Kwame is keen to look at is empowering mid-career creatives, the bit that's often overlooked in the middle.And it's part of his own journey that he knows can be quite challenging.
A co-founder at Kin, a creative company designed to advance social change through culture, his clients include Delta Airlines, MailChimp, and Ben & Jerry's.
Kwame's previous experience lies agency side, Sid Lee, Anomaly, Saatchi & Saatchi, just to name a few, and on brand side, Chobani, where he was responsible for leading an in-house creative team that led to its success today.
We caught Kwame in quite the reflective mood.He gave us a little peek into some of the private thoughts he's been chewing on recently, like what the next 10 years look like for him or how he wants to live and work moving forward.
And would you believe it?Two decades ago, he wrote his life plan out onto paper, admitting that much of it has been achieved.And so he has to sit down and write a fresh one again. On getting to know him, I can see why he's been such a huge success.
You can understand the positive impact of a solid family background and a childhood spent moving around a lot, living everywhere from Ghana, Egypt and South Africa to the UK and New York again.
His calm and quiet presence, his considered intelligent approach and his genuine warmth and compassion It all makes sense.Emerging himself in all these different cultures from a young age and having hard work instilled in him has all played a part.
I hope you enjoy my conversation with Kwame.I was certainly left feeling very inspired. Congratulations, Kwame.It's a great bit of news that we've had this side of the pond.You are the first D&AD president, US-based in its history.How does it feel?
Very excited, very motivated.It's cool to be a first in that way.But I think having been doing work for D&AD, or work rather with D&AD over the last seven, eight years,
I think it's also very telling about the future of the organization and the ambition for the U.S.and for growth and also for growing more of a global community around the organization.
I mean, it's hugely global already, so I don't want to take away from that, but I do think this is a signal that that's even more important to expand further beyond Europe and yeah. have more impact.
Because it used to be British alone, didn't it?And then it changed its name.I don't know when exactly it did that, but yeah, I mean, you can't, when everything's online, you can't put a fence around it, can you?
Nor do you want to, honestly.I think especially being in creative business is how I describe it.There's so many amazing people and ideas and perspectives that can come in and enrich the world that we have proximity to.
So from my standpoint, it's just a natural progression in evolution to open up and allow for more voices to sort of inform and infuse what we're doing.
It's a bit of a weight to have on your shoulders.
You know, it doesn't feel like a weight.I don't know.I think there's been so much amazing work, honestly, that's been done over the last couple of years to lay the tracks, if you will, for really good progress to happen.
So I see myself as really benefiting from a lot of that great work and hopefully accelerating progress in the direction.
How are you going to sort of do it?Is it because you, you sort of started your life off, um, the son of a diplomat traveled around a lot.Yeah, I've done my research.
And so you kind of got to see the world a little bit more than quite a lot of us really.Um, and meet people from different cultures.I mean, that must have been an experience in itself.
I credit my parents so much to giving us, or they give us an amazing upbringing and to be able to.
be born in the US, but raised in Ghana and in Egypt and in South Africa, and to have friends from so many different communities and walks of life, and to experience not just visiting a lot of different countries and cultures, but actually living there and feeling like you're a part of that.
community.It was so eye opening, honestly.
And I think to me, the thing that I most appreciate about it is the curiosity that it instilled in me to continue to kind of dig in and try to understand and try to, I talk a lot about this in the work that we do at Kin, get past sympathy and get to true empathy for someone's condition or perspective.
Yeah, it feels so meaningful to be able to do that.And so, yeah, I'm very, very, very appreciative to my parents for giving us that experience.
Well, they do say that travel is food for the soul, and it's good for all of us to get out into the world and meet different people.And you get that empathy and compassion, I think, that you just don't get in any other way.
Big believer in that.Huge believer in that.Yeah.
Yeah, and I guess that helps when you're sort of thrown into a kind of organization like D&AD and you've got all these different people, different characters, different personalities.
I think it's so, in a way, exciting to get to interact with people with a very different life experience, a very different perspective, because honestly, it also challenges a lot of what you believe, and it helps you better understand, I think, yourself and the experience that you've had.
Yeah, I mean you strike me as somebody who's very adept at being genuinely interested in somebody else and listening to them, and I don't think that's a skill many people have.
Honestly, I feel like I'm not very interesting, so I love to appreciate and understand where people are coming from, you know, and your life is so much richer when you get to fill it with the stories and experiences of other people.
And so, I don't know, maybe it's also a big part of how we grew up.We were always around so many disparate and interesting people that for us it became a little bit of that learning through auspices, you know.
Yeah, it's very spiritual.I mean, it's not often I meet somebody who admits that they're not very interesting, because I always say that, because I just find other people fascinating hearing their stories.
And isn't it kind of liberating when you realize that you're not special?
You know, it's funny, because I think we're all unique, but we're not necessarily special.
And I know that sounds probably not great, but I think if you approach the world that way, you're so much more curious, and you're so much more open to understanding other people and their perspectives.
That uniqueness I think is something that we all have to try to embrace because in a way the world tries to make you feel a bit like you've got to shave off your edges, you know, but that's what I love about being in creative business is that
There's a built-in celebration of what is unique and what is original and what is different.Although I think the culture of advertising and of design could probably embrace that a little bit more than it does.
I think we do it really well when it comes to the work, but I think there's opportunity for us to do it even better when it comes to the people.
Yeah, definitely, because we need people around the table who have those different perspectives, right?And it just seems crazy that it's only just starting to happen in the last, what, decade?
I think the internet has had a lot to do with it. and proliferation of social media and people being able to represent themselves well through the tools that are available and through the access.
I think it's helped us see that there's so many pockets of interest and of original creative thinking that we can tap into, even from the comfort of our own homes.And I think it's helped create a little bit more openness.
I mean, lots of issues too, but I think it's helped create some openness.
And so how, with your presidency, are you hoping to kind of push that, continue to push that forward a little bit?Because as you know, the more people that look like us and are sat around that table, the better the work.
And from another point of view, the more it encourages people to get into a career they didn't think was possible because they didn't see anybody that looked like them doing it.
know, I feel I'm very much one of those people, you know.My parents are both from Ghana and they emigrated to the United States where they had me and my brothers and my sister.And in, you know, an African household, there's really
very few careers that are celebrated, right?
Or that are talked about, you know, you become a doctor, a lawyer, an engineer, maybe you work in finance, you know, they're just a very heavy emphasis on sort of academia, and not a lot of visibility to sort of creative business and the arts as a
a route that you can take.So I feel very fortunate in a way that I was exposed early in my career to this world, and that I've been able to find my way and build a career.And I think so many others will benefit from that.
And for me, D&AD was a really important resource.I still remember I was working at an agency called Saatchi & Saatchi,
And I went into the office of one of the creative directors at the time, and I saw his gorgeous pencil beautifully displayed on a shelf.And I took so much pride in that achievement.And I had no reference point for D&AD at that stage in my career.
But seeing that and seeing just his regard for the organization and how important it was to celebrate craft, I started to lean in, and that's what got me, I think, very motivated to continue to learn and to grow and to hone my craft.
And so, yeah, I'm excited for this organization and this platform to give others that same sort of energy and that same support that I got that has allowed me to, yeah, be chatting with you today.
Yeah, well, likewise, you know, and you, what was, was it difficult for you to make your break into the industry?Was it, was it a difficult climb?
You know, I don't, I'll tell you this, it didn't feel difficult at the time, but it was definitely a hustle because I didn't have any contacts.I didn't have any reference point.
I went to college for computer science and business, and I initially went into finance.I was very focused on getting into finance. management information systems.I won't bore you with the details, but... Oh no, it's all right.
My husband's a software developer, so... Okay, so he knows exactly what I'm talking about, probably.But I tried that and it was super boring.I would fall asleep at my desk.I just wasn't into it.So I decided to make the switch.
And so I had taken one or two courses in college that were marketing and advertising focused.And I thought, you know what, that might be interesting. So I literally picked up the phone.This was back when you had phones tethered to desks.
And cold called, I don't know, 20 plus agencies in New York City.And I was very fortunate.I got this fantastic woman, Regina Gordon, on the line.
And she was working at a small shop at the time and she just she just took my call, and she was like you know what this guy sounds, you know, half decent.
I'll, I will offer him an unpaid internship to get into the business and learn the ropes, and I'm actually very. grateful, because I recently reconnected with Regina, who is amazing.And yeah, she gave me my start.
I followed her around, got her coffee, made her copies, made myself useful.And eventually, that internship turned into a full-time job.And then that full-time job turned into another opportunity to go work for a bigger agency called YNR.
which I guess is now VML.And then I just was able to slowly progress through many different roles at many agencies and learn, yeah.
That's great.You weren't shy of hard work.I can imagine it was instilled in you as a child with parents coming from Africa, wanted the best for their children.They'd made sacrifices and you were to prove them that they hadn't wasted their time.
A lot of pressure on young shoulders.
But this is not an uncommon thing.No. immigrant family and I think that mentality is very much imbued, you know, you have to work 200% harder than everyone else to get ahead and to make the most of the opportunity that's been afforded.
So yeah, I think for me it was it was a non-starter that I had to work extremely, extremely hard.But I think later in my career, it became more important to also work smart.
And so I think there's an important distinction there that I probably came to much later in my career than would have been ideal.But yeah, I think there's no substitute for hard work.
Yeah, because you were doing a lot at one point, weren't you?You were running a kind of business with your wife and all sorts of other things, and I can only imagine you're not a stranger to, you know, burnout and all the kind of rest of it.
You join the kind of league of people who've been there, done that, and like you say, realized actually there's got to be boundaries.
Yeah, and I will say, I think, one, there's a lot of personal responsibility that I take and that everyone should take in managing their career and their experience.
But I do think the industry has also, I think, gotten maybe a little bit better at this, creating a culture within companies that is more thoughtful and more caring for people and their well-being.
If you're working with young millennials or Gen Z, mental health and just giving people the right support is critical, right?Because the reality is they have a lot of options.
Agencies, design companies aren't the only places to work if you're a talented art director, designer, writer, craft practitioner.You can go into tech, you can go into entertainment.
So we're competing for talent and we need to make sure that we're making the environment that we provide as welcoming and as nurturing and supportive of anyone that wants to build a career.
Yeah, the power has shifted, hasn't it, to the employee, basically.They have the power in their hands.
they literally have the power in their hands.And now with AI, they have the power to do what previously would take, I don't know, a thousand people and many months in seconds.So I think when the tools are creating a democratization of the way that
creativity can be, you know, harnessed for brands or for entertainment.Yeah, we need to think seriously about how we are making spaces and creating communities that make us essential.
Otherwise, you're going to have that incredible, you know, two-man design crew able to deliver the output and the quality of a 1,000-man shop of yesteryear, and eventually that whole dynamic is going to shift.
With everybody that you speak to at D&AD and beyond, and everybody I've chatted to in the industry, it's like the topic on everybody's lips at the moment, isn't it?Is the traditional agency model dead?Is this the age of the generalist?
Because we are seeing more and more new studios opening where there's just one or two people, and they're doing amazing work.I mean, compared to 10 years ago, it's just incredible to see.
So it's great in a way, but I feel sorry for a lot of the larger agencies who are struggling.And I know at least three in London that are closing down in the next three months.
I feel in a way it's kind of what's always happened, right?Like change is constant and evolution and innovation is it's always happening.
And I think to some degree, you're either paying attention and pivoting and evolving how you work or what you do to keep pace with it.Or you are, in some instances, taking your eye off the ball and you're getting left behind.
And I think, yes, it's accelerating much faster now because of technologies like you know, like AI, and because of a changing perspective from talent, for example, who want a different experience.
But I, I don't know, I think, I think, and not to sound, you know, unsympathetic, I do think it's, it's just, it's the ebbs and flows of our industry.You know, there will always be agencies opening, there will always be agencies closing.
And then there'll be, I think, the vast majority who are evolving.
And we're keeping pace with how things are changing and making the value that they bring to the table really clear for not just the brands that they collaborate with, but also for the talent that are looking for opportunities to build a career.
Yeah, not to put you on the spot, because I know this is a contentious issue, but do you think people who kind of just hope AI goes away and ignore it are going to kind of get left behind?
Is it better for creatives to embrace it and learn it and grow with it and see it as a friend, not a foe?
I think AI is a massive paradigm shift.To me, it's of the scale of know, the invention of electricity, or of the invention of the internet.I think we're at the very beginning of it.So it's easy to dismiss, and it's easy to be fearful, I guess.
But I don't know anyone today who wants to go back to, you know, buggy and lantern days, you know what I mean?Like, I just think everyone is so excited about what electricity has afforded us and what, you know, cars have afforded us.
So I think, to me, it's up that scale.I think there's a lot of
concerned around how we ensure that there is equity in how AI is being developed and deployed, because I feel it would be a real missed opportunity if we build into this new sort of platform that will be AI in the future.
It's going to build all the inequities, or if we have all the same blind spots we did for example, with social media, with AI, I think that'd be really unfortunate.
I feel in just the few things I've read and what I've seen, there's the beginning of really exploring how we can ensure that we don't make those same mistakes, which is exciting.
I think to your point about agencies and creatives, I don't know many creative people who are curious, who are genuinely looking to challenge themselves and to push themselves and to stay original in their thinking, who are dismissing AI.
I think everyone's eager to embrace it and understand how it's going to help us do what we do better.Yes, of course, a few people are fearful, but I don't think that's the majority of people in the industry.
That's good to know.That's really interesting.And it's really quite amusing and disappointing at the same time that AI has shown itself to have quite a bias, doesn't it?It can be problematic.So there's definitely some improvements to be made there.
Even the robots get it wrong, Kwame.
But again, it's the systems, right?The people who are building these new tools and these new platforms are just as flawed as you or I. And I think the data sets that are being used to train these neural networks and to
you know, allow them to think and build new worlds with us are missing vast majorities of the human experience because they're only trained on, for example, data from, you know, Western and developed nations versus developing nations, you know what I mean?
And that's the vast majority of the world, actually.So, yeah, I think there's a lot to think through and there's a lot to figure out, but
I'm hopeful that we're going to approach it with caution, but also optimism, because I think that's the balance that's going to allow us to realize the best outcome.
Yeah, we're in charge.We can switch it off.Or can we?
Well, I was going to say, for now.
Yeah, we've all seen Terminator 2.
Yes.I'm hoping the future is not that dystopian, but yes.
Well, you know, I mean, some of the things that it might solve, climate change and all sorts of like diseases and cancer, you know, it could, we're just on the sort of tipping point of, you know, what could be. an incredible era for humanity.
I'm an optimist.Similar to you, I'm very optimistic and I believe that our best days, I believe that my best days are ahead of me.But I also think there's a reality to the fact that if we don't make a lot of informed and thoughtful choices today,
it could lead us down a really bad path.I think a good example of that is, I'm sure the person that invented plastic had the best intentions in the world, but look where we are today and look what's happening in the oceans.
I mean, it's pretty devastating.So again, just being more complete in our thinking and how we approach it will be really useful.
How can the creative industry sort of contribute to that then?I mean, have we got sort of a part to play or is it really just a case of, you know, I mean, what responsibility can we have with these tools?
I think the creative industry, to me, has the most important part to play because what we do is all about filling people with imagination and possibility and
if we are able to do our jobs well and help them imagine that very bright and optimistic future that we've just been discussing, then there's a much greater chance that we'll be able to achieve it, you know, because we're putting out narratives that help us see that, you know, we are not limited in our capability and that we are able to address
the issues of our time and uplift and engage people.And yes, make also lots of money because doing good and making money, it's a force multiplier, you know, it's not one or the other.
I think, yeah, to me, creativity is the most powerful force that we have to allow us to realize that future.
Yeah, it's great to be in it all and be part of it.There's so much more possibilities in future.We're only just getting started.Now you've got this extra responsibility on your shoulders.
It might seem like a simple question, just going back to D&AD, but what is it for?What is it actually for?Just if people don't know what D&AD is, which is ridiculous, I mean, everybody knows what it is, but what is it for?
I wish that were true, by the way, that everybody knew what it was.But first and foremost, D&AD is an educational charity.So founded many years ago, the ambition was quite simple.How do we equip, enable, and stimulate
the next generation of creative talent and, you know, really arm them with the tools and the perspective that they need to go out and to change their craft and change the world, you know, as a sort of a broader goal.
So, I don't know, I think there are very few organizations that are very focused on celebrating the people who make the work. I think there's a lot out there to celebrate the work and the brands.
And so, yeah, being a part of D&AD to me is about how do we ensure that talent see themselves and that talent can be seen, you know?And how are we in a very practical and tangible way inspiring them with the very best work in the world.
And, you know, D&AD is in over 80 countries and I think, to me, it's the highest bar in terms of the craft of what we do.
So it's really about the people pushing the pixels and the people capturing the visuals and the people who are truly hands-on making the work.And how do we then unlock their journey?
And this is a big thing that I want to focus on is we've, I think, done a pretty great job at early career.
So through a program like Shift, which is getting people who don't have a college degree into the industry, giving them their first opportunity to find their feet, or New Blood for recent grads.
And I know so many amazing people who won New Blood awards who are now working in the business in a very impactful way.Fast forward to juries and jury presidents and sort of the titans of the industry, right?The presidents and the legends.
I think we provide an amazing platform for them to speak and to show what they've done and to inspire others.But there's this bit in the middle where when you are a couple of years in, you know,
trying to find your feed, trying to find your voice, there's so much opportunity for us to be meaningful and impactful to people in that journey.
And that's where masterclasses come in, and that's where being able to hop on and chat with you or I comes in.And that's where having these sort of workshops or these training programs will allow for a bit more
successful sort of navigation of the obstacles or of the challenges that you inevitably encounter in any career.To me, that's a lot of the work that needs to be done.
That's great.We're getting to the passionate bit now, Kwame.We're seeing where the kind of motivation really truly is.And it's interesting because you're right.
A lot of the industry, a lot of the media, they focus on the emerging talent coming out of school and college and university. and then maybe the sort of leaders.But what about the middle?
And there's so many people in the middle who are, like you say, they're struggling.And it's tough, isn't it?When you're still trying to find yourself, find your path.You might be making mistakes.You might be at the wrong place of work.
You might be in the wrong career.You know, it's a tough middle ground.So I love that that's going to be your passion project.How are you going to do it?
A, I think it's also born out of just lived experience, right?You know, like there were a few years in the middle of my career where I was very much figuring out where I wanted to fit in and what value I brought to the table.
And as someone who didn't really have a lot of great sort of managers that I built a strong relationship with or didn't really have mentors, especially in the early years in my career.
I feel like that's part of what's been lost, I think, post COVID and the recession and with the industry going through a bit of a contraction.There's just not as much of that
learning on the job and just being around people that have a bit more experience who are willing to share and pour into you and really support you in your journey.
I just think we've become probably a lot more individualistic and very focused on the things that we want to accomplish versus nurturing and sort of growing the next generation.So that's
Yeah, I think there's a lot of opportunity there for not just D&AD, but other organizations to come in and really help people navigate those rocky, well, those sometimes rocky middle years.
Yeah, it's interesting how the pandemic and everything that came out of it fast forwarded a lot of the kind of technology and everything went online.
But then, you know, even with AI coming up around the corner, we realized in the process, actually, we're human and we need people and we need to be with other people in real life.
At least for a little bit longer, you know.If Elon has anything to say about it, we'll all have our robot friends keeping us company.
We'll be living underground.We'll be living underground from the nuclear kind of, you know, fallout.Because the robots.Because they'll have been sick of us for 10 years telling them to like rewrite this thing again or come up with ideas.
We joke, we joke, but the matrix could be real.Oh my goodness.I think, yeah, I feel that there's something quite nice about being able to convene in person and to have that human to human interaction.
And again, it's not taking away from the fact that yes, we will have robots and we will have machines and we will have AI.Like we'll have all that stuff, but I guess I'm a big believer in
You know, remember a couple years ago when the internet first started to become a bit of a thing in our industry and everyone's like, TV's dead and blah, blah, blah.And guess what?
I think we watch probably more TV now than we ever have, you know, because there's like 700, exactly 700 amazing shows and everyone's in their own little
algorithm-fueled bubble, whether you're watching, you know, Stranger Things or if you're watching, you know, some new awesome show on Apple TV, but we're watching a lot more probably now than we did previously.
It's just we're watching it differently, you know, and I think to me it's a bit the same, like we're still as humans going to interact and we're still going to spend time together, we probably just won't do it in the ways that we used to do it.
we'll be doing it in new formats and in new communities that we're going to form.
The other thing I can imagine D&AD does very well and will continue to build on is allowing kids from underprivileged backgrounds from having access to those networks that they may not have had access to before.
And that is so important, having that kind of foot in the door with a big agency or with a creative leader that just wouldn't have been possible even 10 years ago.
That was a huge part of the reason why we decided to invest heavily in making the annual digital.It's a beautiful book, you know, when it was printed for very many years.
And yeah, if you had the privilege of being in an ad agency and you could walk into your creative director's office and pull one of those annuals off the wall and flick through it, it was amazing, right?
But there's so many people who just didn't have that experience or didn't have that access.
And so, and I also think there's a reality to the fact that a lot of the work now is in the digital format and it's in digital media, you know, so even printing it feels like it doesn't do the best job of representing what the spirit of that work is.
So now having it digital, we just released it last week for this year, anyone can hop on and access it.
And inside you have thought leadership from some really smart people on some of the juries who are helping to unpack some of the thinking that went into the work and give context.It's just more useful now as a tool for more people.
You're taking down those barriers to entry.Not that I'm suggesting D&AD had anything to do with that, it's just overall with the industry, it's just making everything more accessible.
If you're a kid growing up in Ghana now, you can have access to all the best London work and know who's the person to contact if that's what you want to do.
I just did a really interesting episode with Holly Howard, who was talking about how social media has become
really oversaturated, it's really difficult to cut through, but one thing you can do as a creative is spend time on five people who might progress your career and nurture those relationships.
And it was just such an honest, obvious tip, but I think one we forget that actually it's the relationships that come about from our work that can lead to so many more things rather than likes and reach.
100%.And I think relationships can be transformative.I think they have been for me in my career.
And knowing how to start a relationship, knowing how to nurture one, knowing how to give 51% of the value to that relationship in order to grow it and to strengthen it, These are all very important things.
And you touched on, I think, something that we often don't talk about, but is so essential to what we do, which is the soft skills. Yes, you can be the most amazing designer using all the tools and just beautiful craft.
But if you don't know how to speak to someone, if you don't know how to make someone feel that you're being present and that you're engaged with them and that you care about what they're sharing or what they're doing, you're only going to go so far.
So I think that's a piece of it that is hugely important and that we need to ensure that we're also teaching and training people up from that perspective.
Where do you start, though, when you get some person come in and they are maybe a little socially awkward?And would you suggest that they go to an acting class or go to some kind of improv?
I hear improv is really big in Brooklyn and New York right now, that you're all going to these classes and standing on a stage and getting out of your comfort zone.I love it.
I think it all starts with your comfort and understanding of yourself, you know?And so I haven't personally done improv, but I've heard many good things.And to be honest, I would like to at some point.
I just have to figure out how I can make the time to do it.But yeah, it's just... confidence building, you know, and you're able to kind of show up and represent yourself in the best way.
And through that, authentically connect with people, because I feel that that's so essential.I think it's if you're looking to build a relationship, you kind of have to be able to be honest and be vulnerable for people to connect with you.
It's part and parcel, you know?And I think, yeah, being able to help people understand that and then help people embody that will be only a benefit, I think, to their journey.
It's such a skill to be able to get on a level with somebody very quickly, because you're often thrown into a room or a podcast or, you know, an interview and you have to in that moment show that there is a little bit of spark to you.
You know, you're not necessarily special, but you're unique and you can sort of empathize and get on a level with that other person.That doesn't just come overnight though, does it?
I credit, I credit my parents a lot on that.I think the,
even with our very sort of eclectic upbringing, you know, moving countries every three or four years and having to sort of reinvent yourself in a way in every new place that you landed, they were always very clear about who we are and, you know,
our family history and our values, and I think that made a huge difference, you know, and I know that not everyone has that sort of upbringing, but I do think it starts at a very young age, the confidence build and the being, you know, sure of yourself and not being cocky, but being confident, you know, there's a difference, you know, but I also think it comes from
many laps around the pool, especially working in advertising, just doing it.I think people say, fake it till you make it.I don't know if that's it.I think you just have to do the work.
If you do the work, and you do it over and over again, and you get really good at it, I feel that it builds your confidence in a way that nothing else can.There's no substitute for actually you know, what did Malcolm Gladwell say, that 10,000 hours?
I just think you have to put in the time.
You do.And I think be humble as well and appreciate that, you know, you aren't going to have all the answers ever, that you're never going to reach.I mean, that's the next thing, isn't it?It's like, what are you reaching for?
Because there's like milestones in your career, but you also have to take a step back and think, what's my kind of goal?I mean, is that something you kind of believe in or have lost sight in sometimes?
And do you have to sort of check in with yourself occasionally and say, why am I doing this?Has there ever been a moment when you've gone, yeah, something has to change?
Oh, you know, the short answer is many moments.You're talking to the guy who, when he was 21, wrote out like a 20-year plan for his life and all the things that he wanted to achieve. and constantly reappraises it.
And again, I don't think everybody has to do that, but I do think you need to have a bit of a plan for what you want or what you think you want.
And then I also think it's important for you to understand the difference between what you want and what you need. And I think I've been spending a lot of time on that more recently, on what do I need?
Because I think, yeah, you can want all this stuff, but is that what's going to fill you up?Is that what's going to keep you motivated and inspired?
So yeah, I think it's good to have a plan, but I don't know that you need to stick to it to a T. You've got to allow for those moments of serendipity or for those,
yeah, unexpected events to affect that plan and to maybe shift you in a direction that you hadn't previously thought of.
Yeah, and would you say you're a minimalist then, you trying to sort of always keep your life as simple as possible?
I always joke that I could leave with no more than a suitcase of stuff and go anywhere.You know, I just, yeah, I feel like I've gotten very unattached to like things.
Definitely attached to people, but to things, I just feel, I just think life's too short, you know, to worry about that stuff.
I think that's wisdom.I think it's like a release that not many people realize until it's too late.You know, you've got all this stuff, what are you going to do with it?You can't take it with you.
You can take the memories and the experiences and the people.
The memories thing is something, again, that's become a lot more present for me.I think over my career I've sacrificed a lot of
life and of living life to be at work and to, you know, sort of achieve and to, you know, make the best idea and that sort of thing.
And I think more recently, and maybe I have, I guess, the luxury to think this way, I'm realizing that it's actually, honestly, the experiences outside of work that help make you better at work, you know?
So you taking that trip or you spending time with
your, you know, oldest friend and, you know, doing an activity or going to see a film or, I don't know, I took a trip this summer with one of my oldest friends to Lisbon, a city I have always wanted to go to and for some reason had just never been.
And it was three days, but it was awesome.You know, we had the best time and I came back inspired because I saw some really amazing art.And we went out and saw incredible architecture.
And I don't know, I just came back very sort of relaxed, but also filled with
a lot of inspiration you know and I think that's that's a huge part of what we do too is is being out in the world experiencing things and letting those things inform the work.
Do you mind me asking how old you are Kwame?
No no no I don't mind at all I turned 41 this year 41.
So so lots of kind of self-reflection and what what do I want my sort of life to be and I feel like I'm kind of there as well, and I'm nodding along to a lot of what you're saying.And it's reassuring to know I'm not alone.
And I'm sure lots of people listening to this will be feeling the same way, especially with everything we've been through.Because it's been quite a decade, hasn't it?And yeah, it's been exhausting, if I'm honest.
I feel like the last, I don't know, four years have felt like 40.
Um, but, um, but yeah, I mean, you know, I think you're also catching me in a very reflective mood because, um, I just, it's, uh, yeah, it's important to think bigger picture about what we're all doing here, you know, and
I think for me, one big revelation was after spending time working at Chobani and seeing how that company and its founder were using their resources and platform to not only make a great product and make it very available for lots of people, but to also materially transform the world.
In the communities where Chobani has factories, investing in hiring refugees, and they're building firehouses and baseball stations, sorry, baseball fields.
They are putting some amazing programs in place to help support farmers, but also doing incredible creative work.This was 2016, 2017, like amazing brand design and some good ad campaigns.
That was hugely inspiring for me to step out and say, you know what? I don't have to check myself or part of myself at the door.
There's so much that I can bring to this creative work that I enjoy doing that can have a bigger outcome and that can have a more significant contribution to the world or to culture.And that was the impetus for Ken, you know, and we're very lucky.
We have some amazing clients in Delta Airlines and, you know, Intuit MailChimp and Ben and Jerry's.
And we're able to do this work that is very exciting creatively, but also just allows us to, yeah, show that we can drive really good business outcomes while we're having some material impact on the issues of our time and the issues of the societies that we're connected to.
You must be so proud of yourself.I mean, your parents too, and your family and your friends that you've been able to carve this creative career out for yourself, but also make such a difference, contribute back.
It just sounds like you've come full circle.
You know, I don't know if I'm proud of myself.I just, I think, I think I'm, I'm very motivated, you know, cause I feel, um, I don't know, growing up and I'm sure it was similar for you at the dinner table, my parents,
my brothers and my sister and I always talked about the issues of our time.
My mom was an architect, so she was also very civically engaged, I guess, and we would often discuss and debate and it was very sort of rowdy, you know, imagine with five kids, but it was also so important and so foundational, you know, and then
I think earlier in my career I found myself pretty far away from that world in just making sort of mostly disposable advertising, you know?
Yeah, we've all been there.
Yeah, and I think it's nice to be back in a place where there's just a bit more significance, I think, to what we're able to help brands see.We're helping them see that there's a lot of money to be made in owning their responsibility to our
our bigger picture.And yes, you have to make a fantastic product.There's no substitute for that.But that product can do more.It can do more.
can, especially with, you know, the profits at play and the people they're working with.And what was the last thing that you did at Kin that you were, you know, not necessarily proud of, but glad happened?
I'm really glad of some work that, I don't know if this is the last thing, but there's a project we did with Uber, who are also, you know, really great clients of ours.And
I was very excited about it because as a company, yes, they've had some challenges in the past, but there's a lot of really good intention there. a massive impact that they can have because of the scale.They're global.
Uber does one thing and it touches hundreds of millions of people.Last fall, they approached us to help them tell the story of the very important work that they're doing in Ukraine.
They are one of the first companies that went back into Ukraine offering free rides to the border, free rides to safety.But they also leaned in in a massive way.
opened up their technology and allowed for the Red Cross to use their technology to help coordinate and deploy resources on the ground.
They allowed for the Smithsonian to go in and to help rescue historical artifacts so they weren't destroyed and lost.And they continue to give rides distributing food, but also taking, you know, injured people from the war-torn areas to safety.
I mean, doing all this really incredible work, but they'd never really spoken about it.So,
We worked with them and I think what we were excited to do was to help them highlight the role that they play, which honestly is providing their incredible network of drivers a platform to deliver this impact.
You know, like Uber's job really is to help lift and give these drivers everything that they need to go in and to do this very important work.So we called the initiative, What Makes a Hero?And it was really about questioning the idea of heroism.
When I say to you Ukraine and hero, I think your mind would probably immediately go to people fighting on the front lines.
it's just as heroic to defiantly live your life and to not succumb to the fear and to the sorrow and to all of the heaviness that is the war.
There's so many everyday heroes in Ukraine who are going to school and they're teaching kids and they're making dinner and they're of course, you know, driving people to safety.
So we told the stories of a few of these incredible drivers who've put their sort of personal needs aside, and they're really serving their country in a really powerful way.
That's just so inspiring.And anybody listening to this, considering a career in creativity, it might not have occurred to them that this is something they could be a part of.They could make a difference.So you're going to be doing that as well.
And I'm sure that's going to be something you're pushing at D&AD too. it's such a great platform to spotlight more diverse voices in the industry as well.Obviously that's a focus, that goes without saying, but how does that sort of happen?
How do you sort of ensure that you are reaching out to a broader spectrum of people across the industry?
actually very focused, because how and where we reach talent that have previously not been included, you know, what I describe often as historically excluded talent, needs to be different than how we have engaged talent, you know, today.
So with a program like Shift, for example, we've been really, really thoughtful.And as we've gone into Sydney and Berlin and Sao Paulo, we've
thought about how and where we can find the kids who are tattoo artists or doing graffiti or doing comedy or, you know, just not in sort of the mainstream creative industry.
And we've done things like, you know, posting on Craigslist, you know, to let them know that Shift exists and pull them into hopefully applying and being a part of the world that we're trying to build.I just think
We've been very intentional, and you have to be, you know, and we are also encouraging a lot of people that we speak to a lot of agencies that we speak to who want to bring in talent that they previously hadn't haven't had.
to interrogate themselves.We're developing a course on the first 100 days.
So if you bring in someone from a diverse background and they don't have a lot of reference points within your company or agency, you can't just expect them to hit the ground running and everything's all good and it's going to be perfect.
there's a reality to the fact that your culture needs to evolve.Things need to change within your four walls in order to make that space much more accepting of and much more comfortable for talent.
And so, yeah, I think doing work in a way on both ends is how we achieve that and being very deliberate. in that approach, because everyone wants the outcome, right?
But there's so many things that are potentially in the way of achieving that outcome, so working hard to remove those sort of hindrances is key.
It's a lot of work, a lot of work to do, but are you seeing a lot of good results so far?Are people responding?
Honestly, I think shift, we're seeing incredible results.For talent that goes through the program, our placement rates are above 70%.They're finding jobs at some really great agencies and they're having success.
They're putting out work that previously wouldn't have been possible for those agencies because they just didn't have that perspective.And so, yeah, I think, It is hard work.It's work that we're committed to and that we're going to continue.
And I think the results will bear themselves out for the companies that choose to lean in and truly commit in a long-term way.
I can imagine if I was to ask you, Kwame, what your legacy would be, you would find that question quite crass.So instead, I'm going to ask you, let's focus on the next generation.
I mean, are you hopeful for their future now compared to maybe what you faced when you first started out in this industry?
I still feel the industry has a lot of promise.I really do.You know, I think with technology, with how much access we now have, I think the industry is more open for sure than when I started, in my view.
I just think we need to continue to motivate people to work in the right direction on a lot of these concerns that we have.And I think in a way, we need to, as an industry, work harder to attract the people that we want.
Because like I was saying to you before, and I think you were agreeing, people have options.They have a lot of options.And we need to make sure that advertising remains one of those top options, or working in design as well, of course.
Because we're not going to go very far.We're not going to innovate. create the impact that we want to on the work and in the world if we don't have the talent.
And yes, let's make sure the talent start out in our industry, but let's also make sure they stay in our industry and don't bleed out.
Yeah, you can't do all the work on your own.
Not yet.And I don't think anytime soon, even with AI helping, you know.
So before we wrap this up Kwame, what's on your mind currently?What's the mission of the week?Because I can imagine if you've got a 20 year plan, there's always a weekly plan or a monthly plan or what am I going to achieve in the next three months?
I mean, what's really on your mind at the moment?I mean, it's just, it'd be so interesting to hear.
I don't know if this is super interesting, but what's on my mind right now, honestly, is visioning the next 20 years.You know, I think, yeah, it's, it's funny, because and I, I really
believe in the power of writing things down, I feel very fortunate that a lot of what I imagined has been realized, you know?And in some cases, a little bit ahead of schedule.
So I think for me, it's, yeah, how can I think through the next 20 years and figure out what I hope and dream might be possible and then get to the work of making it so?
Because nothing is impossible.
Nothing is impossible and we are infinite.
I love it.What a lovely way to end this episode.And I'm going to go and write some things down after this myself.You've inspired me.Well, thank you so much for joining us and chatting through your presidency at D&AD and your career, Kwame.
And I wish you all the best of luck with it over the next 12 months.
This was super lovely.Thank you for taking the time.And yeah, I'm excited to stay connected and we'll compare our 20 year plans maybe in a couple of weeks.
That was Kwame Taylor-Hayford, the new D&AD president and co-founder of Kin in New York.Well, we covered a lot, didn't we?I mean, I loved hearing his mission to empower the next generation of creatives.
It's certainly something that resonates with me here at Creative Boom. And how he feels about the need for more support for mid-career professionals, that's something in the middle that often gets forgotten, doesn't it?
And he also highlighted the importance of human connection in what is an increasingly digital age. I love that I caught him in this moment of reflection because we also looked at so many other things that I wasn't expecting to discuss, if I'm honest.
But we also highlighted the importance of diversity and inclusion, of course, in the creative industry, the hope we have for future generations and the vision for long term goals in one's career.I don't know about you, but I was left feeling
really motivated and I even began to start to write out my own tenure plan that very evening.So thank you Kwame for coming on the show. If you want to find out more about Kwame and his work or D&AD, be sure to check out the show notes for links.
And as always, if you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with your fellow creatives.You can even write to us at letters at creativeboom.com.
Also, a quick reminder, we've got The Spark coming up this Thursday, our new bite-sized bonus episode.So be sure to be tuning in for that.But until then, have a great week.
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