‘Say yes to opportunities to learn’: Exceptional Women Out West live in Portland
In our first live taping of Exceptional Women Out West in front of an audience, at September’s WPI North America meeting in Portland, we were pleased to include three truly exceptional and interesting advertising professionals.
Lori Bartle, president of MeringCarson in Sacramento, Mary Knight, ECD at Hydrogen in Seattle and Andeen Pitt, partner at Wasserman and Partners Advertising in Vancouver joined us on stage and shared a great deal of wisdom and perspective on their work, lives, the state of the industry — and there was plenty of candor to go around.
Bartle shared a story about how she was perceived as “arrogant” — when, in fact, it’s likely her Midwestern roots, steeped in pragmatism was misconstrued. Knight discussed the importance of relevance and how extra cheese flavor on a Doritos chip made her realize this was the case. Pitt weighed in on the vitality of inclusion and how we, as an industry, should be talking more about it and including more people in the abundance the marketing industry creates.
The conversation also included riffs on curiosity, not ignoring the voices of others and, echoing the spirit of the Portland gathering, why independence is such a big deal.
A wide-ranging conversation and a most enjoyable maiden effort in bringing the views of women from Western North America together in one place and live, in front of the industry.
Exceptional Women Out West is a podcast that highlights and celebrates both the great achievement, lives and POV of amazing women in the Western US and Canada. Listen to previous episodes here. If you would like to nominate women out west to be part of the show, please contact North America Editor at Large, Doug Zanger.