In the Director’s Chair

What personal trait has helped you most as a director?

"Patience for the journey, for myself, and for others; I truly believe mistakes are crucial to learning, and no question is a silly question. If anyone on my team needs help and asks for it I think that is a strength, not a weakness, and I’ll help. That mindset has allowed me to make time to understand other people’s pressures, their working processes, and the steps it takes to move from concept to final creation - which makes me better. It also creates a more supportive culture. When people feel safe to ask questions and make mistakes, the work improves and so does the experience of creating it."

How do you identify the right-fit clients for Whitenoise?

"After 25 years in business, we (almost) know what works for us. There’s a phrase in our industry: clients often want good, fast, and cheap - but realistically they can only pick two to prioritise. The same principle applies to client fit. In an ideal world, the right-fit client would be well-funded, open-briefed, and brilliant to work with, but in reality, there’s always a compromise.

We’ve created clear groupings of clients:

• Design for Good - these are often charities we love working with and enjoy supporting. The budgets can be more restrictive, but the relationship and impact are worth it.
• Our larger corporate clients - often more brand-guideline bound, producing high volumes of assets. They value our speed, reliability and precision - and they pay fairly for it.
• Our in-between clients - which we assess case by case.

Meeting in person is often our litmus test. It’s almost like a mutual interview. While they’re assessing us, we’re assessing the potential for long-term partnership on terms we value."

What’s something the industry doesn’t talk about enough?

Failures and flops.

"We are all so busy chasing the next win that I don’t think we don’t reflect on losses enough, or show how we learn from them. Our industry is very focused on showcasing polished work that it can look like everything runs seamlessly, problems never arise and clients automatically respect the work without question. It doesn’t always work like that.

At Whitenoise, I am adamant there is truth in everything, so if a client claims we haven’t hit the brief - even if we think we did everything possible - we revisit it and learn from it in any way we can.

Sure, we have awards, accolades and 25 years of success under our belt, but the road there includes misunderstandings, tough briefs, missed opportunities and ideas that never find their home. Talking about failures and flops helps to build resilience, adaptability and compassion.

• Resilience to keep pushing forward.
• Adaptability to meet clients where they are.
• Compassion to see all sides of the story.

If we want well-rounded creatives, we need to normalise talking about the slow days and the outright flops - not just the awards."

What kind of culture are you intentionally building at Whitenoise?

"I want Whitenoise to be known as a creative hub that fosters talent and creates a safe environment for people to grow and thrive. I want us to create work we’re proud of, enjoy producing, and that delivers measurable impact for our clients - resulting in long-term partnerships. We lead with respect, but if you can handle the banter, you’ll get that too. We take our work seriously, but as a smaller agency we have the luxury of remembering we’re not performing life-or-death surgery, and that balance of levity and professionalism matters.

My approach is simple:

• Set high standards.
• Set clear expectations
  
• Let the team work. 

Trusting your team to work in the ways that bring out the best in them is crucial because whilst micromanagement feels like a shortcut, it kills creativity.  

It’s a journey and there is always more to be done, but the team we have right now is undoubtedly the best we have had in years, and ready for big things this year."