I must admit that in 2011 when I first started working with fluent360, or Team Ignition as it was called back then, I really was kind of confused. Back then, Team Ignition had a strange setup in my young creative opinion. Nissan was the client, but the creative wasn’t in-house. They farmed that out to various multicultural agencies.
I was confused because at my agency, we had our own creative and account service teams, and Team Ignition felt like another set of account people to present to. We’d get briefs, come up with ideas, and then present them internally to accounts. If they liked our ideas, we’d present them to Team Ignition, and if they liked them, we could present them to the client. You can see how it may have started a few arguments.
But eventually, we gelled and produced some great campaigns. We launched models like The Juke and the Versa, and I created… get ready for this… WEB BANNERS, for the first time in my career. I got to know Alex Fino and Danielle, and we grew to respect each other.
Once I resigned from my previous agency, I thought my run with Team Ignition had ended, but in 2016, I got a call from Hector, who was now with “fluent360” to come freelance. It was a real agency now. They needed an extra hand on some projects for a bit. I accepted and freelanced for a few months. The office in the AON center wasn’t too big, but it seemed like they had some cool people, and the work was interesting. When my contract was done, I went back to my own business, thinking once again, that was that.
I was wrong.
In May of 2017, I got a call from Alex telling me they were looking for a new Executive Creative Director and asked if I was interested. At the time, I had my own little shop, had started my own Tequila brand, and was living in Dallas, so I politely passed. The next day he called again and told me they’d like to fly me up to at least hear what they had to say. I believe my exact thoughts were…
You wanna fly me up to Chicago? Fine. I’ll take a trip and enjoy the sights.
My first meeting was a breakfast near the office with Danielle. I showed up early and took a table. When she arrived, her first words were, “Why are you trying to play hard to get?” I laughed, and the rest is history. Within a month, I had accepted the role, and within two months, I was living in Chicago. That was 6 years ago this July.
A lot of things have changed since I joined fluent360.
Back then, we were barely cracking 20 employees, and now we’re near 100. We had a small corner of a floor rented from DDB in the AON center, and now we almost have an entire floor. I had 2 creatives and an intern, and now I have 23 creatives and interns every summer. I can honestly say it’s been the most rewarding and interesting journey I’ve had in my 24-year career.
It’s been perfect for me because I get to do what has always driven me, giving a voice to communities that have been underrepresented. And the reason that drive is still in me is because it’s constantly fueled by the unique voices, perspectives, and ideas I see from our employees daily.
I’m gonna ride this thing till the wheels fall off, or as one of my favorite colleagues Jamiel Hussain says, “Till they roll me outta this piece.”