Kick-Ass Creatives: An Interview with Forbes Listed Creative Director Jolene Delisle

[image: creativeboom]

Interviewed by Megan Willis

Jolene Delisle is the Founder and Creative Director of the branding and creative agency The Working Assembly. It’s been an upward trajectory for her: she’s a Founding Member of Chief, she joined Dreamers & Doers as an Executive Member, spoke at HOW Design Live, was a Design Judge for The Drum, and Judge for the AICP Next Awards. In 2023, she became a Board Member of Type Directors Club. To top it all off, she even owns her own ice cream shop, Cherries (we’re very jealous).

Jolene is passionate about bridging the gap in creativity and tech. She invests, advises and prioritises founder diversity, which is why she caught our eye here at Heroica. We sat down digitally to discuss her creative and professional journey.

Welcome, and thank you for taking the time to talk to Heroica. Tell me, have you always been creative?

When I was six, I found myself newly living in the United States, with an adopted family who not only didn’t look like me, but I also couldn’t communicate with. I had to quickly learn English, all while processing this very confusing, overwhelming change and environment. There was no translator, so I was surrounded by people all day, both at school and home, who I couldn’t talk to. Art became my way of expressing myself and communicating. Art also gave me a chance to be seen for something other than the girl who didn’t look like anyone else in school. When I started getting attention for drawing, it gave me a lot of confidence when I needed it the most.

At what point did you decide to pursue being creative as a career, and what did the beginning of that journey look like for you?

I think I always wanted to do something creative, but I didn’t necessarily know it was going to be design. During college I wound up interning at a magazine and fell in love with the art department and immersing myself in set design, photography, typography and art direction. It was only after getting my BFA and trying to find a job that I stumbled into advertising. I think it was really a great fit because I love storytelling. Through concepting campaigns, you get to explore both copy and art.

What does a typical workday look like for you?

No work day is ever the same for me! I bounce around a lot between advising startups I’m working with, collaborating with my team at TWA on projects we have going on, providing creative direction on copy or packaging or brand work that is in progress, and running between meetings to pick up or drop off for something my kids or, if it’s the summer time, stopping off at Cherries to see how I can help.

What are your favourite parts of the job that you do?

I feel so fortunate to have so many different outlets to be creative, and that I’m able to make a living doing something I really love. Working with my team is so much fun; we have so many different personalities and talented people. It’s energising to make new work and create new brand worlds together. It still blows my mind a little to go into a Target or a Whole Foods and see something that only a year before had been a concept we were sketching on paper or on a whiteboard in our office.

Can you tell me about some of the challenges you’ve faced in your creative career?

The saying ‘Comparison is the thief of joy’ has never been truer for anyone who is in a creative career. It’s so easy to get down on yourself about work that you see out there, or people you encounter who seem to have it all figured out. I lost a lot of time (and sleep!) trying to be like everyone else. It was only when I let any preconceived notion of what I should be doing go that I found happiness in creating, making, and building instead. I think women especially can really want everything to be perfect before we step out and try something new or put ourselves out there. I realised that half the fun is figuring it out along the way – you’ll never be ready until you jump in and say you are. It’s true for work and also for life.

Most of your team is female and over half of your clients are women-founded companies. Is this a conscious choice? Can you tell me why diversity is a driving value of your approach, and how you think it has impacted your creative journey?

I spent most of my career until building The Working Assembly being employed by and working with majority male teams and male leaders. I was lucky in that I had great experiences with some pretty incredible bosses who believed in me and provided opportunities to advance my career. I’ve also never been one to shy away from a challenge or a crowded room and willing and ready to work really hard. I just knew that in order to succeed as a woman, I needed to work even harder and win more awards or clients to get there than the men around me.

I think when building this company, I wanted to change the makeup of who was around me, who I was able to guide and mentor and shift that dynamic. I love advocating for women, and I really enjoy not having to shout or jump up and down to do it. And if we can choose our clients, I am going to do whatever I can to support diverse founders and women entrepreneurs whenever possible. I’m committed to being a cost-efficient resource for underrepresented founders because it’s important we shift the landscape and do whatever we can to level the playing field.

In an interview with Debbie Millman, you said that your biggest regret was your twenties. Many in Heroica’s community, myself included, are currently struggling through this era of our lives. What advice would you give to us?

Your twenties are kind of amazing because you are free and unencumbered to explore and find what you love to do, and the people, friends, and places you will love. But a lot of us – myself included – spend most of that time with a lot of anxiety and panic that we haven’t figured everything out right away. It’s the pressure to find the right person, the right job, to get your life together in whatever way you envisioned it was ‘supposed’ to be. It’s really only when you don’t project or assume and do everything out of fear of not getting it ‘right’ that you can discover and find where you’re meant to go. But of course, it’s easier said than done. My advice would be to be kind to yourself and give yourself the grace to mess up, have fun and figure it out. I promise it will all happen as it’s supposed to.

And do you have any words of wisdom specifically for those looking to get into a career in creative communications?

Put yourself out there – don’t expect anyone to make it easier for you or open some magical door that just gets you a big career. Do the work, put in the time, and make lots of ugly, embarrassing stuff until you get to the beautiful, unique and incredible stuff. Take every project and job without worrying so much about specifics like the exact salary, the title or what you think it all should be – just learn from every experience and person who is willing to teach you.

I’d love to wrap up by giving you a chance to flip the script. Can you leave me and those reading with a question to reflect on?

I read a quote once that said ‘Never follow your dreams. Follow your effort.’ If you think about it, dreaming is easy. It’s the stuff you enjoy putting your time into that leads to success. I remember during a particularly challenging year of work and life, I started writing down the things that made me feel accomplished and that I really enjoyed doing. It helped me take stock of the things I was good at and also felt good about. I would ask anyone reading to reflect on this. Where is your effort every day going? Follow that.