Wildwood Talent

Fancy a cheeky Founder Focussed bitesized listen from Natalie Graeme?It's 7 minutes of expertise from one of our favourite founders, to round off our Founder Focus month.Natalie reflects on life, 9 years into her Uncommon Creative Studio lifespan:how Nat always wanted to be a founder but considered it a pipe dream, until she met her Founding Partners.advice for anyone starting an agency today. how to help back entrepreneurs.

Lucy Jameson's interview is one of my favourites. Her absolute confidence in the company she has built, alongside Nils and Natalie, has never faltered (and I don't think ever will). And even with hindsight, she wouldn't change one single thing about their journey and rise to success. Lucy's confidence and brain shine through but so does her ability to laugh and share more vulnerable moments, for example, how she struggles with being seen as a leader.We sunk into the little blue sofa and discussed: - whether her ambitions have been realised 9 years into Uncommon's lifespan.- the power of 'no' in shaping the agency. - how to have a healthy argument in creatively tense moments.- how she doesn't see herself as a leader. - that laughing is one of the best parts of our job.Did I ever think that 2 out of 3 Uncommon founders would say yes to After Work episodes? Absolutely not. Are you next, mighty Nils Leonard? Let's make it a hat-trick 😉

Producers - this one's for you.You are some of my favourite people.Problem-solvers, leaders, multitaskers. Without you, we'd be nothing.So I thought I'd grab two of the top Chief Production Officers, from two of the top creative agencies, to have a chat. We discussed:what a CPO actually does.how moving from producing to leading the department is a big transition. production as the 4th leg of the agency table.how these brilliant CPO's help their department avoid burnout and help retain working parents.how AI enhances production. Thank you, Stephen Ledger-Lomas and Emma Davenport. Friends in conversation really light up our sofa.

Strategists, this one's for you!For our final, festive After Work Drinks episode of the year, we cherry-picked two of the best, funniest and most approachable strategists in town. Oh, and they are mates, so the sofa chem was on point. We knocked back some drinks and discussed: 🧠 what a CSO actually does. 🧠 how the role has changed over the years. 🧠 the need for resilience in the role. 🧠 whether their department can be seen as intimidating. 🧠 how to be a concise wordsmith, with sticky bits of language. 🧠 whether the majority of their department are happier working solo or in collaboration?

Our first episode of the year covered a conversation about instinct, experimentation, chaos and why thinking more like an artist might be the future of strategy.Oh and a bit about her amazing co-Founder, Sir Idris Elba. (I might have repeated his name a few times, to get that tiny bit closer ☺️).For our first sofa chat of the year, we discussed:✨Why Alien Baby was called Alien Baby.✨The pros and cons of having an artist as a co-Founder.✨How artists’ instinct-led ways of working allows for experimentation.✨Brands releasing their inner artist.✨Founding a business that supports navigating Maternity Leave alongside your own career growth.

Our sofa chat with Helen explored leadership without ego, preserving culture (while evolving it) and why emotional intelligence & perseverance matter more than ever in creative agencies.We sipped herbal tea, marvelled over how high my heating was turned up (I may have gone into winter over-kill) and had a lovely 13 minute chat about leadership: ✨ In a new role, how enhancing magic (rather than shaking things up) can be more effective. ✨ Emotion and vulnerability in leadership, why advertising talks about it more than it practices it. ✨ Flexing your style of leadership - knowing when to inspire, when to energise, and when to simply listen. ✨ Perseverance in a culture obsessed with efficiency.