Stephen’s career has taken him from agency life at Ogilvy to building creative teams at Meta and Reddit, and now to leading creative client-side at Force of Nature Meats. He’s seen the business from just about every angle — and he’s got the scars to prove it. There’s plenty more where these came from, so make sure you check out the full episode.
Stephen came up in the era of blackboards and big concepts where the goal was simple: make cool shit. But his move to Meta forced a shift in perspective. Performance data, audience insights, and media strategy shaped the work in real time. And now, when brand storytelling and performance align, that’s when things get really interesting.
It’s easy to convince yourself you’re helping by recommending more formats, more versions, more optimizations. But at some point, you’re just adding complexity instead of strengthening the big idea.
Creative leaders, even inside performance-driven environments, have to protect the work.
From being a part of Meta’s biggest growth years to launching KarmaLab at Reddit, speed was the default setting for much of Stephen's career.
But constant acceleration isn’t sustainable. Stephen realized that moving fast is only a superpower until it burns you out or causes you to miss what’s actually happening around you.
The takeaway? Knowing when to slow down is a leadership skill. Pace yourself. Listen more. Adjust when needed. Repeat.
