We were lucky to catch up with Mary Zalla recently and have shared our conversation below.

Mary, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.

I grew up on a farm in Kentucky, the oldest daughter of ten children. Needless to say, there were lots of responsibilities. The older kids were expected to help with the younger ones, and of course, there was always work to be done.. We raised beef cattle, corn, hay and tobacco, and I raised horses. Farmers are, by definition, very resourceful. Yes, you’re a farmer in that you grow crops, but you also need to be an agronomist and halfway decent meteorologist as you live or die by the weather. If you have livestock you’re also an amateur veterinarian, and if you have to put equipment in the shop each time it breaks down you’ll go broke so you better be a decent mechanic.

The seasons bring a cadence to life on the farm. In the spring calves are born and fields are planted. In summer there is hay to bale and crops to be cultivated. In the fall there is harvest and after that, fence building and repair. In the winter, equipment repair and fence post cutting. We worked alongside my dad doing all of these things, and yes, he would teach us things (but he never liked to tell us anything twice) but he’d also expect us to learn by observation and just jumping in to the task at hand. Working hard was the price for entry and competence was assumed. I drove a tractor at the age of eight, operated most of the other equipment by age 11 and had my Commercial Driver’s License at 18. That said, I was never much of a mechanic myself. As a result, there were whole days in the winter when I did nothing but hand my dad or brothers tools as they worked beneath a piece of equipment. I remember once being distracted and not quick enough to hand my dad a particular tool. Annoyed that he had to ask for what he needed he instructed: “Pay attention. Don’t make me ask for what I’m going to need. You need to be able to anticipate what’s needed next.” In reality what he was saying is: Be present. Understand the context of what’s going on around you. Don;t go through life in neutral.

I remember many days grumbling about having to work when my friends were going to the amusement park or having sleepovers. There were times I resented the farm and all of the work that it demanded. I remember feeling different than the other kids. Now, the farm is my favorite place to be. I draw so much inspiration for my writing from it. In fact one day I wrote a whole song literally by looking out of the window and listening to the sounds around me.

If my parents taught us anything, they taught us to understand the importance, value and dignity of hard work. Once you know how to work hard, and know that you can work hard, you realize that you can do anything you set your mind to. And this is really the greatest gift of all because it opens up an entire world of possibilities. There is literally nothing you can’t do if you’re willing to learn and work hard. My parents gave us the gift of high expectations and that is a gift that just keeps on giving.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

After graduating with a BA in Journalism and Communications, my first professional job was as a copywriter at an advertising agency. It was a great opportunity, i worked with talented people and I learned so much. From there I went to work client side in marketing for five years, then to another advertising agency focused on innovation and new product development and then went to work for Landor Associates, the world’s largest brand consulting and design firm. I worked for Landor for the last 25 years of my professional career.

I had many opportunities at Landor. When I started I led a team of individuals who developed brand strategy and design for a portfolio of consumer products. From there I went on to lead our new business efforts, then I led our studios in Cincinnati and Chicago, and eventually became Global CEO, overseeing about 25 studios around the world. And I traveled the world. At one point I held Platinum status with two global airlines and became a million miler. It was, and is, a privilege to be able to travel about the world, but I was also a single mother to three young children at the time ( I now have four) and my heart would often break, especially on the way out knowing I was putting miles, and often continents, between us.

I was particularly well suited for the brand and design business for a few reasons. For one, the industry is at once highly strategic and analytical, but also very intuitive and creative. The industry also helps you understand people very well. Human insight lies at the center of any good design. Great design is never an exercise in self-expression. Great design is always done for someone else and in that way it is highly empathic. You can’t design something for someone without knowing them, caring about them, and wanting to do something that makes their life easier, better or more enjoyable.

In my leadership roles at Landor, I largely focused on developing the creative capacities of our teams in all of our studios around the world and to this day, I believe that every single human being is creative. Some are better able to tap into their natural creative capacity more than others, but it is there in each and every one of us. Many people make the mistake of thinking creativity is the ability to do something artistic like paint a picture, or play the piano, but to me that greatly diminishes the true meaning of creativity. Creativity is not a particular skill set, but a mind set. Creativity can be practiced. People can grow their creative capacities and organizations, and leaders, can choose to create the conditions to stifle creativity, or create the conditions and environments to unleash it. I always tried to do the latter.

I retired last year after 35 years of working professionally, and the moment I made the decision to do so, songs and song ideas started flowing into my brain and heart. It sounds crazy I know, but they did. I think there are several reasons for this, but I think the most significant is this: I started my career as a creative person, as a writer. Over time, because I genuinely liked people and had an aptitude for business, I was pulled into the management side of the creative profession. And I enjoyed it. But, it was also highly stressful. There were talented and demanding clients, looming deadlines, very long days and weeks, lots of pressure (as there is when you work for a publicly traded entity) and I was moved further and further from the creative process. Once I knew that pressure was no longer mine to bear, I think my heart and mind burst with pent up creativity. The only songs I had ever written before were parodies. You could give me any song, give me a topic, and I could write a completely new story to an old melody and indeed had done so often over the years for friends, family or colleagues. But now original song ideas were coming to me and I could not get enough. Of course, I look at those songs now and they’re just awful! I may well look back a year from now and think the same thing about the songs I’m writing now. It is a bit of a shift to go from being at the top of one profession, only to put yourself at the very bottom, the very greenest of another. Not everyone could or would do this. But people like me do. Why? Because in our hearts, creative people value their imaginations more than their image. Many people are more image-oriented and would not set themselves up for potential humiliation. Yes, those first songs I wrote are bad. But they had to be written and I know there’s no way I can get to writing great songs until I get the bad ones, and then the good ones out. You always learn more from your mistakes than your successes.

I’ve now been writing lyrics for over a year and a half and learning everything I can about the art, craft and business of songwriting. I have a very, very long way to go, but I’m on the path and loving every single minute of it. It is fascinating, at this point in my life, to be learning a completely new trade and business, and meeting all new mentors and creative collaborators. I feel blessed.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

I love to read. I mostly enjoy fiction, but since I started songwriting I have read many great books on the subject that have taught me so much. Some of these include:

“The Craft of Lyric Writing” by Sheila Davis
“Six Steps to Songwriting Success” by Jason Blume
“Writing Better Lyrics” by Pat Pattison

In my former career I read countless non-fiction books, but my favorite subject is always creativity. I love reading about the human capacity for creativity, the art and science of creativity, and always learning more about how to become ever more creative. There are so many good books on the subject but my very favorite is by Gregory Berns and it’s called “Iconoclast – A Neuroscientist Reveals How to Think Differently” This book covers so much about the human brain and how it is wired for creativity. It also talks quite a bit about how often truly creative and novel ideas and concepts are initially rejected, most of this coming down to the fear response. This response can keep us from creating highly novel things, or from sharing them with others. He teaches many methods for overcoming the fear response. One of my favorite quotes from the book is “Think of fear like alcohol. It impairs judgment. Don’t make any decisions while under its influence.” Brilliant.

I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in learning more about human creativity., and wanting to challenge themselves to build their creative capacity.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I have three main goals and one driving mission. My three goals are:

-Be a better writer than the day before
-Attract high-level, professional collaborators
-Develop working connections and relationships within the music industry

My mission is to one day to hear my songs performed, live, on the radio, behind a movie scene, wherever!

In the meantime, getting back to writing pretty much full time, is an absolute joy and delight. I am having the time of my life and meeting new, interesting, talented and wonderful people on an almost daily basis. I am so lucky!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @maryzallamusic
• Facebook: Mary Zalla
• Linkedin: Mary Zalla

Image Credits

No professional photographers were used for these images.