We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Barbara Gorder. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Barbara below.

Barbara, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Have you ever had an amazing boss, mentor or leader leading you? Can you us a story or anecdote that helps illustrate why this person was such a great leader and the impact they had on you or their team?

I was lucky to work for outstanding women in the advertising industry. The best one was Judith Werme, who hired me in my first job as an art director for DDB in Chicago. She was 12 shades of crazy, but seriously, she was the only person I ever knew who was a great advertising writer and the best new business person to manage, hire, and teach a team that all went on to great things. She had a nose for talent. I had never worked as an art director–only as a designer–I had a 20-minute interview, and she sent me down to HR. The HR person said, “I can’t hire her, Judith. She doesn’t have a National ad in her book.” Judith said, “Just f*cking hire her, Jan. I needed her yesterday.” Pretty much every person in her group went on to become famous at some level–from Chief Creative Officer to creating award-winning campaigns to be the best at a new business in Chicago for another company. We had a bar at the secretarial station. I only went against her once, and she taught me why THAT was a bad idea. She taught us what joy meant in advertising–there was nothing like excellent copy, especially for sleepy and old-school advertisers. She taught us tenacity and the ability to fight strategically for our work.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My first job was working for Type Designers, a small business in Chicago. All the work was done by hand. I went on to work for large advertising agencies in Chicago: DDB and Leo Burnett. I left Burnett in 2003 and started my consultancy and agency. There isn’t a category line of business I haven’t worked on. I started doing remote work in 2009 when I moved to California. When I began Undisclosed Location, I had an unusual model–I put together bespoke teams for clients of talented freelancers and production companies. Now, lots of people do it. I left the agency world because I liked business and strategy work, but as a highly paid creative director, they didn’t want well-rounded people. I got lucky because, at the dawn of the digital era, my boss didn’t like that kind of work–so I learned a lot fast. I was also the first creative to embrace media partnerships, which has served me well in various ways. My best commercial was the one I created when we went to South Africa after apartheid was over and shot the SA Olympic team for Reebok. I’ve worked with many athletes, although I have never been one myself: Shaquille, Magic Johnson, and many others. I’ve worked on lots of start-ups, and I love that work. I have been a contract CMO many times. Now, I’m trying to save the wine business and launch a campaign later this year. Advertising is a challenging game. But the people are amazing. I feel the same about the wine business. Lots of eccentrics, And they might have a degree in Chemistry or poetry–but they are committed to wine as part of an 8,000-year-old continuum. The community is fantastic.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

Creative people see the world differently—they just do. I spent about 10 years angry about that.
I advised my stepson (a filmmaker) that he needed to know that they didn’t mean that unkindly (mostly), but it was incumbent on creative people to help noncreative people see and understand their vision. Find the way to be a teacher. Take another stab at it. Be understanding. Angry doesn’t work.

I think the more left-brain thinkers read about the creative process, the more they understand it.

The other thing is to find the baby steps to trust. Get people to take a step towards you. Don’t expect they will swallow the entire enchilada in one sitting.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

Network. Network. Network. Find something interesting to say to a new person at a party. Treat the other people in your agency with respect. When they grow up they will be your clients.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.unlo.com
• Instagram: @unlogorder
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbara-gorder-7a27a4/