We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Katie Facada a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Katie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

The most important thing I’ve learned in advertising is something we call “craft.” Craft is not just about the medium or the technology we use—rather, it’s how we elicit emotion and tell a story.

In a way, crafting your work is just making a bunch of decisions. Someone decided to have the person playing the drums to Phil Collins actually be a gorilla instead of a person (Cadbury “Gorilla”). Someone decided to play “Where is My Mind” by the Pixies as the world ends in Fight Club. Someone decided to use toy balls bouncing down a hill to move people to tears (Sony Bravia “Balls”).

Taste and knowledge can help with these decisions, but ultimately it’s bigger than “I like this song” or “NFTs are cool right now” or “the client loves horses.” You have to feel what’s right for the idea, to find the rationale. This is so important because it gets everyone on the same page, not just people who like the Pixies, NFTs or horses. It takes the conversation into the realm of what you’re trying to achieve with the work. Without it, you won’t be able to explain to anyone, or even yourself, what you’re doing and why (and you will be a mess on every shoot).

So how do you learn this? Craft is like a muscle that you work. A lot of us don’t do it because we spend more time making decks than making amazing work, so we are getting stronger at the wrong things. But you can work your craft muscle anytime. Become a voracious reader, movie/comedy/short film watcher and music listener. When you watch a movie, ask yourself what made a scene so good. Play with imagining different decisions, whether it’s in the writing, editing, music, timing, performance, etc. What could have made it better, and what would have ruined it? Notice how you feel. Do it with your own work too. If you’re not making work, go out and shoot photos, or write something, even if it’s just a tweet.

Work your craft muscle constantly, but when you’re in the creative process, just relax and have fun. You don’t want to be sitting in a straightjacket. Let go of everything you know. It always comes down to completely emptying your mind so you can put something original out into the world. It’s equally about being strong and letting go.

Katie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I got into advertising the same way most people did—being genuinely awestruck and inspired by the work that was done before me. Apple “Think Different” was my biggest inspiration. The second I heard “Here’s to the crazy ones,” I was hooked.

I started as a strategist and eventually switched to the creative side, working at shops like BBH and R/GA in New York. I also teach fitness and yoga, and my ability to be in my body helps me so much creatively. We creatives tend to forget about our bodies (and usually mistreat them). In doing so, we forget that all of our best ideas come when we are in our most natural state, which is calm, relaxed, easeful, and open. In the stress of a high stakes environment, we close up and tense up and stop the flow of breath, energy, emotion and inspiration, which we very much need.

I feel so lucky to spend my life creating little pockets of space in this world where people can feel, whether it’s through a good laugh while watching an ad, or a fitness class that brings them back to their bodies, breath and hearts. Feeling is absolutely the most profound thing that a human can do.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

When I was in ad school for Brand Strategy, I had this deep desire to be on the creative side instead. When I told them, they asked me to reapply to the program, and unfortunately I didn’t get accepted. It was tempting to stay in strategy, get my Master’s Degree and spend my final year of the program with my friends in a city that I loved. But I knew that I had to be at a school that saw me the way I saw myself: as a writer. So I did the hard thing and went out to SF to start all over again. I am so happy I did. Trust me when I say, it’s not enough to just believe in yourself. Go and find the people who see your talent. They are out there. Everything opens up when someone believes in you, and you won’t have to convince them (advertising is actually not about convincing, anyway).

Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

I don’t care about them at all.

Contact Info:

• Website: katiefacada.me
• Instagram: @katiefacada
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/katiefacada
• Twitter: twitter.com/katiefacada

Image Credits
Alexis Peterson Taryn Toomey The Class by Taryn Toomey R/GA New York