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

Nicole, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear your thoughts about family businesses.

I love the idea of creating a family business. Growing up, I always thought it was a really special thing that my uncle and father had started their own business together. They ran an employment agency that worked with the warehouse industry. They would send pickers, packers, and truck drivers to warehouses and work with big-name companies like Gucci and Ferraro candy. As a child, I tagged along when my father visited those places. I also loved going to the office and listening to my father do business.

I didn’t join the company right away like my brother did; I wanted to do my own thing. But a few years into my career, I decided to give it a try. From the inside, it looked a little different. There was a revolving door of family members who were given jobs. Some were terrific, others weren’t, and some were not good at all.

But here’s what I took away from it: working with family isn’t the problem; a lack of accountability is. Whether it’s your sibling, cousin, friend, or your closest colleague, people need to be held to the same standards. You have to be clear about boundaries, expectations, and consequences.

That’s something I’ve carried with me into my work at The Clios. In many ways, we feel like a family—we’re small, we’re close, and we genuinely care about each other. But I’ve learned that doesn’t mean compromising on what’s right. If someone’s not showing up in whatever way, you have to act.

Kindness and accountability aren’t opposites. In fact, the best teams have both.

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

I’m the CEO of The Clios, a global awards platform that celebrates bold creativity across advertising, entertainment, music, health, sports, and more. I took over The Clios almost 15 years ago when it was a legacy brand that had lost its luster. Since then, we’ve grown to over 40 people and launched four additional successful verticals.

Apart from my time in the family business, my background is in experiential marketing. Before the Clios, I co-owned a company that put on events for Fashion Weeks in Miami, New York, and LA. We partnered with Elle Magazine and held shows for people like Russell Simmons. Unfortunately, my business partner wasn’t honest with me, and the business suffered. I realize now that I hadn’t done enough vetting before jumping into that relationship. I loved the work, but I had to walk away.

I then went to Prometheus Global Media, which owned Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, and Adweek. They also owned The Clios. I spent time developing events for all these brands and enjoyed the variety in the work. At one point, my boss asked me which brand I wanted to focus on. I’m pretty sure he expected me to say Billboard or The Hollywood Reporter – the better-known/sexier brands — but I wanted The Clios.

The Clios had been a huge deal years before, but they had lost much of their influence and cultural relevance under their prior owner. I was convinced that The Clios could be great again and much bigger than they had been. In my vision, it wasn’t just an awards show; it was a brand.

When I came in, I made it clear to all of our partners that I respected the industry and believed many of the people in it were true creative geniuses. I saw value there and wanted to celebrate it.

Over the years, we’ve expanded by launching Clio Health, Clio Sports, Clio Music, and Clio Entertainment in addition to expanding The Clio Awards. While advertising is at the heart of everything we do, each of these industries brings its own energy, audience, and creative standards, which is why they deserve their own dedicated awards and judging processes. I’m excited to say that we’re preparing to launch a new vertical for content creators and influencers who are at the heart of today’s advertising industry.

I’m proud of everything we’ve done and energized by the momentum behind The Clios. I can’t wait to keep growing the brand and celebrating the best in creativity across all of advertising, branding, and marketing.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

It’s actually a pretty big lesson, as I had to unlearn my original leadership style. I’m going to be very honest: I had to stop being an (unintentionally) intense leader who yelled a lot. And I had to become a leader who showed the empathy that I felt.

I come from a strong Italian family. My parents were incredibly loving and generous, but they didn’t go easy on people. That same intensity showed up in the family business, and for a long time, I believed that was just how leaders were supposed to act.

All of the mentors I had early in my career were men, and all of them reinforced this mindset. But over time, I realized it wasn’t working.

One of the people who helped me shift was Brooke, our head of marketing at The Clios. She’s been there since the beginning, and she leads with so much empathy. We balance each other well, but more than that, she helped me see the impact of my own behavior. There were moments she’d gently pull me aside after a meeting and say, “Maybe ease up a bit.” She wasn’t criticizing—she was helping me grow.

It’s not easy to unlearn patterns that have been with you your whole professional life. But now, I try to pause before reacting. I think through my responses, even when I’m frustrated. And I’ve found that when you lead with love, empathy, and grace, people will follow you in a better way than if they are doing it out of fear.

There are a lot of people on my team who have been with me for eight or ten years, so something must be working.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I started by going out and asking questions. I looked at The Clios as a way to build communities, and you can’t do that by telling people what to do. I wanted them to tell me what they needed.

At the same time, The Clios only work if they have legitimacy. When we took over the Key Art Awards, which later became The Clios Entertainment, there was a sense that the larger agencies could control the awards and decide who would win based on their size, budget, or perceived importance. If it really worked like that, though, it would be meaningless.

I’ve been a stickler for the non-biased judging process. We built a bunch of different awards and verticals in part so that entries in each can be judged by their peers. When we bring together industry leaders to judge, everybody knows that if you worked on a piece being reviewed or even knew about it in advance, you must leave the room for that decision. Others can’t talk freely if they’re worried about offending a fellow creative.

Early on, there were a bunch of branded entertainment bigwigs in a room, and we asked the chair to step out while we talked about one entry he’d worked on. We had some questions about the work, and a few people tried to get me to bring him back in because he’d know the answers. I said no because that wouldn’t be fair; none of the entries had someone who could lobby for them in person. One of the judges snapped back by saying, “Oh, Nicole, life isn’t fair.” Nope, not on my watch. Life might not be fair, but our judging has to be, or we won’t have any legitimacy. I think that high standard has helped build a good reputation for the organization and me.

As for my own reputation, I just try to help everyone I can. I’m very lucky, I get to honor people for what they do. I want to pass some of that luck on and support people, whether helping them find a job or just being a sounding board. Why not be there for people? When Ogilvy won network of the year last year, Liz Taylor accepted the award. In her speech, she thanked me by name and said, “Nicole has greatness with goodness.” That was just the nicest compliment anyone could have given me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.Clios.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicolepurcell_nyc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheClios/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-purcell-4233325/