We recently connected with Shivali Bennion and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Shivali, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

A study in 2022 found that 39% of UK agencies employ no people from underrepresented ethnic groups.
More recently, another study announced that only 7% of creatives come from working class backgrounds.

Less than 1% of agencies are founded by women.

I co-founded Shaded, the Studio, with Cassi Idun not thinking about these stats at all – we just wanted to help brands grow their DTC with revenue-driving, creative strategies. However, it would give the agency a disservice if we didn’t mention the obvious, which is that there is an under-representation in leadership positions, especially agency side,

Both Cassi and I are going against all odds, as mixed-heritage, born working-class and female. Whilst these factors haven’t stopped us from getting to where we are today, I think it’s important that we acknowledge that they are factors that could hold us back, even if this is just simply being the only ones in the room in our positions.

In addition, we’ve also spent years pioneering true representation in our campaigns; not just from a racial identity perspective, which is typically the first thing people think when we speak about representation, but also from an age, gender and lifestyle diversity perspective.

At Shaded, we think brands should represent all types of customers from the very beginning of the campaigns inception. Even if a brand cannot afford the model mix of leading brands like Fenty Beauty, Rare or Charlotte Tillbury, making all of their potential customers feel included via language and visual choices is also equally important.

We help brands navigate not only the complexities of representation, but also guiding brands on the right messaging, adapting to the channels, at the right time and place – which is essentially what advertising has always been about.

On a personal note, that’s also why I’m on the board of the 100 Allies project, a brand ambassador for Oxford Talks and a Friend of the Access Project; all companies helping support social mobility to help step change.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Shaded, the studio, aims to master the art of DTC – simplifying the complexities of content strategy and provide brands with actionable steps on how to grow their digital marketing.

We have two founders, Cassi Idun and myself, Shivali Bennion:

Shiv is all about numbers. She loves them the most when they are green and hates them when they turn red…

Her technical background across key channels means she can analyse whether the correct structures are being implemented, to make the most from your creatives.

She can also identify any key areas of opportunities in the P&L for more revenue or profit depending on the brand’s goals, and has personally managed over $20M in marketing spend.

Whether it’s from an acquisition or retention perspective, Shiv’s creativity comes from marketing tactics, media planning and big pitcher thinking.

Before joining Shaded as a Co-founder, she was MD of DTC Live, a community of over 4,000 brands, and Bolt Digital, a end-to-end marketing agency. She’s consulted on projects like training the team at The Inkey List, Absolute Collagen, Fang Collective and Naydya, alongside account managing for delilah cosmetics, Gatineau and Frances Prescott.

Before joining agency side, she worked brand-side for over five years focussing on digital strategies for Sophia Webster, Wonderbrow and Noughty.

Whether it’s being Head of DTC, consultant or senior account director, Shivali has helped multiple businesses grow three figures YoY; from brands achieving their first million to supporting multi-million dollar brands (and one brand over a billion at Jimmy Choo).

Co-Founder Cassi is the creative genius behind Shaded and the reason why this started. She had successfully been running her own business, Friday the agency, for over two years working with a range of incredible clients like Proto-col, Studio10 and ThisWorks.

As a seasoned creative with over 10+ years in the creative industry, Cassi is a Brand and creative marketeer with a demonstrated history of building viral brands and scaling revenue within the beauty and wellness industries. Strong entrepreneurship professional skilled in Content Strategy, Social Marketing, Email and Paid Advertising, Brand Identity, Art Direction and Production.

In a nut-shell, unlocking revenue opportunities with creatives 🎨

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

Cassi and Shiv met whilst working for a leading haircare brand back in 2020. They both interviewed for the same role but their complimentary skill sets were spotted and the brand made room to hire both to lead the content and digital marketing departments. Cue a global pandemic, a friendship forged through Microsoft Teams and a working relationship that has thrived ever since. The rest is history…

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I’ve pivoted throughout my career and it’s one of the reasons why I feel like I’ve been able to achieve everything I have.

For example, I once got my dream job, for a brand I’ve loved for years. It was in an industry I knew and loved, Fashion. The team was lovely and the offices were beautiful. But I gave in my resignation letter in my probation meeting. Why? Because I was terrible at it. It was everything I thought I wanted but it ended up being something that just wasn’t right for me.

Similarly, I had historically always been brand side until I was asked to join an agency (the role was created specifically for me to join). Despite it being different to what I knew, I really enjoyed being able to make a lot of businesses succeed rather than focussing solely on one.

I think pivoting is one of the most important things you can do, even when something is working but could be better.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://shadedthestudio.com/
• Instagram: @shivalijasmine
• Linkedin: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/shivalijasmine