Growing Into the Creative I’d Want to Work For

No. 4

Lately, I have been thinking less about where I want to end up and more about who I want to be while getting there. Not in a vague, aspirational way, but in a practical, everyday sense. The kind of creative I would genuinely want to work for. The kind of presence that makes the work better, the room lighter, and the process feel electric.

Right now, at the beginning of my professional timeline, I feel curious, confident, and excited. Confident in what I can bring to a team, and just as excited about everything I still have to learn. I am early enough in my career to be open, observant, and absorbing everything around me, and far enough along to know that energy matters as much as skill. The environments that shaped me the most were never quiet or cautious, they were charged with momentum.

I have seen firsthand how contagious excitement can be. At Johannes Leonardo, it was my first real exposure to agency life, and the first time I realized work did not have to be something you simply endured. People cared. They were animated, opinionated, deeply invested. That summer, alongside Cannes Lions, rewired my idea of what a career could feel like. Later, at FCB, the pace was fast, the workload heavy, and the expectations high, but no one treated that as a burden. Everyone around me was doing just as much and somehow still excited about it. That kind of energy pushes you to rise. It makes you want to do your best work, not because you are afraid to fail, but because you are surrounded by people who care deeply.

Big Dreams, Big Shoes.
Baby Milla

Over time, I have realized that the creative leaders I admire most share a few defining traits. The first is taste, always first. Unmistakable, instinctive taste. They know when something is good before it is approved, tested, or explained. Their references come from culture, not trends. They edit ruthlessly, not to diminish ideas, but to protect them. Restraint is part of their craft.

The second is creative risk taking with intention. Not chaos, not shock for the sake of it, but bravery rooted in instinct. They trust their point of view and can defend it calmly. They push work further without needing to dominate the conversation. They are not afraid of being wrong. They are afraid of being boring.

The third is collaboration without ego. These are the people who make a room feel safe for ideas to exist. They ask good questions. They listen. They give juniors a collaborative role rather than treat them like assistants. They elevate the work without needing credit attached to their name. Their confidence does not come from being the loudest voice in the room, but from knowing when to make space.

Just as important are the things I know I do not want to become. I am deeply turned off by playing it safe, by thinking small, and by ego driven behavior that shuts down collaboration. I have no desire to be in rooms where someone needs to dominate the conversation to feel in control, where ideas feel suffocated rather than encouraged. Creativity needs oxygen. When someone takes up all the space, there is no room for anyone else to contribute.

Outside of agencies, the places that shaped me reinforce the same values. Cities like Chicago, where I grew into myself creatively. Shanghai, where living within an international community expanded my worldview entirely. Brazil, where my roots remind me that culture, rhythm, and storytelling are inseparable. Even in the kitchen, where experimenting with taste, texture, and plating flexes a different creative muscle, one that values intuition, iteration, and care.

All of these environments taught me the same thing in different languages. Who you are surrounded by matters. How you show up matters. Leadership is not a title you grow into later. It is something you practice now, in how you listen, how you collaborate, how you bring energy into a space.

Becoming the creative I want to work for means leading with taste, curiosity, and generosity. It means staying excited, staying open, and staying brave enough to push work further without needing to overpower the room. It means creating environments where ambition feels shared, ideas feel protected, and the work feels worth caring about.

That is the kind of creative presence I hope to continue growing into, and that is the kind of leader I would want to follow.