Imagine ... it's March 9, 2020 and it's your first day as the new CEO taking over from the longtime founder of a successful independent agency. HR calls up and informs you that the office is shutting down. You, the new CEO, have to build relationships and a culture amidst a completely remote team, with no return date in site. What skill do you call upon? The art of blending! Tracey Pattani, CEO of Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners, (BSSP), is gifted at it. Be it taking lessons learned from the large holding company agencies where she got her start (the list reads like a who’s who and includes luminaries such as Digitas, Ammirati, Ogilvy and more) to her present day post at BSSP, Tracey has a knack for taking the best and propelling her team and clients forward. And now, three years later, her track record continues as BSSP celebrates its 30th anniversary and gears up for the next 30 years.
As she explains in this WomenAdvancing interview, Tracey and her team are leaning on inspiration from other industries and getting comfortable with the often scratchy edge that technology like AI brings. Key is keeping one foot on the outside of the industry while maintaining the cohesive culture they are building inside. "Looking back, the advice I would give myself knowing what I know now is to go easy -- on leadership and on myself, and to be sure to ask a lot of questions," she says.
Tracey shares much insight across a broad range of topics from working at publicly held and independent agencies, to how to respectfully take the helm from a successful founder and help the team taking the company forward to make the business theirs. And -- you guessed it -- she blends it artfully into a delicious recipe for success. Watch the complete interview above.
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