Walking into Mary-Ellen’s office, three things are extremely apparent. First, she loves her pup – a gorgeous chocolate lab named Sadie – whose treats and toys sit along the far wall for the days the office doubles as a dog park. Second, she is organized. Despite constantly running around, working on multiple projects at once, Mary-Ellen’s office maintains a sense of Zen and productivity. Finally, Mary-Ellen is inspired. Pinned to her board are numerous photos and post-it notes with meaningful sayings, thoughts, and reminders, including a personal favourite: “Make New Mistakes.”
Mary-Ellen is one of the partners at adHOME Creative, and in my opinion, she is kicking ass at it. Her day consists of a variety of meetings with clients, employees, brainstorming sessions, budget meetings, and much, much more. Barely having time to take a breath, some people would cringe at this job description, but Mary-Ellen thrives. One of her favourite aspects of her career, she explains, is the fast paced and constantly changing environment that is the nature of advertising industry.
Drawn to the magic of advertising, Mary-Ellen credits her initial interest to a late 80’s TV series called ‘Thirtysomething’ about a group of close-knit friends; two of them open up their own ad agency. Throughout her career, she has worked in various sales and marketing positions and now has become Partner at a very successful advertising agency.
What’s her inspiration? The people of course! Mary-Ellen knows the key to a successful organization is to make sure her employees are not only the cream of the crop, but share the same sense of loyalty and support for their fellow co-workers. To Mary-Ellen, “Feel adHOME” is not just the company slogan, but also a way of life.
Quick Q’s
What is on your favourite pizza? Cheese, chicken, roasted red peppers, and either Kalamata or green olives (never black ones!)
What gets you out of bed in the morning? Sadie… at 6am
Morning, noon, or night? Noon—I’m just getting into my stride. But my actual favourite time of the day is dusk. It’s full of mystery and potential.
Netflix or Cable? Cable
Print or Digital? I love to read books, and for that I prefer print. For work…digital.
Written by: Victoria Vercillo, adHOME intern