As co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of New York-based agency JOAN, Jaime Robinson is seven years into driving towards a wild and precious life for all.
L[A] What was the last thing that you really got inspired by?
JR We went to see the Palio horse race in Siena, Italy this past July. It’s a completely bananas bareback race that happens literally in the center of Siena – and has happened annually since 1644 (the only times it stopped was for WWI, WWII and COVID). Each neighborhood competes, racing under a banner that is centuries old, with rivalries and alliances they will take to their grave. The jockeys carry whips and can whip the other horses and the other jockeys! It’s so fast, and so intense. Of the ten horses in the race, four finished WITHOUT riders. And they could have won, too, even without their jockey. I didn’t expect it to get inside me so much, but it did. The pageantry, the drama, the ferocity of the competition, the legends, the rituals, the sneaky tricks, the adrenalin, the Italian passion. It meant something. It changed me. We were welcomed like locals and to be a part of something that was so much bigger than us was electric. I honestly couldn’t stop thinking about it for weeks.
L[A] Have you found inspiration as fleeting or is it something that can be tapped into on command?
JR Inspiration is both fleeting and readily available. Get your head out of your phone, go for a wander, look at the damn world. It’s glorious. People across time and space have found ways to fill even the dullest corners with something wonderful that they have made with the sole purpose of making you, a stranger they will never meet, feel something.
L[A] You have previously mentioned that advertising marketed at women can often be too ‘vanilla’ and unprovocative. Do you feel there has been improvement on this in recent years? If so, how? If not, why not?
JR Yes, but for a different reason than you might think. Advertising and entertainment built for women used to be its own thing, as if women were the only ones who could enjoy a story where a woman was the hero, or only women could enjoy an ad for a women’s product. Times have changed. Now entertainment and advertising marketed towards women is enjoyed by ALL genders. I mean, just look at the summer of 2023 to see the billions of dollars generated by Barbie/Taylor/Beyoncé, not all of which came from people with two X chromosomes. Since forever, young girls have had to grow up imagining themselves in the shoes of male characters. For the first time maybe in all of history, women’s stories are people’s stories.
Jaime Robinson's pick of recent ads from JOAN
L[A] What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
JR Read in a book of Mary Oliver poems: ‘Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon? Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?’
L[A] Leaving Wieden + Kennedy New York to start your own company must have been a daunting prospect at the time. What advice would you give someone who similarly wishes to carve their own path?
JR Please read the Mary Oliver poem above. Remember, nobody gets out of this place alive. Find a path that you love NOW or create one yourself. I needed to try to stand on my own two feet, to build a place where someone else wasn’t telling us what to do or holding a bag of money over our heads, and I needed to see how far we could take something.
Early female-first ads from Joan
I’m still seeing that, because we have so much farther that we believe we can go. Whatever a dream looks like for you, YOU are the only one who is responsible for ensuring it happens. You have a short time on Earth. Milk it for everything you can!
The other day, I saw an interview with a tattoo artist I admire, Victor J Webster. Someone asked him about creating large scale tattoo works and suggested to him that tattoos were a daring medium for an artist because they were so permanent. He laughed, saying that tattoos are one of the least permanent art forms around. They all return to dust. We’re only made of meat and heart. You’re going to die. Might as well live first.
L[A] Can you share insights on the challenges of being a creative who now finds themselves deeply involved in complex management discussions and business evolution?
JR Oh, jeez. It’s such a hard transition and, to be honest, I’m still managing through it. The only thing I can suggest is to find the thing you love about being a creative and find a way to view your management and business duties in that light. For me, being creative is all about fostering shared meaning through emotion and storytelling and creating communal experiences. OK, that can be practiced on a macro scale by working through all of the things that are required of a business owner and a company leader. Work on answering the questions: Why are we doing this? Why should we hire you as an agency? What role does each person play at this table or at this company? What story should we tell next? Now, for you, being a ‘creative’ might be all about solving puzzles, or maybe it’s about crafting something to perfection. So then look at your new duties through that light. And again, if you’re not happy, life is short, and there’s no shame in choosing a path that doesn’t have a C-suite title.
L[A] JOAN works to bring a modern take on legendary brands as well as developing campaigns for modern legends. How are the challenges different when working with an established brand as opposed to an up-and-coming one?
JR Legends who need to modernize and modern companies who want to become legends all share the same ultimate needs – they are usually already doing DIFFERENT things right. We have a tool called the Modern Legend Growth Wheel that we use to diagnose brands and chart a path forward. For modern brands, they usually need rigor. The legendary ones need some sparkle. We use the Growth Wheel to set brands up for success in the long term and short term. If you’re a client and this sounds good to you, give us a call, eh?
L[A] What is something that you would still like to learn?
JR I’d love to be able to tap dance like a motherfucker.
L[A] What is the most irrational superstition that you have?
JR I’m an Italian-American woman with an American-American woman’s level of anxiety, so it’s a smorgasbord of crazy up there. Spilled salt, new shoes on the bed, open umbrellas in the house – all no good. Saying the name of the Scottish play before curtain time. No good. I also always have a Diet Coke, a hot beverage, and a glass of water on the table at a pitch. You know, for good luck. It makes a ton of sense.
L[A] What are the ingredients for a successful and innovative campaign?
JR It all starts with an addiction to newness and to pushing boundaries. You have to ask, ‘Is this moving the football down the field?’ And I mean that in terms of both subject matter and in terms of delivery. Find the thing that needs to be said NOW and say it in a new way. There’s no use pretending you’re putting on a play – make an emotional connection with real people that exist and for the real world that exists. Personally, I also love finding ways to engage audiences to play a role. It’s my creative addiction.
L[A] On that note, what piece of ad work do you find yourself returning to for inspiration?
JR I don’t really. That’s not meant to sound cool. But if you want to make the future, you can’t look to the past.
L[A] Is there something that frustrates you about the advertising industry?
JR How much we love the smell of our own farts. Honestly, who gives a shit about half the stuff we celebrate?
L[A] What is your biggest indulgence?
JR Martinis and shrimp cocktail. And picking my nose.
L[A] What is your favorite room in your house?
JR I love my back patio when it’s autumn and I have a giant mug of coffee and I am writing something I love.
L[A] How does your time split out between different kinds of work? For example, how much do you get to work in close creative detail on projects or within specific creative project teams?
JR 30% external relationship-y things, 30% internal relationship-y things, 40% creative work detail, 30% dreaming and planning for the future and 10% making and pouring coffee and also 7% doing basic math practice.
L[A] When you begin a new project, do you approach it differently to how you did in the past?
JR Sometimes my new projects are self-initiated and those just come from an idea that happens in the shower or like, on a walk, or something. But if it’s a client assignment, I ALWAYS start the same way, which is knowing what I want the project to feel like, finding a song that makes me feel that way, and listening to it on repeat. Then I think: ‘What can I do that nobody would expect?’
L[A] Is there anything that is still on your creative to-do list?
JR So much. And each year, that list gets longer.
L[A] Is there something that you have learned to love as you get older?
JR What a sweet question. Weirdly, I never wore shorts before this year. But I think a cute pair of black denim jorts is really useful in the summer.
L[A] What would the one universal trait be that all creatives should possess?
JR An unnatural and probably unwarranted level of confidence that tells you that you could probably accomplish ANYTHING – be a famous doctor, make a movie, be a celebrated author/artist – if you tried hard enough. ie delusions of grandeur.
L[A] How would you describe your next six years in six words?
JR You ain’t seen nothin’ yet, baby.
