Whit

When did you know strategy was your thing?

My first year at Fetch. I was hired as a designer, but I kept asking why. I’d hear the thinking behind a campaign, then look at the final work and know a shopper would never pick up on it. So I started pushing. When a stack of brands each wanted their own Father’s Day email, I pitched one Fetch Father’s Day package where every brand got its moment. When Monster, Red Bull and another energy drink all came in at once, I turned three literal asks into one story about boosting your morning, and brought the blog and social teams in to tell it.

A brief lands on your desk. What happens next?

First I write it as one sentence: this brand wants to achieve ___ through Fetch. Then I lock the goal, the KPI and the guardrails. Then I beat up the business problem until I find the human one underneath it. What does the shopper need that also gets the brand what it wants? That’s where the research starts, and where the story shows up.

What’s your unpopular opinion?

If you’re talking to everyone, you’re talking to no one. I believe in specificity: know exactly who you’re speaking to, stand on a clear identity and let your community find you. Nobody wants to be advertised to, so stop squeezing into their spaces and give them a reason to come to you.

How do you know an idea is the one?

I picture saying it out loud to a room. If people go “oh” or “yes,” it’s hitting a real lived experience. Then I ask what it does beyond the obvious. A moisturizer moisturizes. But does it look pretty on the shelf? Do you feel put-together pulling it out of your bag? How someone feels using it is the real product.

What’s the dream project?

A brand that makes girls like me feel seen. I think about middle-school me in her room, flipping through Seventeen and dreaming up pages of her own. I want to build something that gives that girl a community.

Which brands have you worked with?

Fetch, Chewy, e.l.f., Hershey, Albertsons, DoorDash, General Mills, Amazon, Dr Pepper, Cheez-It, Pepsi, Kraft Heinz, Brideside, Dana Rebecca Designs, Modern Luxury, Social Sparkling Wine and more.