Meet The Board: Tess Nyberg
TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOURSELF, HOW’D YOU END UP IN THE WILD WORLD OF ADVERTISING AND MARKETING?
I love storytelling—and always thought of commercials as mini stories. A whole world can unfold in 30 seconds (or more like :06, today). It’s quite magical. So when I stumbled upon Advertising as a profession, I was all in.
WHAT DO YOU LOVE MOST ABOUT THIS INDUSTRY?
We get paid to be creative–to make peanuts talk and bees dance and viewers cry. It’s pretty incredible when you think about it.
HOW DO YOU MAINTAIN PASSION AND ENTHUSIASM FOR THE WORK YOU DO THROUGHOUT THE DIFFERENT PHASES OF YOUR LIFE?
Life is crazy and work is crazy and sometimes it’s just too much. After my son was born, I was ready to check out. But instead, I got real serious about my work/life boundaries and frankly, learned to care a little less. And you know what? The world went on and the work didn’t actually suffer. ((shrug))
WHAT ABOUT THE MPLS MADWOMEN MISSION RESONATES WITH YOU?
Equality in creative fields? Yes, please. Currently, just 11% of creative directors are women. Why? The Founder of the 3% Movement suggests the reasons below—many of which MPLSMadWomen tackles head-on:
Lack of motherhood support
Lack of female mentorship
Lack of awareness that being a woman is an asset to connecting to consumers
Lack of celebration of female work due to gender bias of award juries
Lack of women negotiating salaries they deserve
WHAT IS ONE THING YOU WOULD CHANGE ABOUT THE CURRENT STATE OF OUR INDUSTRY? AND HOW DO YOU THINK YOUR WORK WITH MPLS MADWOMEN CAN HELP CREATE THIS CHANGE?
We need to eliminate the pay gap. I think the industry has already made great strides, but I believe in this next year we’ll see great things from MPLS MadWomen to make it *POOF* disappear.
WHAT IS ONE THING YOU THINK WOMEN IN THE INDUSTRY CAN DO TO SUPPORT EACH OTHER ON A DAILY BASIS?
Find people as passionate about equality as they are. Build a community of strong, independent women.
IF YOU COULD GIVE YOUR RECENT COLLEGE-GRAD SELF JUST ONE PIECE OF ADVICE WHAT WOULD IT BE?
Stop admiring the rule followers and start admiring the rule breakers. The ones who ruffle feathers and have a point of view—and that’s far more valuable to an employer (and your career path) than blending in.
IF YOU HAD TO CHOOSE ANY CAREER PATH BESIDES YOUR CURRENT ONE, WHAT WOULD YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
I’d love to be an astronomer and stare at space all day...I just wish it didn’t involve so much science.