MADDIE ROSENBERG

What piece of work are you most proud of and why?

The Diapér was the first project I produced since arriving in the U.S. In many ways, it’s the perfect representation of who I am as a creative. It didn’t come from a brief or a client, but from wanting to make a positive impact on the country I was now living in. With a bit of cheekiness (pun intended), our ridiculous luxury diaper helped eliminate the luxury tax on diapers in four states. It’s a bundle of entrepreneurial spirit, activism, and absurdity — lovingly cradled by Gwyneth Paltrow.

“It’s a bundle of entrepreneurial spirit, activism, and absurdity — lovingly cradled by Gwyneth Paltrow.”

How do you navigate being your authentic self in corporate creative spaces?

The best ideas always come from tapping into your lived experiences. If you’re not able to be your authentic self at work, you’re probably not in the right creative environment. I’ve been lucky enough to work with incredible leaders who created safe spaces for collaboration, reframed failure as intrinsic to the creative process, empowered me to be less polite and more direct with my point of view, and showed me what it means to be a great leader.

What’s one piece of advice you wish someone had given you early in your career?

Way too early in my career, I was partnered with a brilliant ACD art director. I was thrilled. Clearly, I’d never strike out in a creative review ever again because my partner could just tell me what the good ideas were! Spoiler alert. It did not go that way. After a particularly rough project, I learned that no one has all the answers. That realization helped me develop my own creative taste and the confidence to advocate for it. It taught me to ask, “What do I want to make?” Instead of trying to guess what others will like (an impossible task!)

“I learned that no one has all the answers. That realization helped me develop my own creative taste and the confidence to advocate for it.”

How do you recharge your creative battery when you’re feeling burned out?

Anyone who’s worked with me knows that I have a very exhaustive creative process. I like to explore every possible shape an idea could take— including the totally wrong ones. Microdosing burnout is part of my process. It’s how I get to my best ideas. I get a certain satisfaction from being completely exhausted over a problem. That being said, when I start clicking back and forth through the slides of a deck without editing anything, I close my laptop and go for a run. When I start working on briefs in my dreams, I book a vacation as soon as possible.

What’s your best hack for overcoming a creative block?

There’s a lot of gatekeeping around ideas. But I’ve learned that the more creativity you give away, the more inspiration comes back. When I’m stuck, I talk to colleagues and friends about their projects and throw them ideas. While it’s occasionally helpful for them, focusing on a new creative task for a moment always refreshes me.

“I’ve learned that the more creativity you give away, the more inspiration comes back.”