WINONA WEE

How did your upbringing, family, or culture shape you as a creative?

I had a rough childhood growing up working-class in Singapore, and I always had to worry about money. I took out my own bank loan at 19 years old to put myself through university, and spent the first five years of my career paying that off. Coming from a working-class background gave me the drive to build a career that would give me both financial independence and creative fulfilment. I didn’t have a backup – I needed to succeed to create the life I wanted for myself!

“Coming from a working-class background gave me the drive to build a career that would give me both financial independence and creative fulfilment.”

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

It’s normal to feel small in corporate spaces, especially when you are the minority. When I first relocated to London with Wieden + Kennedy, there were many instances where I put pressure on myself to conform because I didn’t feel good enough. What shifted for me was when I realised that my bosses and my agency could have hired any other copywriter, but they didn’t. They hired me. A Queer, Singaporean, Multi-lingual, Neurodivergent copywriter, and they valued my unique perspective and were excited about what I could bring to the work. I now think of my intersectionality as my strength and draw upon my experiences to ensure my work reflects who I am.

How are you approaching the tension between AI tools and human creativity in your work?

I’m here for it. At the start of this year, I gave a guest lecture at King’s College London on creativity and AI. The title of my lesson was “How To Become An AI Overlord,” and I still stand by that. Our skill sets and jobs might evolve, but human creativity can never be bested by machines that do not feel. Some tips I shared: Learn to harness your unique POV by looking inward at your experiences and identity to come up with ideas grounded in human insights. Get educated about the types of tech that are already available. Be curious about the world. Build your own processes and experiment with how you can integrate tech into your ways of working. Remember that there are no original ideas in the world, and that everything is just a remix of a remix. That said, I do believe that human emotions should be the judge of human ideas – not machine metrics or algorithms.

“Our skill sets and jobs might evolve, but human creativity can never be bested by machines that do not feel.”

What does paying it forward look like for you?

Paying it forward starts with listening, understanding the context, and then seeing how you can positively enact change with your skillset or connections. Firstly, I’m the lead of the Ginger Beers, W+K London’s LGBTQIA+ affinity group! Through this, we organise workshops, talks, and even creative projects that help our LGBTQIA+ employees feel seen, heard, and supported within the agency while trying to give back to local queer businesses.

I’m especially proud of our last project, TodayIs.Gay, which chronicles 365 days of global queer history. Shoutout to André Mezzomo, Wil Koslowski, Jonathan Plackett, and Ben Emery, who helped make this possible. The project was released as a rainbow calendar plug-in for all W+K offices, and we even made a public website where people can check out what happened on this day in queer history.

Secondly, I invest my time in supporting young creatives with practical advice and opportunities. For example, my creative partner André and I had the opportunity to be the inaugural judges for Young Shits Advertising Club’s November brief. As part of that, we wanted to take the extra step and help the winners get their work into the real world. So we linked up with our fave coffee shop in London, Pangea Cafe, and made it happen! The winning work was titled Celebrate Color by Kristen Jan, an advertising student from Penn State University in the US.

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

1. I use the skills I’ve learned in advertising to create and put passion projects out into the world, such as Today Is Gay (documenting 365 days of global queer history), Nepo Bb (an AI project that tells you if any public figure is a nepo baby or not), and Sex.Ed.Gay (a platform that circulates queer asian joy and knowledge). This allows me not only to feel like I am a creative at my job, but also in my daily life, too.

2. I love skateboarding! It’s such a physically and psychologically demanding sport. You literally cannot think of anything else while you skate, or you’ll risk breaking a bone. I try to skate twice a week, and through that, I’ve met so many awesome communities that are making the UK skateboarding scene more inclusive.

Who is inspiring you right now and why?

The London skateboarding scene. Their creativity, passion, and determination to make skateboarding an inclusive sport for everyone is so inspiring. I’m part of a female and non-binary skateboarding collective called Beginner Bumps, and I also take part in events organised by Transkaters, East London Skateboard Club, Skate Newham, Skate Pal, as well as Melanin Skate Gals & Pals.

One of the highlights of my summer was attending a DIY skate jam under a bridge that raised funds for skaters in Palestine. We had Palestinian food, Skate Pal had a booth showcasing their merch, and there was a skate competition on an insane vert ramp and a raffle where businesses like Cow Skateshop donated items to be won! Skateboarding has been an unexpected way for my husband and me to connect with and explore London on a much deeper level.

“The London skateboarding scene. Their creativity, passion, and determination to make skateboarding an inclusive sport for everyone is so inspiring.”