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Austin making clear where it stands.

I just want to sleep. . 🥹
Did you mention which company you were with?

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For the record, I’m a proponent of true meritocracy over diversity. The keyword here is true though.
The majority of meritocracies serve only to perpetuate systemic biases. For example - in an all male agency, it is likely more difficult for a female of equal merits to advance compared to a male.
So in a sense, diversity is a critical ingredient for true meritocracy to happen.
...from my colleagues that “we should just hire the best talent, wouldn’t it be discrimination to not hire someone because it’s a man?” How do I make a good point about that hiring diverse creatives is absolutely crucial? Even though the female candidate might have less experience?
I should preface this by saying I’ve never been in your situation. So these haven’t worked for me but I hope my ideas work for you or create other ideas within you for a positive result.
Not having any insight into your agency, what is the big pain point from your perspective? Has the agency lost a business pitch they could’ve won if a woman presented or if the creative idea had a woman’s perspective? Are there other problems in the agency that leadership fails to identify because they are of a similar mind?
As an Art Director, I don’t know how much experience you have, but maybe this can be a growing opportunity for you where you go to leadership and say you’d like to help screen candidates so you can one day take on a leadership role. Say you better want to understand what in a candidate’s book made leadership choose them.
Also help the agency see the value in a woman. Maybe a woman applying has less agency experience, but maybe she has a background in comedy, screen printing, or maybe she volunteered in the Peace Corp for a year.
Wishing you the best. 🙏