In Adweek’s recent article First-Time CCOs Talk About What It Takes to Helm a Creative Department, The 3rd Eye’s CCO Rob Canales provides some interesting insight into what it’s taken to run the creative department at The 3rd Eye.
The culmination of years of hard work has its challenges and big rewards
Becoming a chief creative officer is a privilege and a challenge. It often takes many years or even decades to rise to the leadership role.
Some CCOs work their way up from junior copywriters and designers to the top of the ladder while others take a less linear path to the role. But once they become CCOs, the importance of the work ratchets up a few notches. They must not only build a creative vision and direction of a particular agency, they must also be good leaders. No easy feat for sure.
Adweek talked with several newly minted chief creative officers about how they got there, how they approach their craft and the challenges and rewards of the job.
How they got the job
Whether they were elevated in an agency they worked for or were hired from the outside, taking the top creative position is something these CCOs took on with both enthusiasm and trepidation.
“It was honestly unexpected. I never applied for it. I never campaigned for it. I just kept my head down, did my job with a little swagger and embraced every aspect of the ad world,” said Rob Canales, CCO at health and wellness agency The 3rd Eye, who was elevated to the newly created role thanks to his hard work and determination.
Canales, who has been in advertising close to a decade holding multiple roles, learned his craft by “obsessing over learning the nuances of the industry.” He said he felt a sense of imposter syndrome being named chief creative because of the weight of the role, but ultimately had the confidence to take it on.
“I took the opportunities this agency gave me and made the best of it. That mentality is what got me here today,” said Canales.
