Her Story
About Bliss
Bliss Zhawi is a Communication Strategist based in New York, NY. She has been in advertising specifically for six and a half years and in marketing for eight years total. Zhawi has served as a Communication Strategist for four years at her current company, after previously working as an account executive there. Her career began with an internship at Nike in London, followed by PR work for Nike and Wingstop where she helped launch the brand's first UK franchise. She later worked in casting for major brands including Timberland, Topshop, and ASOS before committing to advertising. Zhawi earned her degree in Communications and Media from Bournemouth University in the UK in 2018. Among her notable achievements, she led the rebranding strategy for Hennessy in 2023 and 2024, including casting Tiana Taylor and Dampton Idris as global ambassadors for the resulting campaign. She has received a Webby Award for a Ford and Google Partnerships campaign, was named an Advertising Week Futurist Female Finalist in 2022 for Europe, and won a One Club for Creativity award. Zhawi serves as an associate judging member for the Webbies. She attributes her success to her confidence, bravery, ambition, and willingness to take risks even when they feel scary. Zhawi values creative inspiration, collaboration in respectful environments, and being surrounded by people who challenge her intellectually.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Bliss
01What do you attribute your success to?
I'd attribute my success to my confidence and my bravery. I'm not a risk-averse person. I go for stuff even when it's scary. I'm a risk-taker. I think that's what's gotten me far. I'm very ambitious and a risk taker. I go for stuff and think about it later and that's always worked with me.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best piece of advice I've been given is thinking about your career in seasons. There's a season for learning, there's a season for earning, and there's a season for both. Sometimes you have to sacrifice how much you're earning because you're learning a lot, and sometimes you're not as stimulated and you're earning. It's about identifying those times and deciding what your priorities are for this season in your career.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say curiosity will get you and hard work will get you further than just like anything really. Being curious goes a long way. It opens up so many doors, and taking risks as well, betting on yourself. Having the confidence, do not mute or police your ambition. If you're ambitious, be ambitious unapologetically. If you are curious, be curious unapologetically. Always lead with kindness but be bold and curious unapologetically.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge in my industry at the moment is AI. Brands are choosing to optimize and use AI tools for their advertising. A lot of agencies and creatives haven't found ways to have AI on their side and work alongside AI. The biggest opportunity is collaboration and co-creation with AI. Humans leveraging their taste levels and using AI to optimize and make processes quicker.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values that are important to me are creative inspiration and being around people that are smarter than me and feeling like my voice is adding to a creative idea or that my voice is heard and respected. Creative stimulation and collaboration are super important as well. Collaborative environments where there's respect are super key for me and where I'm creatively stimulated.
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