Her Story
About Gabrielle
I've been working professionally in creative advertising for the last 2 years, though my journey started earlier with a year of freelancing before I decided to pursue university. During that time, I was doing styling, assisting, photography, whatever I could get my hands on. I earned my BFA in advertising and branding from Savannah College of Art and Design, where I studied the art direction side, focusing on graphic design and visual flows. My career took an unexpected turn during a portfolio review when someone asked who wrote all my copy. When I told them I did, they said I had made them laugh and smile, and that not a lot of people have that talent. They asked if I'd be interested in copywriting, and that's what I ended up doing. Now I work in the healthcare space as a writer, which is special to me because it's more purpose-driven than a lot of other creative realms. I come from a community service background, so healthcare really spoke to me. I'm really proud of the types of accounts I've been able to work on, like chronic illnesses and things like that. Beyond my professional work, I'm a painter and poet, which runs in my family. My grandfather on my dad's side is a painter and has had that as his profession his whole life, and my grandmother is a poet. I love to visit my grandpa's gallery at Hastings on Hudson, just outside New York City, where they do seasonal gallery openings. I also serve as a local leader of our sustainability business resource group at my company, where we organize trash pickups once a month and encourage sustainable practices. Additionally, I sit as a board member on the Pride, the LGBTQ+ business resource group, where we do a lot of events as a collaborative effort.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Gabrielle
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to my mom and my dad. My parents were very supportive my whole life of anything I wanted to try. We weren't locked into ballet lessons because we did it once. I really wanted to play the drums, but I had to learn how to play a classical instrument first. There was kind of a little level up that they set up, expectations of the world in a certain way that, as I've gotten older, I never even fully realized the amount of access I had to things and the exposure level I had to things until I got around some of my peers who were equally talented but just didn't have that same exposure. I'm just beyond grateful for that. I never felt locked into anything or put down by anybody, or if I did, my mom and dad didn't let me feel that for long. They'd take us out and fix it up. It's not only that it takes a village to raise a child, but I really feel like we need that support system our whole lives, and my parents cultivated me to be my own self.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I received came from Denny Bamasita during my gap year when I was his styling assistant and photographer. I was doing a great job, but he told me that if I had my degree, he could get me into different spaces and pay me a different hourly rate. There were some realities there that helped me see creativity as a business, just the same way healthcare is a business. That conversation really opened my eyes to the professional side of creative work and the importance of formal education in opening doors and creating opportunities in the industry.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I'd say trust your instinct and push for yourself to be in those rooms. It's one of those things where closed mouths don't get fed. Be willing, be excited, and enable yourself to be around others who are going to uplift you. I've seen that even through a conversation I was having earlier this week where someone was like, oh no, I hope it's okay that I pulled you into this, and I said, of course it's okay you pulled me into this, because they know I want to be involved so much that it slips someone's mind to be like, is it okay that I added you to this? I was like, yeah, it's totally okay, thank you. You never want to overstep, but you totally want to be involved and let people know you want to be involved. Really advocate for yourself.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Authenticity is a really strong value that always comes to mind for me. I'm not a panderer. I'll always let someone know, within the appropriate channels, my opinion or my thoughts on things. If it's not something that can be done right in the moment, I'll note it down and be like, hey, so I know we went with this one thing, but how about this other thing? Creative solutions is another value I seek. And then community or community leadership has always been important to me. I've always kind of been that project lead, whether I wanted to be or not. So many times, if I decided to sit out, someone else would elect me as the group lead. It's something in my adult life I've taken in stride and been happy to fill in when other people don't want to.
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