Her Story
About Gigi
Gigi Rivera serves as Creative Director at Outerkind in Denver, Colorado. Since entering the field in 2012, she has specialized in experiential marketing and creative direction, fusing her marketing and events background with her artistic practice to deliver unique, authentic brand activations. Rivera earned her bachelor's degree in marketing business and graduated with scholar honors. Her notable projects include a CES booth for Caterpillar and pop-up exhibits with Meow Wolf. She leads creative strategy, collaborates with fabrication partners, designers, and clients, and emphasizes integrity, respect, and play in her work. Rivera contributes to community initiatives such as the Outer Kindness benefit for Tall Tales Ranch and mural projects with high school students. She attributes her success to supportive mentors and a strong work ethic, and advises pursuing work that excites and inspires.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Gigi
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to the people around me who have rooted for me, mentored me, and told me I could do it even when it seemed crazy. Having a strong drive and good work ethic is also crucial, especially when you love what you do, because that naturally fuels the stamina needed for big, challenging projects.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best advice I've gathered is that you should be doing what you love, and doing it with people that you love and respect, and that love and respect you. When things get hard, like putting out fires or racing against the clock, loving the work and the team turns challenges into something fun and celebratory when goals are achieved.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Find what you love, and then do that thing. Find what moves you, what makes you want to get out of bed in the morning, what gets you excited. There's a lot of life that's boring or hard, so do the thing that you feel excited about, because you spend a lot of time working and you should be doing things that you love.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge is that when bringing big, complex, never-before-done ideas to life, you're often reinventing the wheel rather than just redoing it. This requires a lot of time, patience, and extra hours, which can be draining. It's important to maintain balance with play and moments to step outside the project to stay refreshed and ready to tackle the work.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Integrity is huge, like saying you're going to do something and actually following through. Respect is also key, not only for the people, projects, and places you're working with, but also respect for yourself and taking care of your own person. Play is important too, because it's when we're in a loose, flexible state of mind that we have our best ideas.
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