In our continuing series spotlighting incredible women in advertising, we had the opportunity to speak with Stephanie Burris, Vice President and Executive Creative Director at Marcus Thomas, on building flexible working environments, leading with empathy, and challenging outdated notions.
Can you tell us a bit about your role and your journey to arriving there?
I got my start back in 2004 as an unpaid copywriting intern at one of the larger agencies in Cleveland. My internship had technically ended with no job offer to be found, but I kept showing up for many weeks after. I was just so hungry for the opportunity to be around creatives and to build my book. Eventually that turned into freelance work; that freelance work turned into full-time opportunities at small and big agencies in the area, and today I’m the vice president, executive creative director of Marcus Thomas.
I’ve had the good fortune of coming up under creative leaders (men and women) who always challenged me with growth opportunities and gave me more than I thought I could handle. I stepped into the executive creative director role at Marcus Thomas when I was five months pregnant with my second child. I’ve never really felt ready for these career moves. But I’ve also come to learn that if I wait to feel “ready” for anything, I’ve already waited too long.
What barriers do women still face in our industry and how can we challenge them?
I think that lifestyle factors create barriers for women, particularly those with children – the prime time of our career growth is often happening concurrently with motherhood. Many of us are primary breadwinners and primary caregivers. Traveling, late nights, days working from home with sick kids – the logistics of it are overwhelming. I think it’s why we see many women’s careers plateau, or we see them drop out of the workforce entirely.
I also think there’s this undeniable urge to work twice as hard, so our personal lives don’t appear to detract from our effectiveness at work. We say “yes” to way more than we should, afraid to look less productive or committed to the work – and therefore less valuable – than our male counterparts. We sign back on after bedtime stories. We turn our cameras off to eat at our desks during meetings. Being a working parent is not entirely a women’s issue, and women without children face many challenges too, but speaking from my experience, there is a great mental load that comes with being a working mom.
Building flexible working environments, leading with empathy, and recognizing and continuing to invest in a woman’s personal growth (even as she grows her family) are all ways to keep women engaged and excelling in the workforce. We also need to challenge our own perceptions and this nagging idea that we must work twice as hard to prove ourselves worthy. Some of the strongest and fiercest women I know are the ones with well-established boundaries around their personal time, who are confident that they are enough without having to work themselves ragged.
How do you use your position to build equitable teams that are diverse and balanced?
As one of the leaders of our creative community of practice, I try to be intentional about creating a culture of belonging where women feel like they can be valued contributors and can see a path to leadership. I think there’s been a long-held belief that to excel, women in creative have to be “one of the guys.” So, I strive to model that you can be a woman and a mother and authentically “you,” and carve out your own space in this industry.
I also serve as a co-chair of The Table, our agency’s affinity group for women in advertising, in which we work to create safe and brave spaces where women can share their individual experiences, support each other and advocate for gender equality agencywide. I learn as much from this incredible group of unique women and their lived experiences as they learn from me (probably a lot more).
Who are your female advertising icons/role models and why?
From afar: I’m fascinated by Kat Gordon, who not only paved her own way in the creative world but also decided to take the whole industry along with her, opening people’s eyes to this out-of-whack gender ratio and creating an entire movement in the process.
From up close: Joanne Kim, my former CCO, mentor, and the reason I’m here at Marcus Thomas. She has an incredible gut instinct and a decisiveness that can make anyone a believer, plus a deep commitment to DE&I that still reverberates through the agency.