Katie Lee
Despite a degree in biochemistry and a family hell bent on her becoming a doctor. Katie found her way into advertising through work experience at CDP over 20 years ago. No career advisor had ever told her that jobs existed where you could simultaneously use your left and right brain and Katie was sold. She worked at Saatchi & Saatchi and BBH, before arriving at Leo Burnett where she worked on McDonald’s, Homebase and COI before becoming Marketing Director and latterly Managing Director. She left big agency world fascinated by the world of small, ambitious start ups with a different offering and perspective on the world. She was Gravity Road's first Managing Director, helping to grow and structure the business as it became a respected independent agency. She then worked at Sunshine. She had a disastrous 21 days at Y&R before it merged with VML but never have the words 'everything happens for a reason' been truer because Katie is now CEO of Lucky Generals. Probably the best job in the world.
Why I am judging the awards... "As an industry we, quite rightly, spend a huge amount of time celebrating the output but often it's the entrepreneurial approach to business change that results in the innovative work that we celebrate. I'm really looking forward to looking under the bonnet and seeing businesses that have pivoted their offering, changed their ways of working and made a real difference, not just surface level change."
