See It, Be It 2024: Julia Spencer
Julia Spencer is a freelance creative director from Australia who’s also the co-founder of Mums in Ads (MIA), where she’s recently been campaigning for the industry to open up to part time roles. She’s been selected to take part in this year’s Cannes Lions See It, Be It programme. Here, Julia shares what the spirit of ‘See It, Be It’ means to her.
See it
Tell us about a woman who has inspired you in your career
Sally Ride. When preparing for her six day mission to space, as the first American female astronaut ever to do so, NASA thought that packing her 100 tampons oughta do it. If Sally could make it to space surrounded by NASA, surely I can stick it out here. Right?
Be it
How have you incorporated the lessons and insights you gained from women in your life and in creative/professional fields into how you approach life and your career
I’m raising two small women (plus two tiny men). The way they see the world, along with the daily parenting pendulum of hellfire/heartmelt, gives me an infinite pool of creativity and insight that only adds to my professional value as a female creative.
My kids and their lives are also my lifeline to the real world - that world far, far from here, that never actually thinks about advertising and keeps me in check.
Do it
How does that translate into the work? Tell us about some of the campaigns you’ve been involved in that you’re really proud of. What challenges did you overcome to bring them to life?
Despite over a decade as an advertising creative, on a huge variety of brands and causes, it’s my most recent work for MIA (Mums In Ads) that I’m most proud of. The Part-Time Pitch was a campaign that publicly petitioned the entire Australian advertising industry to help retain women throughout their career and into senior leadership by making all advertised job vacancies listed as full-time/part-time negotiable.
In Australia, 77% of women are mothers and almost 70% of part-time workers are women. So the fact that 0% of industry job roles were being advertised as part-time seemed like a glaring contributor to the lack of senior female talent in our industry - and something that’s been a huge barrier to my career also.
For such a small step in the right direction, our Part-Time Pitch campaign was a massive undertaking. But eight months on, we’ve proudly recruited almost all of Australia’s ad
agencies to commit to this change - 82 companies in total. LBB readers can check out the list of agencies who have signed on (and those that are missing) at mumsinads.com.
Share it
What messages or words of advice do you have for the next generation of women coming into the industry? And tell us about anything that you do to support and lift up women in the industry
I don’t have anything to say to women. Women of all ages have heard enough words of advice and encouragement when, honestly, we’re all just tired of pep-talking each other. It’s not us that needs to change.
See It Be It is a LIONS initiative aiming to achieve equal gender representation among creative directors and leaders across the global industry. The programme is open to all women, trans-identifying and non-binary people. For any enquiries, please get in touch at seeitbeit@canneslions.com.
Further information on applying for See It Be It 2025 can be found here.
