5 Minutes with… Helen Andrews
Helen Andrews moved Stateside from her native UK in May of last year to join Johannes Leonardo as its CEO. “I keep saying to everybody—probably to the point of annoying them—that I am amazed at how at home I’ve been made to feel, even so far from home,” she tells me. “There’s something about coming into the agency: the way I’ve been welcomed, the vibe, the philosophy, and the amazing people here. It’s just made the transition so easy.”
It’s the first time that Helen has moved countries. She has more than 20 years of leadership across agencies such as Wieden+Kennedy London, where she was managing director during the launch of its famed 'Nothing Beats a Londoner' campaign for Nike, adam&eveDDB London, where she was CEO, and M&C Saatchi, where she started her career. “It’s a big deal,” she says. “I can imagine it would be massively stressful for most people, but honestly, because this has been such a brilliant place to join, it’s felt super easy. I just love it. From the minute I walked in, I was like, This feels so special and so brilliant.
“During the interview, I remember saying this is the kind of culture I want to be part of. I told Jan and Leo at the end, “Whatever happens, I just want to say thank you because I’ve been able to really be myself through this whole process.” Coming in here has felt the same way.
“There’s just a vibe I love. From the way we orient our work, the way we collaborate with clients, and even the size and scale of the agency—it just feels very me. I’ve loved every second of it.”
To find out more about Helen’s first months in a new role and new country, and her plans for the coming year for an agency that featured in our favourite work of 2024, LBB’s Addison Capper sat down with her in Johannes Leonardo’s New York City office for a chat.
LBB> It sounds like you’re really feeling at home. You’ve touched upon it but why did you feel like it was the right time to make the jump to the States and to Johannes Leonardo specifically?
Helen> From a more strategic, professional perspective, I was really excited to join an independent agency. That independence allows us to do so many things I genuinely enjoy. I was thrilled to find a place like this. Particularly in New York, there’s this explosion of independent agencies doing brilliant work, and I just really wanted to be part of that.
Not that there isn’t great work happening in London—there absolutely is—but it felt like the right moment for me to make that shift and move. We’d been thinking about New York, but I wouldn’t have done it without finding a place where I could feel at home in terms of the attitude to work, the philosophy, and everything else.
So when JL called, it just felt like the perfect opportunity.
LBB> As a CEO, often when you come to a new agency there is something to be ‘fixed’. But in the case of JL, it feels like it’s more about nurturing what’s already working, which I always find to be an interesting challenge. How are you navigating that?
Helen> Yeah, and taking it to the next level was what I wanted to do here. That’s another reason I was super excited about coming to JL. We’re at this point where we’re 16 years old, with amazing clients and work that I just love. When I got here, I asked, Where’s the stuff that’s not very good?—and there wasn’t any. There’s a consistent quality.
At the same time, it feels like there’s still potential, still room to grow. That’s what excites me—being part of something that’s already great but has the opportunity to go further. I wanted to help shape that and take it to the next level.
It’s a challenge, coming into a new market. But I’ve been massively energised by it. There’s something about approaching things with curiosity, asking questions, and learning as you go. I’ve always thought curiosity leads to better work and stronger relationships with clients. When you ask, Why do we do it this way? or Why has it been done like that?, you open the door to improvement.
It can be unsettling at first—not having all the things you usually take for granted, like an inherent understanding of the way things work. But I’ve tried to lean into that, to see it as a positive rather than something to be afraid of.
LBB> There’s been a real influx of exciting indie agencies in the US in recent years. How do you feel about JL’s place as an indie, but one that has been around for a fair amount of time and brings a lot of experience?
Helen> One of the things we’ve been focusing on since I got here is really doubling down on and articulating who we are and why people should come to us. I think it’s great that there are so many new, exciting places in the industry—it’s good for everyone. I love seeing them do well.
But for us, what excites me is that we sit at this really interesting intersection. On one side, you have big, established traditional shops that are brilliant at brand thinking and creating great ideas. However, they’re not always fantastic at getting those ideas into culture in a modern, tangible way. On the other side, you’ve got newer shops that are great at putting brands into culture but might not do so in a way that’s additive to the brand overall.
LBB> And do you feel that JL sits in the middle of those two points?
Helen> Yes. We talk about creating brand ideas that are worthy of participation because we excel at both. For example, when I joined, the work we’d done for Velveeta—the Julia Fox stunt—had just come out. I loved it. It was modern, contemporary, and amazing, but it also made sense for the brand.
I think that’s a really exciting space for us to exist in. We know how to deliver both modern cultural relevance and strong brand-building, which is incredibly relevant for so many clients right now. We’re experienced enough to handle big, established clients and know how to navigate working with internal creative agencies or other structures. But at the same time, we’re young enough to still evolve and innovate without being bogged down by legacy systems that can hinder brilliant work.
That’s why I’m so excited to be here. During the interview process, I remember talking about JL’s founding philosophy: the consumer is the medium. It’s something they wrote on a napkin the year the agency was founded—the same year the iPhone launched. That principle feels even more relevant today than it did then.
So many agencies spend endless time in meetings trying to figure out who they are and why they exist. But JL already has this amazing, clear principle. We’ve leaned into it, making sure it’s understood and fully embraced. It feels like, yes, there are lots of exciting independent agencies out there, but we offer something uniquely ours—and it’s brilliant.
LBB> How are you finding your relationship with your fellow leadership team?
Helen> They’re amazing. It’s everything to me. I fundamentally believe—and it’s a truism—that this is a people business. Agencies can talk all they like about loads of things, but fundamentally, it comes down to groups of people thinking of ideas others haven’t, bringing those ideas to life, and working with incredible clients to make it happen.
On the cultural side of things, having a brilliant group of humans doing that is what I genuinely believe leads to the best work and the virtuous cycle it creates. Coming in here, I’ve found that everyone is not only very, very good at what they do but also incredibly nice, which I know everyone says, but it’s genuinely true here in a way that feels really special.
Side note: Paula, our CFO, is a great example of that. During my interview process, I went out to lunch with her. Halfway through, she started speaking in a Scouse accent [Helen is from Liverpool, the home of the Scouse accent]. It turns out her parents moved from Liverpool to Florida when she was seven, so her entire family are massive Liverpool fans. We ended up in this big conversation because my uncle played for Liverpool for a long time.
Later, on my way back home, she texted me a photo of her dad and my uncle in the 1970s. My uncle played for the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, and Paula’s family used to go watch the games. The photo is this incredible shot of my uncle, in full 1970s footballer style, with her dad outside the stadium. I thought, The planets have aligned. I told someone back home, “There can’t be two Liverpudlian women running an agency in America. This is incredible. I’m in.”
But back to Paula—she’s a fantastic CFO. No-nonsense, brilliant at shepherding us financially, and just a good human being who gets it. That’s the kind of person I love working with.
LBB> JL is still led by its founders, too. What are your thoughts on that?
Helen> Working for a founder-led organisation is another big plus. You can make decisions quickly and just get on with things. You don’t have to deal with the layers and complexities of bigger holding companies. Full respect to them—it’s just not for me. I like being able to get in a room, make a decision, and move forward.
I also really value being close to the clients and the work. This stuff isn’t complicated. It’s about having good people thinking of great ideas and making those ideas happen. And I genuinely believe all this. It’s not me being artificially glowing—it’s what I’d say to my mates.
LBB> How did you get into the industry in the first place?
Helen> When I was at university, I was in so much debt—so much that I had exhausted all sources of income. The bank told me they would advance my overdraft in my third year if I had a graduate job lined up for afterward. So, I went to the career centre, started at A, and saw ‘accountancy’, which I wasn’t so sure about! The next thing was advertising. I figured, ‘well, I watch adverts.’
I found a pamphlet where someone described their life as a graduate trainee at an agency, and it sounded good. I applied for all the graduate schemes I could find and ended up with two offers: an account handler role at M&C Saatchi and a planning role at DDB. I didn’t really understand the difference between account management and planning at the time. I’d never been to London before—only once on holiday to see the Tower of London.
When I went down for the interview, M&C Saatchi had this incredible white marble office in the centre of town. It felt so cool, so I accepted the role. I stayed there for eight years. I did spend a year in planning—they let me try it—but I eventually switched back to account management.
LBB> It must have clicked, considering the career you’ve had since!
Helen> I just fell in love with the work. I loved the agency, moving to London, and being part of this incredible crew. Brilliant agencies are like really good gangs that people want to be in, and I’ve been lucky to work at some of the best. I feel like I’ve found that same sense of belonging here.
I didn’t exactly ‘fall’ into advertising—I did interview and put in the effort—but it was serendipitous that running out of money in my third year propelled me in this direction. I don’t have a degree in anything to do with advertising, but I’ve always felt that if you understand how things work, work hard, and really love what you’re doing, you can succeed.
I never felt like I didn’t belong, and I’m really passionate about making the industry accessible. I do worry sometimes that it’s not as accessible now as it was when I started. There are broader societal issues at play. When I moved to London on a very low salary with no money, I could still afford to rent a flat. Some structural issues have changed, and a lot of the proper graduate training programmes at agencies have disappeared.
That’s why I’m on the board of a charity called the Ghetto Film School. It started in the Bronx, then expanded to London. The charity focuses on getting kids from a variety of backgrounds into creative storytelling professions like directing or screenwriting. For me, advertising has given me unbelievable opportunities, and I want to help others find similar paths.
LBB> What sort of work do you want JL to be known for under your leadership?
Helen> I think it goes back to what I mentioned about brand ideas worthy of participation. We want to create big, powerful brand thinking for our clients that genuinely transforms their businesses, and we want to do it in ways that allow people to participate through the many channels available.
I want what we do to stay the same, but for the way we do it to keep evolving as channels and the media mix change. That’s what’s so exciting. I love that we don’t have to keep rewriting what we do—it’s just the methods that change over time. I just want to keep doing more of that.
I was also very lucky that when I joined, ‘Hey Jude’ had just launched. I was like, ‘OK, amazing! Everybody, look what I’ve done in two weeks.’ Of course, it wasn’t really me, but it was still incredible to see.
What really stays with me, though, is when work connects deeply with people. I sent Hey Jude to my family, and my cousin said, ‘Oh, Danny’s in tears about it’—her husband was so moved by it. That’s the kind of thing I love. When you create something that truly moves people, gets them to buy into it, or even just makes them feel something positive, it’s magical.
I just want more of that—not necessarily to make people cry every time, but to create that kind of meaningful, emotional work.
LBB> Do you have any long-term goals or ambitions for the agency already? If we were to speak in five years, how would you like your impact on the agency to be defined?
Helen> I want to go back to what I said earlier. I think it’s about the people. I want us to have the best creative culture—not just in the US, but in the world. I want that culture to lead to the best possible output at any given time.
So, in five years, I’d love to be sitting here with Dolly [Helen’s dog]—still very fit and active at that time—and looking at the work, thinking, ‘Yeah, we really did it.’ And it will be because this place is incredibly special, especially in terms of the culture we provide for the people who walk through the doors.
