5 Minutes with… Teri Miller
To many adlanders, Mother is a British independent creative agency with a fiercely unique spirit. But in the US, it's an altogether different beast. While the core culture remains true to its heritage across the pond, Mother Industries has many faces. It encompasses Mother, its core creative capabilities; Mother Design, a world-class design practice; Media by Mother, a media agency it built from the ground up; Superbloom, a fully-fledged content production company; and Mother Goods, “a creative incubator and digital shop window” for the agency.
The person at the helm of all of this is Teri Miller, who joined as president and partner in July 2022. Prior to that, she spent three years at 72andSunny Los Angeles as president. Mother’s independence was a key factor in convincing Teri to join the company; in her eyes, offering an ability to do anything she and the team endeavoured to do.
“The ambition is to put all the things that I've learned to bare,” she tells us. LBB’s Addison Capper spoke with her to find out more.
LBB> You've been leading Mother in the US for one year now. What were your key tasks and ambitions when you started the role?
Teri> My ambition in joining Mother is taking everything that I've learned in my career and being able to apply it at a place where, because of the independence, we could really do anything we wanted. The possibilities were endless, you could invest in things, you could divest in things, you could reshape things, you could change product pipelines, anything you ever endeavoured to do. I loved that about the place. Because we've got capital that we can directly invest in people, in companies, in brands and products, that was pretty alluring to me. So, the ambition is to put all the things that I've learned to bare. More immediately, the tasks were more about how we set up Mother in the US for the next chapter. Operationally, how do we want to behave? What kinds of things do we want to offer? What are the connection points in between? And how do we stand the whole thing up?
LBB> Mother's capabilities in the US are really far-reaching. Can you outline the capabilities that the agency has and how each of those capabilities developed and evolved?
Teri> That's what I love about this place - it's never been afraid of change. It's always evolving. Change is a constant in any business, especially now, and we're able to actually evolve with it, which is nice. I'm very grateful for that every day. Mother has been independent since its inception - it still is - and our founder Bob says that we never will sell. Therefore, in order to preserve our independence, we have to be able to move to where the market is going and not be fixed, not be static. We have to be able to evolve.
Beyond our core advertising business, in Los Angeles and New York, we've developed a world class design practice in Mother Design, we have a media agency that we started from the ground up about three years ago, called Media by Mother, and then we have a modern content production studio, in a company called Superbloom. Whether those are built from the ground up or acquisitions or ventures that we do, they're all with really entrepreneurial founders that are trusted to innovate, so that we can make sure that we're one step ahead of where we think the market is headed. What's cool about it is that it's also a group of people that genuinely really like each other. Because there's not the same external pressures on the P&Ls, we can work together when we see fit. Mother was started around a kitchen table in London, and that's kind of how we think about it - we all have a seat at the kitchen table, as well as the client with the problem in the middle. It's been the DNA, and how we've evolved it in the US.
LBB> When it comes to each of those different capabilities, do each of them work quite separately or is it more collaborative?
Teri> It depends. Some clients use several of us at one time, some clients come in through one door and that's it. It’s nice because we can lean on each other when we need to, but also you can have an individual relationship with Media by Mother and not work with Mother the creative agency and vice versa. But we tap each other when it makes sense to.
Sometimes a client will come to us, and they'll know exactly what parts of the universe they want to work with. And sometimes, as we get through the process, we understand where one might be better suited than the other, and so we'll introduce each other. But it's very organic, natural and friendly. It doesn't feel like trying to sell services, it's more about how we integrate with each other. It's more of a feeling.
LBB> As president, how do you oversee such a variety of specialisms, ensuring each one of them can flourish but also operate under one driving mission?
Teri> What I love about Mother is that the mission is to 'make our children proud'. It's so lovely and simple. The way we express that is that every business decision we make is to build the home for the next generation of the most creatively diverse people in the world. For me, that inherently creates a portfolio of capabilities that are encouraged to do that. From the founders all the way down to people who are just starting their careers, you can have an impact on the company because it's not about necessarily the brand stewards of today, but who you will pass it down to next. There's a lot of trust that comes with that. It's my job, overseeing all of it, to make sure everybody feels that we really do trust in those voices that come from different experiences and disciplines. I think that's pretty different.
LBB> It’s a big, pointed statement, which I guess must be helpful when you’re trying to build something. But it’s also a lot of pressure!
Teri> Absolutely. It is a risk. This industry changes so often, and the shapes of the things we make change so often, and the platforms that they live on change so often. You do need to have a really high degree of trust. I'm such a big believer in experimentation and trusting the people behind you to make good decisions. You place those bets and usually, if your team feels like you trust them, it works out.
LBB> Let's talk a bit more about risk. 2023 has been a challenging year economically, and it feels like everything is in flux - more so than usual. How are you dealing with that?
Teri> I think because we at Mother have always had the fortune in our position of independence to be able to double down on people, our talent in a volatile world is something that to me is never going to change. We bid on people. People are what make the product that we offer to the world. And there is something inherently mysterious and unpredictable about that. That's why I feel like it'll always be worth something. You can't necessarily formalise it, you can't automate it. It's a little bit wild and intangible, especially in times like right now. You need to double down on that and take those risks on the people. I feel very grateful that we're able to do that.
LBB> Mother's roots in the UK are strong, as are its independence and unique, creative tone of voice. How does this feed into how Mother USA operates, but also how do you feel your operation is unique from the UK?
Teri> I feel like the roots in the UK are the purest form of Mother. Our founder Bob is the heart and soul of the place, and no matter where you sit around the world, when you work at Mother, you know and love the rebellious spirit, why he started the company, and you subscribe to it living in you as well. Back to the trust point, the trust that he has in each one of us to build it and to meet the market where we are is there. It's a little bit of a different portfolio here, but I think that's OK, and that's the freedom you are allowed when working here. But I think the roots are the same.
LBB> Is there one bit of the portfolio in the States right now that you find particularly exciting?
Teri> If I had to pick one, I would say Media by Mother because starting a media agency in 2020 - back to taking risks! - and flipping the whole thing on its head has been the most terrifying yet most rewarding thing I've witnessed here. That was not a genesis that started with me, but I'm so proud of what it is and how clients are responding to it because it's just so different.
LBB> Plus, the recoupling of media and creative within the same agency really seems to be on a positive surge right now.
Teri> It's funny how the pendulum swings back and forth. I think because Media by Mother is just built so differently, it allows the creative and media people to get much closer together. Especially in a world where the platforms that you're on are changing significantly, it feels like without that, it's not as front-footed. Some of our clients use both of us, in some cases the creative piece sits with an outside media partner, in some cases, clients work directly with Media by Mother, but don't work with us creatively. It's nice to take the best practices from each of those use cases and learn.
LBB> Which projects from your time at Mother are you particularly proud of and why?
Teri> It's funny because, in my philosophy on my job, achievements are always hard because I feel like you have to constantly be moving. We can't stop, we have to keep pushing, we have to keep progressing. So, I think it's not necessarily any piece of work that I would say, because it seems so of one moment. For me, the focus is trying to create a place where the most creative people in the world want to work. With some of the hires that we've made, I'm just inspired to work with them every single day and they're going to change the face of what the Mother work product looks like, and the kind of people who want to come work here. Allowing that space to breathe and full trust in leadership teams to make those decisions on their own and autonomy is probably the thing I'm most proud of.
LBB> Now that you’ve made those hires, what are your plans for the next year or so?
Teri> I'm a big believer in making sure that the operational model of a company has the decision makers closest to the end product. The next year for me is making sure that we are primed and positioned to have the decision makers on the business closest to the creative itself, which sometimes can be hard. It can be hard to do that because a lot of it requires you to push things in closer and allow yourself to step out. That's what the next year for me is going to be spent doing.
LBB> I love and am jealous that you also own a bar. How do you find the challenge of making that a success versus an ad agency?
Teri> What's so funny is that I have found it's not all that different. It was a labour of love to start it. My husband does like all of the hard work, I take no credit for what it is today. But we are both unapologetically in the service business. It's all about relationships, and I find that the most meaningful interactions go down over some shit beers at a bar. That's where business gets done in the same way that you want to walk into a place and have the bartender know your name, know your kids, know your worries, and know your drink. Strangely, it's not all that different in how you conduct yourself as a human in those personal moments. It was interesting bringing it to life because all the choices you make in the physical space, whether it's the cocktail list, the wallpaper, or the temperature in the bathroom, are very similar to decisions you would make on a client to be magnetic for people to be drawn to you.
