The Inseparable Power of Broken Heart Love Affair’s New Creative Duo

Committing to a creative partnership is not a task one should take lightly. Sure, there’s no singular way to cultivate a relationship capable of producing effective work. But, when you spend day after day working with the same person, enjoyable collaboration – usually – becomes the bare minimum one strives for in the pursuit of long-term success.

Such was the case six years ago when Broken Heart Love Affair creative directors Sara Radovanovich and Sally Fung were brought together for the first time. Back then, Sara was a senior copywriter, and Sally, an art director at FCB Toronto.

Their first meeting, or “vibe check”, as Sally calls it, would take place in a brightly-lit boardroom, with Sara seeking out a new creative partner, alongside whom she could make great work. So, to put this to the test, they compared working styles and what made them tick. “Part of the conversation was to see if we could chat about non-work things,” Sara says. “I wanted to pick someone I wouldn’t mind spending half my life with, as creative partners do. It just makes the hard parts of the job so much easier if you feel like you have a true partner in more than just the work.”

Fortunately, this is exactly what she found. Clicking almost immediately, the pair further bonded over an early project – a women’s purpose campaign for a bank – getting personal and discussing their traumas, values, and inequalities experienced while bringing the work to life.

Both also rapidly came to appreciate their differences as people (despite how often they seem to show up to work in the same outfit, Sally jokes) – something which amplifies their creative approach to this day.

“We grew up in different cultures, consumed different media, listened to different songs, and have very different references,” Sally explains. “But, that’s also what makes us work really well together. We’re very respectful of each other’s ideas, opinions and thoughts, even when we don’t always agree. And we trust each other’s taste. So, when Sara has an idea that I might not get 100%, but she’s super excited about, I’ll be there fully supporting and get excited about it too.”

Such a mentality is important, given that the pair doesn’t work the same way. While Sara tends to be quicker and more instinctive, Sally values having time to digest information and let her thoughts percolate. This means, for example, that if the duo receive a brief on a Friday, Sally will want to sit on it for the weekend, while Sara will spend the next few days racing around with twenty ideas on the go, despite it being, Sally insists, “her days to reset and rest.”

“Yeah, I can get frustrated when ideas are piling up in my head and I want to get them out,” Sara laughs. “How and when we liked to ideate was definitely our biggest struggle. But over the years we found our groove; she mellowed me out, and I sped her up!”

As part of this, the two have worked hard to develop a strong and reliable methodology for when disagreements arise. Taking a pragmatic approach – or at least, attempting to, notes Sally – the teammates talk things through, circling back when needed, all with the understanding that they need to focus on the work, and what would make it better.

“It’s not always the most comfortable,” Sally continues. “But at the end of the day, I think we both accept that the discomfort and disagreements are all part of the creative process, so it never gets personal.”

Adding to this, Sara insists that her friendship with Sally makes it much easier to have these sorts of disputes, even if they’re neither partner’s favourite occurrence. “[Because we’re friends], we know it’s not personal, so we can be really honest with each other. That, and neither of us care for the drama. If you’re fighting and yelling over advertising, you may have to consider that you’re having an adult temper tantrum.”

Indeed, through differences, disagreements and contrasting work styles, both Sara and Sally have always found a way to consistently achieve good outcomes throughout the years. Both in terms of their friendship, and the work itself, each passing project makes them a little better, although the partners agree a mutual highlight is adidas’ ‘Runner 321’ initiative.

Developed by FCB Canada, this Cannes Grand Prix-winning campaign saw the brand sponsor its first-ever athlete with Down syndrome, marathon runner and Ironman Chris Nikic, before reserving bib 321 for him at the Boston Marathon. A move which initiated an entire social movement, this endeavour would ultimately see multiple marathons around the world – including those not sponsored by adidas – get involved, reserving the number for members of the Down syndrome community.

“‘Runner 321’ is what we’re most proud of, not only because it’s one of our most successful projects, but also because it was one we really believed in and kept fighting for despite several obstacles,” Sally says, to which Sara adds, “We were also super hands-on with ‘Runner 321’, especially in production. It was a nimble crew, so we played wardrobe stylist, talent chaperone, voice director, PA, and would literally be running alongside Chris trying to get the right shot. Just the whole experience truly bonded us beyond any other project.”

With that said, this team is not ready to settle for an early career magnum opus. Signalled by their recent move to Broken Heart Love Affair, both Sara and Sally are eager to continue creating high-calibre work, working at the Toronto-based independent to bolster its already renowned offering, and, hopefully, create another career-favourite in the process.

“The big storytelling they do here is what excites me most, as well as the fact that you can feel the clients who come to Broken Heart Love Affair have a lot of trust in them,” Sara explains, breaking down about the pair’s decision to move. “I also love the philosophy of the agency and feel very aligned with it. Oh, and no timesheets!”

This ethos proved a major selling point for Sally as well. Immediately enamoured by how different its model is from traditional agencies, she notes that after a career at bigger shops, the opportunity to be somewhere “smaller and more intimate”, where she and Sara can help build stronger relationships while still shaping the work, is amazing.

“We really love Broken Heart Love Affair’s philosophy – not just its approach to client work, but also how it treats its people,” she continues. “The agency genuinely trusts its teams and gives them the space to create work that’s both creatively fulfilling and effective for clients.”

Nevertheless, the decision to start fresh at a new agency never comes without challenges. In particular, learning new processes, meeting everyone, trying to remember names, and in general, adjusting to a new home “can get overwhelming”, Sally admits, which is why she’s grateful to be moving alongside her friend.

“I love having Sara as my creative partner,” she adds. “She’s someone that I can really share unfiltered thoughts with, be vulnerable about my ideas with, and who I really trust to have my back, to support me and sometimes even call me out when things get tough. In general, creative partnership is so unique to this industry, and it’s always such an enigma when I tell my friends outside the industry about it. We see each other almost, if not more, than our real-life partners.”

Returning the praise, Sara emphasises that Sally has truly made a positive impact on her life, both in terms of the work itself, but also as a person.

Speaking on the former, she highlights the advantages of working in tandem, noting that the two have developed a shorthand which helps cultivate and hone creative ideas more rapidly. Not only that, however, but Sally’s influence has made her more ambitious, ready to apply to things and attend industry events, despite these not typically being her sorts of scenes.

“She motivates me,” Sara says. “I like presenting, but after work I need a lot of decompression time. Without her, you probably wouldn’t see me at an industry party, and I probably wouldn’t even be saying this now. Plus, I know that together, we can figure anything out, because every other time we’ve figured it out.”

As for life outside of work, Sara observes that her partner’s secretive nature (she’s a Scorpio) means that year after year, there’s new, exciting things to be learned, which furthers their bond and friendship. Citing a recent incident at Cannes, in which Sally, to Sara’s shock, randomly demonstrated her ability to “rip on the piano”, seemingly out of nowhere, she notes that moments like these, as well as the creative aforementioned upsides, are exactly why she hopes to face adland side by side with Sally forever.

“The great thing about advertising is that you mostly get to shape your own destiny,” she concludes. “We know some teams split up at a certain level for cost efficiency, but we know other teams that have managed to stay together. So, with that said, Sally and I intend to stay a creative duo until you pry us apart by force.”