Birthday Appoints Former Meta Creative Shop Leader as Global MD
Global creative collective Birthday has appointed Nicole Pinochet as its new global managing director, marking a key milestone as the company celebrates its first year in operation.
Based in New York, Nicole will oversee brand partnerships, strategic operations, and international growth, tasked with scaling Birthday’s global presence while maintaining the collective’s ‘creativity-first, craft-obsessed and agile approach’. The hire comes as Birthday continues to build momentum with a client roster that includes Hinge, Allianz, and Mercy For Animals.
“In our first year, we proved that a nimble, creativity-first collective could build deep partnerships and deliver global impact,” says Corinna Falusi, founder and CCO of Birthday, speaking with LBB. “But to grow without compromising that DNA, we needed a strategic leader who gets both the art and the architecture of creative work.”
She sees Nicole as that partner: “Her global mindset, her sharp operational instinct, and her deep experience guiding creative teams at scale make her the perfect partner to help take Birthday into its next chapter without losing what makes it special.”
Nicole brings two decades of experience in global creative leadership. Most recently, she led strategy and operations at Meta’s Creative Shop, where she scaled a 300+ person team working with over 800 brands worldwide. Her career also includes senior agency roles at BBDO and Ogilvy, where she led campaigns for global brands such as Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, IBM, and GE.
After years inside some of the world’s largest creative and tech organisations, Nicole says she was ready to get closer to the creative spark – “to ideas that move fast, feel personal, and make a real impact.” What drew her to Birthday was its model: built to embed within marketing teams and co-create with them, rather than simply deliver. “I saw the potential to help shape something that’s truly next,” she adds.
Founded in 2024, Birthday operates as a global collective of senior talent spanning creative, strategy, and production. Its freelance-first, no-nonsense model is designed to bring high-impact work to brands quickly, without unnecessary layers. Over the past year, the collective has delivered campaigns across Europe, North America, and Asia Pacific – including Hinge’s ‘It’s Funny We Met on Hinge’ and a sustainability-focused platform for Mercy For Animals.
“We started with a belief,” says Corinna, “that the best ideas happen when the right people come together. That belief has only deepened. What’s evolved is our ability to operationalise it globally, to deliver creative excellence consistently, across markets and touchpoints. Nicole’s arrival signals our commitment to doing just that. We’re ready to grow. Not by becoming bigger in the traditional sense, but by being smarter, sharper, and more intentional about how we scale creativity without the baggage of traditional agency models.”
In a press release announcing her hire, Nicole described Birthday as having “real resonance, real creativity, real heart”. In practice she says that this means starting every challenge and project “from the human centre”, instead of just briefs and KPIs. “The emotional and cultural truths that drive connection,” she adds. “At Birthday, we don’t default to formulas or layers. We curate the right mix of thinkers and makers to co-create with our clients, shaping work that feels sharp, specific, and deeply relevant. That’s how you build ideas that work across channels: you make them matter to people first. When you lead with resonance and craft, performance follows.”
As brands navigate ever-evolving demands, both Nicole and Corinna see Birthday’s model as uniquely positioned to meet the moment.
“Marketing teams today are leaner, faster, and closer to the core of the brand,” says Nicole. “But that also means they need partners who can think with them, not just deliver to them. Birthday is built to meet that need. We can scale up or down, move at the speed of culture, and stay obsessively focused on creativity that performs.”
Corinna adds that brands today are seeking seamless, no-fluff creative partners – those who bring clarity, collaboration, and high-level thinking without the baggage. “Birthday’s model meets brands where they are: in need of clarity, creativity, and trusted collaboration,” she says. “We believe the future belongs to creative ecosystems that are flexible, values-driven, and deeply attuned to culture. That’s where Birthday thrives. At the intersection of emotional resonance and business impact. That’s the opportunity.”
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