Dream Teams: Leila Loves Cake, Lisa Hates It

Lisa and Leila are two creative directors with a passion for all indie film and useless rugby facts. Oh, and making ads of course. 

Starting their journeys together as an art director and copywriter, Lisa admired Leila’s eye for art direction and knew it she’d be able to learn a lot by working with her.

Leila on the other hand had what she called a ‘mis-impression’ of Lisa. During their first week together, Lisa celebrated her birthday and in an attempt to ‘win her over’, Leila decided to bake a cake. She remembers thinking how lucky she was to find someone who shares her love for the sticky, sweet stuff. It was only revealed two years later that Lisa in fact, does not like cake. 

Despite the fact that their strong friendship was built on a lie, they have found solace within their ‘introverted nature’ as Lisa stated. Fostering each other's creativity in ways that work for them, for example individually gathering thoughts and compiling them into a shared deck. Or finding face-to-face time when needed and when the other is ready. 

“Other teams in our department think we’re weird for not being on Zoom all day, but that’s our worst nightmare!” Lisa described. Building trust within a partnership where there is an unspoken understanding is a rarity. 

Leila has an ability to ‘cut through the crap’ which in turn has, in Lisa’s words, “toughened me up a bit.” Believing that their success as a creative duo boils down to their ability to share common interests outside of work, things like obscure film, TV and literature, for example. 

This obscure knowledge of indie art has led them to create campaigns that stand out above the rest - not least in their ‘first ever big job’ together, a Christmas campaign for Aldi. The pair talked about this enormous feat as a unique opportunity to fully cement their working relationship. 

“You Can’t Overcook Christmas' saw them being thrown into the deep end, testing each other not only on how well they work together but also how well they worked under sustained pressure.  

Leila described the time as “it was a testy time for sure, and if anything we learnt to trust each other and be reassured that we’d always have each others’ back. We also picked up some useful tips on how to flame a pud and torch a trifle.”

During their time as a copywriter and art director pair, they discovered that lots of chats, naps, and breaks for baking, despite Lisa’s dislike for cake, is what kept them in touch with each other. They found their unique ways of communicating far more effective than the traditional methods of emails and phone calls. 

“It’s about communicating what we’re thinking - what’s working and what isn’t. We know we’ve either found or stumbled into the solution when it makes us both feel something, especially if it makes us laugh,” said Lisa. 

“What Lisa said. Plus walks,” added Leila. 

When moving to their current roles, they both described BMF’s proactive mental health and self-care culture as a key player in their success, especially within an industry that can attract a huge amount of burnout. 

Together with Tara Mckenty, ECD and chief innovation officer at BMF, they’ve discovered what it means to be a creative director, and how to work productively as a team to produce results that are sprinkled with innovation. 

Collectively the pair have worked together at BMF for over 10 years and have created work that is emotional, hilarious and downright fantastic. It is no wonder that they have chosen to stick by each other's sides year after year. 

After all, they say you can’t choose your family. Well, you can’t choose your co-workers either. But if you are as lucky as Lisa and Leila, you’ll find someone who understands, who cares, and who makes work less of a job and more of a passion.