MCA’s Caroline Sister on Expecting the Unexpected

Caroline> I grew up reading John Grisham’s novels and I completely fell in love with the world of courtrooms, suits, and stiletto heels. I thought it all looked so glamorous. That’s the real reason I started looking into this path, especially because I grew up in a family of doctors and was the first person to pursue a law career. Of course, the glamour of John Grisham’s world quickly faded away and at university, I discovered it was nothing like the books and films! But I actually fell in love with the law and developed a passion to study different areas, especially international Law. And my direct contact with the legal system also brought the notion of injustice and it developed a very strong sense of right and wrong. So even though my initial motivation was the glamour of the courts, I ended up falling in love with different parts of the law and it definitely changed over time. 

Caroline> This is the part of my story where things became interesting. I was working as a lay judge in Rio de Janeiro making about 200 decisions every month – which is a lot – when the pandemic hit, and I was forced to work from home. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the work, but I felt a bit isolated because my family had moved to Portugal in 2019 and I stayed behind in Rio. So, I decided to join them in Porto and took the opportunity to continue studying law – one of my main passions in life – and I enrolled in a master’s degree program in Portugal around international law while continuing to practice law and work as a lay judge remotely. This was also my chance to pursue an international career. 

Everything was going according to plan when suddenly, in January of last year, I was diagnosed with breast cancer, and as everyone always says, it was, of course, a huge shock. It changed everything for me, and my family and I had to endure a long treatment with a few surgeries along the way. My career had to stay in the background while I was in treatment, so I didn’t even think of it much during the first months of 2022.

And then came along Pat Murphy and MCA…In late April, I received a call from a great friend of mine (who didn’t know about my cancer diagnosis and treatment) and asked if he could introduce me to Pat Murphy, who lived in Lisbon and is the CEO of MurphyCobb, a great company in the UK, to which I said, of course! I had no idea what to expect. 

We had a great conversation and we really hit it off. He then offered me a job to be his assistant to which I immediately replied that I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to do it because I had to endure 16 rounds of chemotherapy and that would probably mean I had to miss a few days of work. I will never forget his face when he replied, “So what? You might miss a few days, so what?” I thought, wow, this is different. This is not what I was expecting from the CEO (or any new job, to be honest). And I decided to embark on a crazy adventure with Pat and MCA and I have to say that I am very proud to have endured my treatment, all 16 rounds of chemo, and not missed a day’s work! I felt so grateful to him that I couldn’t let the cancer or the treatment get in the way of this amazing opportunity.

Caroline> It’s a challenge not only because the role is recently created at MCA but, to me, the whole industry is new. I come from a background and legal world that is not very creative (and some may say it’s not that fun) and I found myself inside this amazingly creative atmosphere with incredible group of people. And to me, that’s the great part of it all. Since everything is new to me in the world of production, I get to be a part of so many extraordinary conversations and meetings all day that it pushes me to learn more about it. And since everyone at MCA is all driven by innovation, I also get to see how that plays out in the industry first hand, and I am loving every minute of it.

Caroline> It was really quick, but it just shows how Pat has the ability to invest in people. We have built a great and strong relationship based on trust and we have fun together with lots of laughter, I have to say. We work very closely daily and since I am very much opinionated (for better or for worse), I think he saw my potential to grow in the business from the beginning. He was just waiting for me to end the cancer treatment and the chemo sessions so he could start moving me up the ladder. He used to tell me he didn’t want to give me more before I was ready and as soon as I finished my treatment in November, he promoted me to operations manager. From then, our relationship grew stronger than ever, and I think he also realised that I really love working with people (even if it’s remotely) so in June he once again surprised me and promoted me to chief of staff. I ended up here solely because of his trust in me and his vision of how I could contribute to helping develop MCA.

Caroline> It's a new role in a lot of corporations and a totally new one at MCA. Because of that, the chief of staff position can mean different things in different companies, and it usually adapts to the need of each of them. For me, I have two very clear responsibilities in this role: to assist Pat as the CEO in bringing to life his vision for the company and the future, making sure it’s happening in an efficient way, and being a direct support for him, as a sounding board and as an adviser. But also, as my role title suggests, I want to have a strong connection with the staff. We have over 200 consultants around the world and one of the things I love to do is to reach out to them and schedule quick catch ups over coffee or virtual drinks. We chat for 10/15 minutes, and I get to know them, see their kids, their gardens, and their pets, but mostly just establish a human connection with them, since we are all working remotely. This way, not only do I get to know them better (which I love), but I can also support them in a more clear and concrete way, while also becoming the point of contact when needed. As to your second question, I honestly don’t have a typical day, it’s never two days alike and always something different on the horizon.

Caroline> The theme of the moment is, of course, AI and since my brain will always be wired as a lawyer (not sure if that’s always a good thing) I have an interest in this issue. It’s a difficult task of navigating the new technology and we, at MCA, think it’s very important to use it in a responsible way. When we deal with such creative minds (as people in production are), it sometimes falls under us, lawyers, to clarify the line of what’s possible to do within the limits of the law or the ethics around it. And it has become a priority for all of us at MCA to help our clients make the best use of AI tools in advertising and production and this is a focus of mine as well. 

Caroline> Oh, after last year, I stopped trying to guess. I mean, two years ago if you told me I would be a cancer survivor, living in Portugal and working as chief of staff at MCA, I would say you looked at the wrong biography. But life has a funny way of bringing us surprises and we must be willing to accept the challenges that come our way. In the worst year of my life, I also had the best year of my life. How crazy is that? What I know is that Pat Murphy is the most innovative person I have ever met and if my role includes support for his vision, I am sure I won’t have a boring future, but a very exciting one with lots of studying, meeting new people and working a lot. And as he always tells me, having lots of fun along the way!