Meet the Creative Duo Who Protect Each Other Personally and Professionally

Blind dates are fairly rare. Blind dates that work? Much rarer.

An exception to the rule lies in the successful pairing of BBH USA’s senior copywriter Nia Bolling and senior art director Liv Johnston. At the time, the pair worked at Publicis New York; Liv had finished an internship and been hired full-time as an art director, whilst Nia was transitioning into creative, from her role as an account supervisor.

The pair were matched by Publicis New York’s then CCO, Erica Roberts (now CCO at BBH USA), “she mentioned there was a girl in accounts who was looking to make the jump to creative,” says Liv. “She told me this girl had been given a chance on the Jif campaign featuring Ludacris, and had absolutely crushed it. I was obsessed with that work and was excited to meet her.

“I had seen her on calls before while I was interning on the Folgers team. My first impression? She was a very buttoned-up account person. I’ll admit, I was worried she wasn’t going to match my freak. I'm happy to report that she absolutely did.”

“We trusted Erica’s vision and ended up being partners.” Nia adds, “My first impression of Liv was that she was nice and welcoming. In my head, I always wondered if she was nervous about being partnered with a ‘non-creative’. Even if she was, she never showed it.”

The pair’s working relationship quickly evolved, falling into a natural partnership and balance. “Of course, we had to learn each other’s personalities and working styles, but at no point did any of it feel forced,” says Nia. “I would say we gravitated towards each other and started making great work rather quickly. There was a drive in both of us to prove ourselves, and the work reflected that.”

Nia and Liv’s success as a creative pairing is partly thanks to their many differences, says Nia. “Liv and I come from extremely different backgrounds, which is a huge reason why we make such great work.

“I’m a Black girl from Brooklyn, New York (pre-gentrification). So, her upbringing in Utah as a White person was drastically different from mine. We share insights of each other’s backgrounds, lifestyles and cultures all the time, and are both open to learning and being challenged in our perspectives.”

Liv adds that in addition to their different cultural backgrounds, their unique career pathways enhance the work that they do together and the pools of knowledge that they can tap into. “With Nia’s background in account management and my background in production, our different perspectives push the work in ways we wouldn’t be able to alone.”

Liv found her way into advertising through the Brigham Young University AdLab. Prior to this, she’d been a wedding videographer grappling with her college future – knowing that she wanted to pursue a creative career, but unsure if traditional college would help her get there. “I joined the Brigham Young University AdLab on the production side as a director, DP, and editor,” she says. “When covid-19 hit, I packed up, moved home, and swapped campus life for online classes and TikTok. With real sets off-limits, I resorted to making ads where almonds were the main characters (these were desperate times).”

By her senior year, she’d swapped camera work for concept creation, and left college primed to pursue art direction. “I was grateful to graduate with recognition from One Club, The ANDYs, AICP, Tellys, and the Addys,” Liv says, “and to be one of two women to receive the One Club for Creativity Young Ones Portfolio in Advertising Award.”

Creativity has always been part of Nia’s life, firstly through music and performance. “Growing up, music was my outlet. I grew up singing in church, and I went to a performing arts high school to study vocal performance,” she says. “My weekends were spent writing songs and poetry. I credit my brother a huge deal for this – when I was little, he’d always play Jay-Z around the house, and his songs piqued my interest in storytelling.

“Rap was my Shakespeare, and I always wanted to create stories just as impactful.”

Put off from initially pursuing a creative career by a sense of fear, Nia went to business school and completed a degree in marketing management, which saw her land in account management. “It wasn’t until five years later that I found the gumption to pursue a creative role. I was an account supervisor working on a project that really spoke to me.”

On finding the courage to make the move, she says, “I messaged the creative team and asked if I could ghostwrite for the project. Probably the boldest, most random thing I’ve ever done in my life. After a few weeks of ghostwriting, they were so impressed by my writing that they broke our vow of secrecy and told everyone on the team how awesome a writer I was. Our CCO got word of it and asked if I wanted to be a copywriter. I said yes, and less than six months later, it happened.”

The pair joined BBH USA from Publicis New York in January 2023. The move came a few months after their matchmaker and mentor, Erica, was made CCO at BBH USA and the JM Smucker account moved across too. “[It’s] not the sexiest transition story, but I am so grateful for that move.” Nia says, “Being in this creative space has propelled my career and expanded my mind in so many ways. BBH is truly a place of constant inspiration, collaboration and growth, and I’m so grateful to be surrounded by such brilliant people every day.”

A vibrantly colourful celebration of Latin culture and community for Café Bustelo is remembered by Liv as “where it all started for us.” She explains, “This was the first campaign we made together, and it’s still my favourite piece of work. What started as a request for a few extensions to an existing campaign quickly turned into a full rebrand.”
Nia adds, “Café Bustelo is a dream to work on. It’s a brand that’s loved by so many people and has such a longstanding history in the Latin community. We wanted the rebrand, ‘Está Aquí’ (Spanish for ‘Is here’), to be a celebration of that.”

The work won a D&AD pencil, and was shortlisted at Cannes, the One Club, ADC and AICP. Moreover, it served as a poignant reminder of the importance of celebrating diverse communities and cultures through work that is thoughtful and sincere. Nia explains, “Projects like this remind us that campaigns can be about more than just selling products; it can be about uplifting communities. ‘Está Aquí’ wasn’t just a tagline; it was a declaration. A way of saying: the Latin community is here, has always been, and is here to stay, no matter what’s put against them.”

For Liv, the pair’s working relationship over the course of making the campaign consolidated her belief in their partnership. Just three weeks after they began working together, her dad was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer and given a year to live. “I called Nia to tell her – I wouldn’t have blamed her if she wanted a new partner. Between extended time off and the days I wouldn’t have the mental capacity to work, I felt she deserved someone with less baggage.”

Nia, instead of agreeing with Liv, pledged that she would be the partner she needed throughout the difficult times ahead. “Nia responded that I needed a partner who understood that family always comes first, and that she wouldn’t hold my physical or mental absence against me. She assured me she would be that partner.

“Two weeks after my dad’s diagnosis, we started working on the Café Bustelo campaign. Nia trusted me to give it my all when I could, and I trusted that she had my back when I needed to step away and make memories with my dad. The awards and recognition Café Bustelo received were incredibly rewarding, but no Pencil or Lion will ever mean more than the love and support I received during that time.”

Looking back, Liv adds that her one piece of advice she’d give to an aspiring creative is, “Find people who will support you personally as fiercely as they protect you creatively” – just as Nia did for her.

When they’re not working on global campaigns, Liv and Nia spend time immersing themselves within New York’s creative community. Liv finds inspiration in the energy and vibrancy of Broadway’s live theatre scene, and second to this, can be regularly found at the cinema, proudly saying that she’s an “AMC A-Lister,” going to the movies around once a week.

For Nia, indulging in creative spaces outside of work is a way of staying connected with her community, “prioritising Black art shows, open mics, music, and fashion events, not just as a form of enjoyment, but as a necessity.

“Working in a predominantly White industry, it’s important for me to stay tapped into the voices, movements, and cultural shifts shaping my community,” she says. “Because I recognise that nine times out of 10, we’re not at the forefront of someone’s consideration set. I see it all the time with director searches, on-screen talent, or even cultural trends that ultimately drive the industry forward. That’s why I stay connected – it keeps me motivated not only to create, but to advocate for us in the rooms that I’m in.”

Proving that every voice and experience matters, Nia adds that her one piece of advice for an aspiring creative is simply “just start.” She shares, “I held myself back for too long, convinced that my voice didn’t matter, and that my ideas weren’t strong enough. But the truth is, the perspectives we doubt the most are often the ones the world needs to hear.

“Looking back, I wish I had trusted myself sooner. Because once I finally took that leap, I realised my voice wasn’t just valid, it was necessary.”

Fuelled by a relentless creative spirit and shared ambition to make sure everyone’s voices are heard, it’s clear to see that Liv and Nia are an unstoppable force taking BBH New York by storm.