My Creative Hero: Rebecca Donald

James Parker is the head of editorial at Coolr. James has been with the agency since it started five years ago and has seen it grow into a thriving business! 

James’ background before that was in publishing and journalism. James got his start at AMV BBDO as an intern at 17. This was back when social platforms were taking off, so James was part of their original social media team working on clients like Guinness and Sainsbury’s.

James then went to LADBible, heading up their social video team and helping the pages grow. Soon followed JOE.co.uk, VICE, Guardian, DRIVETRIBE and others. James went from place to place creating social teams and writing articles for websites.

After a freelance stint where James got to write some TV and comedy pieces, James decided to head back to advertising and that’s when Adam Clyne called him to come and get Coolr started. They’ve picked up awards (including a Cannes Lion), won some amazing clients but most importantly James has worked alongside some incredible people!

LBB> Who would you say is your creative hero? 

James> My creative hero is actually my partner – Rebecca Donald.

When I originally got asked to write this piece I was thinking about artists, filmmakers or comedians that I look up to. At one point this entire article was going to be a homage to David Byrne, the lead singer of Talking Heads.

I decided to choose someone that has the most impact on my day-to-day life and therefore, the most impact on my creative thinking so Rebecca was my choice but David Byrne if you’re reading this, I’m sorry and you’re a pretty cool guy.

LBB> How long has this person been important to you and what are your first memories of meeting them or coming across their work?

James> For a bit of background Rebecca is a presenter and short-form content strategist for Xbox UK, more specifically Xbox On (their live streaming channel).

I first saw her work on Twitter about two years ago, clips of her and her team’s livestream content that they cut down for use on other social platforms. She has such an incredible personality and was always so professional when on camera.

They were playing Dark Souls at the time, a game series I love. I decided to reach out to Bex to talk about how cool I thought her job was and she educated me about the gaming industry – giving me so much insight into an industry I’ve always admired but never really been part of. I also discovered that like me she moved to London in order to chase a career path that wasn’t available in her hometown. That was already incredibly inspiring.

We would exchange ideas for video content, tips for social and eventually numbers. We started dating shortly after.

LBB> If it’s someone you personally know, how did you get to know them and how has your relationship evolved over the years? If you don’t know this person, how did you go about finding to learn more about them and their work?

James> When Rebecca and I initially started dating, we quickly discovered that certain aspects of our jobs are very similar.

I spend most of my days creating social content for various brands. Ranging from huge campaigns to everyday posts – we have a saying at Coolr that every post matters. Rebecca streams three to five days a week for Xbox On, the rest of her time is spent growing their TikTok channel and coming up with other activations the brand can carry out. 

We both had to think like a brand, grow communities and create content on a daily basis. So naturally we started to help each other out with quick brainstorms, editing copy and general questions.

LBB> Why is the person such an inspiration to you? 

James> Rebecca is my inspiration because no matter what life throws at her she’s always smiling. In our lines of work there are plenty of stressful times, but she always tries to find a solution instead of letting things beat her.

She has had an incredible impact on the Xbox On community, creating a space where everyone is welcome. They recently saw a huge increase in female followers on TikTok, a channel Rebecca directly looks after. For the first time they are heading towards an even gender split which is ground-breaking in the gaming industry. (I’d like to see David Byrne do that).

To further this point, Rebecca has also hosted panels about women in gaming, speaking confidently yet always coming across as approachable. I often find myself in the audience of these talks filming Rebecca in her element and I take a step back to realise the effect she is having on not just her industry but a shift in the global gaming narrative.

She does the most to help and assist her friends in the space, like the strategy work she did to help Charlotte Tilbury break into the gaming space and putting forward Meg and Davina to be the hosts of their new Twitch channel. Rebecca is constantly looking out for ways to elevate her friends and in creative industries that really means so much. 

She knows what an audience wants, she’s quick with ideas and she’s professional when presenting work – all things I can learn from and practice in my own career.

LBB> How does this person influence you in your approach to your creative work? 

James> My team at Coolr are incredible, I’m very proud of how quickly the daily content team is growing and some of the results they are getting are incredible. 

Brainstorming is a huge part of what we do, and I subject Rebecca to that process most days of the week. I thank her constantly for putting up with me. 

I work on roughly 20 clients, it’s a lot to keep in one head so when I’m jumping from brand to brand, I need quick ideas and someone to tell me when I’m being stupid or if I’m onto something good – Rebecca is always my first port of call.

I also look at how she keeps conversations going during live streams, she’s got me involved in a few of those on her personal channel and even got me on stage for some events recently. All of which is great public speaking practice and helps me keep people engaged when I’m presenting work.

LBB> What piece or pieces of this person’s work do you keep coming back to and why?

James> I watch the Xbox On Twitch channel whenever I can, even just having it on in the background when I’m working helps to brighten my day. 

As mentioned above I also appear on her personal streams most weeks so I’m enjoying getting into that side of content creation! 

Can’t wait to see what the future holds for us both.