Why Sharon Horgan is Holly Hunter’s Creative Hero

Holly Hunter is a managing partner at Nelson Bostock, specialising in B2B marketing and communications. She has both in-house and agency experience, having led communications at a fintech scale-up in London alongside agency leadership roles. 

Holly is experienced in leading integrated comms programmes for large tech brands, driving client strategy and supporting agency growth. She has launched and run communications functions for clients ranging from early stage start-ups through to the world's largest companies including Uber, McKinsey, Workday and Canon.

LBB> Who would you say is your creative hero? 

Holly> I am lucky enough to be surrounded by and constantly inspired by some of the most creative brains out there. My partner is a musician, my grandad an excellent painter, and my colleagues are at the top of their game in various creative fields (shout-out Liv Harry!)

But one person I find myself constantly excited by outside of this circle is writer, director, actor, producer, and all-round Bad Sister Sharon Horgan.

LBB> How long has she been important to you and what are your first memories of coming across her work?

Holly> I loved 'Catastrophe', became a bit too obsessed with ‘Motherland’, and binged ‘This Way Up’. I loved how dark, tender, funny, sad and watchable these all were as standalone pieces of work, but hadn't put 2+2 together to understand what connected them. It all made sense when I realised the same person was involved, and that Horgan was behind some of the best content I've had the pleasure of watching.

LBB> Why is she such an inspiration to you? 

Holly> Everything Horgan produces makes me feel like it was made just for me, and I'm sure many women feel the same way. For anyone who's dealt with love, loss, relationships, motherhood, sorority, and mental health (so a fair few of us then?), her work is so close to the bone it's almost uncomfortable to watch.

Horgan has an ability to make you feel so deeply, to laugh and cry in the same moment – and she seems to have an eye for collaborating with people who have that same knack. For me, telling stories with so much emotion and tenderness while entertaining your audience transcends channels, art forms and industries as something truly inspirational.

Beyond the nature of her work, Horgan is a woman at the top of her game, in an industry still dominated by male directors and producers. She’s refreshingly open and honest about navigating life with kids, divorce, anxiety and menopause, and by sharing these experiences she’s making it easier for the women who come next. 

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

Holly> While the stories in these works are far from B2B marketing, it's well-known that telling a story is much more memorable than presenting someone with data. Even more so in B2B, where audiences are crying out for content that speaks to them on a human level.

Horgan's work often presents a deep sense of the uncanny – something that feels so familiar but somehow unsettling and strange. In B2B comms, we have to make audiences feel something and give them something unexpected, funny, a "man bites dog" story.

Speaking to B2B audiences on a human level and presenting them with stories worth sharing is non-negotiable today, given the importance of word of mouth and peer recommendations across these industries. This is a north star for us at Nelson Bostock, and something I’ve been really inspired by in the course of my time here.

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

Holly> 'Motherland' is a guilty pleasure that I can watch any time any place, but 'Bad Sisters' is still my number one...for now at least.