IN THE PRESS
April 03, 2024
RAPP’s SVP Head of Talent, Dawn Serra, weighs in on making the industry more inclusive through community building, mentoring, and providing support and flexibility.
In what ways can women in advertising pave the way for or support younger women hoping to break into advertising?
I’m proud of the inroads the industry has made in recent years to really highlight the power of community building, the importance of women lifting other women up, and how we’ve created more open forums to talk about the things that we are all experiencing as women. I think it will always be an industry that’s competitive, fast-moving, and sometimes unpredictable. But there’s a good amount of space for genuine compassion, listening, connecting, and celebrating women more these days. And I hope younger women know this about ad land.
We need to show up as role models for younger woman in the workplace – that means speaking up, being authentic, saying what’s on our mind – EVEN if we aren’t asked. So if we find ourselves in a room full of men who greet each other with the familiar “hey man (or dude, or gents)” we must resist the tendency to try to assimilate; Or even worse off, be quiet as a result. We need to be ourselves and speak our minds and lean in with confidence despite it.
I think it’s also critical to continue to talk about what it’s like to balance caregiving responsibilities while also growing a career. I’m lucky to have a partner who shares the caregiving equally, but know that not all women do, and that we women generally take on more caregiving responsibility. This can really take a toll. We need to acknowledge this, make it safe to talk about in the workplace, and provide the right support in terms resources and flexibility.
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