CB Hot Suit Takes: Chiquita King, Managing Director, Cocogun
CB Hot Suit Takes is our new Q&A series for extremely busy CEOs and senior leaders across the industry ~ covering careers, creativity, challenges and the song that sums it all up. Next in the hot seat is Chiquita King, Managing Director, Cocogun.
1. What made you get into advertising?
I fell into advertising quite by accident. Call it serendipity, and in a way advertising chose me. My career has given me a life, inspired risks, made friends (the forever kind) and facilitated big dreams. Would I do it again? No doubt.
2. Which piece of work are you most proud of, and why?
Make death less scary in collaboration with Palliative Care Queensland. It was so much more than a ‘response’ to brief. Part of the job was to work with the community and collaborate on writing the brief. The generosity, courage and vulnerability of everyone who shared their experiences with me was an immense privilege and also a big responsibility to ensure we did justice to their contribution.
We created the antithesis of a government public service announcement. Rather something that acknowledged a truth – death is inevitable. But when we choose to acknowledge our mortality and talk about it, we have more control, choice and dignity in the final chapter.
The subject matter, the creativity, the music, the craft – everything about it makes me smile and proud.
3. What’s the biggest challenge you face in your role right now?
I spent the first half of my career learning to master my craft. How to do my job in a way that really contributed to the overall success of the client, the agency and my team. It was about learning to do the job brilliantly.
Now it’s about what those skills help solve for. The biggest challenge I think is about leading with conviction in the choices you make. It is an immense privilege to lead a creative agency because creativity can solve for pretty much anything. What we solve, how we solve it and who we solve it with is paramount. I want everything we do to come from a place of possibility – not fear. That’s easier said than done.
4. What’s the most recent thing you’ve learned – professionally or personally?
Professionally: Business is an infinite game. And a good reputation helps.
Personally: “The secret to happiness is gratitude and to have no expectations.” I quote a delightful lady who sat next to me on a long haul flight about a year ago. I’ve mastered gratitude, but the ‘no expectations’ part, I’m still working on that!
5. What song best sums up your career so far?
Days Like This, Van Morrison
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