Rhiana Merota’s Creative LIAisons Diary #1: 25 before 25… With a little help from Creative LIAisons

Rhiana Merota, Intermediate Art Director at Special ~ Campaign Brief’s New Zealand Agency of the Year ~ is representing Aotearoa at the 2025 Creative LIAisons program in Las Vegas, featuring some of the world’s most respected creative directors as speakers. Here, Merota reports exclusively for Campaign Brief.

In a couple of months I’m turning 25, which is a pretty big milestone for me.

Right now, I’m over at Creative LIAisons in Vegas. And I’d say that’s a pretty big milestone too.

I received a piece of advice in my first year of advertising that sticks with me: Always always always be a ‘sponge’. And not in the ‘sponge off others and let them do everything for you’ way, but in the ‘observe, listen, and soak in all the opinions and knowledge around you’ kinda way.

(Also, my favourite movie is the 2004 Spongebob movie. Maybe there’s some correlation in that).

Anyway, here’s 5 for Day 1, and 5 for Day 2 that resonated with me.

1. Look for work that makes you go “Sh*t I wish I did that.” It’ll raise the bar for your quality of work.

2. You’ll get by with a little help from your friends. And those friends are across every single department. We’re all a stronger team when we’re working as one right from the beginning.

3. Mistakes can be good. They teach you very quickly how to do something better.

4. At the end of the day, we’re all human. We’ve all got ‘life’ doing life things outside of work. Kindness and a smile is free.

5. Attitude and talent go hand in hand. Sometimes, your attitude is going to take you further while you’re quietly crafting your talent in the background.

6. You don’t always have to be the loudest person in the room. There’s more integrity in speaking up when it matters.

7. Say ‘Thank you’. Genuinely thanking people always goes further than you think.

8. No one is going to remember work that doesn’t make them feel something. Make them feel something.

9. Always make time for the office rabbit. Or dog. Or bird. Or lizard. Animals have this weird effect on us humans. We feel a little happier. Or it turns into baby talk. Either way, it works.

10. Be interesting and interested, in both work and life.

Bonus mention:

Day 2 consisted of a full day workshop. We were grouped together in teams of 10 people and were briefed. Then given 1-1.5 hours to create a 10 page deck – to then present back to both clients and judges. Talk about a fun, fast-paced timeline!

I’m proud of our team. We landed on a simple idea quickly, brainstormed some pitch theatre (ICYMI: This was using ‘the force’ to turn lights off and open doors. And to sell the idea in mid-presentation, that ‘force’ was Kate Jefferys and I opening those doors). We placed with a solid ‘special mention’ – But we’ll just quietly claim that as third place. Shout out team 9.

Here’s to always learning, and being the right kind of sponge.