Heyo.

MY NAME IS KIERAN OTS

I’m a Chicago-based Executive Creative Director from Sydney, Australia.
And I have a question:

When did our ambitions get so small?

That’s the thought that keeps me up at night. I know we’ve just met, and I don’t want to start on a downer, but this is too important to bury the lede. Because we’re all blessed with incredible imagination and creativity - but somewhere along the way we lost our audacity. We’ve rationalized, and optimized, and scrutinized to the point where we care far more about doing something right than doing something truly great.

I want to help change that.

I’ve worked in advertising for 25 years. I’ve worked on huge global brands, led and won intense international pitches, won a bunch of shiny awards. But the thing that has always meant the most to me is the power of an idea. Because an idea can truly be anything. And if you start with a real problem, hold yourself to a tough standard and refuse to let anyone box in your thinking, you can create something more powerful than anyone thought was possible.

But to get there, you have to believe it’s possible. Or you’re beaten before you even begin.

Some of my best work has blurred the lines between product and ad. Work that’s integrated new technologies and made them feel relevant. Work that’s taken the driest subject matter imaginable, and made it something people genuinely love spending time with. I’ve seen first-hand the power of ideas that can be anything. Even the way we work—how often do we do things the same way, just because that’s how we’ve always done them?

At my core, I know every one of us is capable of far bigger things than we ever thought possible. That includes you, gentle reader. And I’m going to spend every day I have on this rock finding out what that means to me, and to the people around me.

If you’re one of those people too, I’d love to meet you. Chase me down on LinkedIn or drop me a line.