036: Advertising and Advocating For Others with Jean Freeman

06/23/20 • 34 min

Jean Freeman, CEO of Zambezi, uses her own knowledge and experience to teach women how to thrive in their own leadership positions, and how to jump from corporate life to start up their own business. Zambezi is one of the largest female-owned businesses in the advertising industry and Jean uses her power to advocate for others while also working with some of the most notable and influential brands in the market today. She shares her own unique story and background as a multitalented badass, why she is so inspired to lead on female-focused initiatives, and why adapting and staying nimble in business is more important than ever.

What You Will Hear in This Episode:

● Jean moved around in her youth, but her love of sports and education kept her grounded and shaped her today. She was encouraged to be ambitious, and use her natural talents out in the world.
● Jean found a love for advertising and marketing and saw the importance of the relationship between the brand and the consumer.
● Zambezi has 65 full-time employees and is the largest female-owned full-service agency in Ameria.
● One thing that remains constant is change, and it’s up to the badasses of the world to move quickly and adapt.
● Your dreams don’t have to look the same as the dreams of others around you, and it’s also okay to shift and change up your path if it no longer aligns with your higher calling.
● Jean focuses on having her Zambezi employees protected, respected, and connected. She also works with women when they are starting a business, and helps them use their inner power and creativity to solve large business problems.
Quotes:

● “It was a journey and a windy road, it wasn’t just a rocketship to the top.”
● “I have a duty to be an advocate.”
● “While you might not have all the answers, what people are looking for is that you are aware of what is happening and making a plan for the benefit of everyone.”
Mentioned:
How to Raise Independent and Professionally Successful Daughters
Zambezi

What You Will Hear in This Episode:

● Jean moved around in her youth, but her love of sports and education kept her grounded and shaped her today. She was encouraged to be ambitious, and use her natural talents out in the world.
● Jean found a love for advertising and marketing and saw the importance of the relationship between the brand and the consumer.
● Zambezi has 65 full-time employees and is the largest female-owned full-service agency in Ameria.
● One thing that remains constant is change, and it’s up to the badasses of the world to move quickly and adapt.
● Your dreams don’t have to look the same as the dreams of others around you, and it’s also okay to shift and change up your path if it no longer aligns with your higher calling.
● Jean focuses on having her Zambezi employees protected, respected, and connected. She also works with women when they are starting a business, and helps them use their inner power and creativity to solve large business problems.
Quotes:

● “It was a journey and a windy road, it wasn’t just a rocketship to the top.”
● “I have a duty to be an advocate.”
● “While you might not have all the answers, what people are looking for is that you are aware of what is happening and making a plan for the benefit of everyone.”
Mentioned:
How to Raise Independent and Professionally Successful Daughters
Zambezi

Previous Episode

035: Living Your Truth One Jump at a Time with Danielle Brazell

Danielle Brazell is the General Manager of the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, reporting directly to the Mayor and leading a full-time staff of 85 and part-time staff of 200. Danielle talks about how she overcame obstacles in her upbringing to recenter herself towards a life full of meaning and passion. She shares how she became involved in the arts and made a career for herself helping others share their love of arts and culture. Danielle and I then talk about how arts have been affected in the pandemic, and ways they are reinventing the wheel to adjust to the current situation.

What You Will Hear in This Episode:

Danielle had a multitude of health problems at birth, and the fight to be alive gave her a strong will and a solid sense of morality and integrity.
A good friend got Danielle to sign up for school again after she had dropped out, and her teacher made a big impact on her life by providing a safe and respectful environment where she could dream big and express herself.
Danielle had a wake-up call in her mid 30’s and decided she needed to consciously strategize and reimagine what was possible for her, using the tools and knowledge and passion for the arts to make a real difference.
It is so comfortable to stay in our comfort zone, but growing is really what pushes us forward.
Not only did Danielle take a plunge in her career, but she bungee jumped and yes, it is as scary (but thrilling) as it seems!
Danielle and her amazing team are providing relief for artists and creating virtual events to make sure art is as available and as supported as possible during the pandemic. While there have been some substantial budget cuts, she feels confident that they will recover and reimagine their own future.

Quotes:

“I’m driven by a strong sense of belief and meaning.”
“It is so comfortable to stay where we are, but it becomes uncomfortable to stay where we are.”
“Public health includes mental health, and we need cultural arts to get through this.”

Mentioned:

City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs

Arts for LA

Highways Performance Space

Next Episode

037: Fighting the Shadows of Ageism with Barbara Rose Brooker

Barbara Rose Brooker is a role model, activist for gendered ageism, poet, columnist, professor, and author. She and I talk about why aging is the new designer drug, and how we can understand ageism and start to dismantle it in all facets of personal and professional life. Barbara talks about her badass work so far including her books Love Sometimes and The Viagra Diaries and how we can get involved with the Age March, an event to celebrate all ages, races, sexualities, and genders.

What You Will Hear in This Episode:

Barbara started the Age March to bring awareness to ageism and invite people of all ages, races, sexualities, and genders to come together and support one another. The next one will be virtual on September 12.
In ageism, we both covertly and overtly define people by their age and segregate them from the rest of society.
We live in a culture where we define people by appearance and ignore the inner glow and development of powerful and badass women. Anti-aging advertising gives us a false sense of what it looks like to age and makes the younger generation scared to age.
We tend to internalize all the agist assumptions and think we aren’t young enough, smart enough, pretty enough. This blocks or diminishes our success, and Barbara’s work actively combats these all too often repercussions.
We need to first look at ourselves and our assumptions. When other people make comments, we can call it out.
Comments against someone’s age often comes from a deep-rooted fear of not being accepted and becoming invisible during the aging process.

Quotes: