Guest Kate Wolff is CEO of Lupine Creative, co-chair of Do The WeRQ, and co-founder of LumiTerra. Kate shares how her career journey in advertising led her to establish Lupine Creative and co-found Do The WeRQ, an organization dedicated to increasing LGBTQIA+ representation in the industry. Kate also discusses the challenges of launching a new sustainable product, the LumiCup, and offers advice for professionals looking to make an impact aligned with their interests and beliefs.

Episode Transcript

Adrian Tennant: Hello, I’m Adrian Tennant, the producer and host of IN CLEAR FOCUS. Today’s episode – number 220 – marks the start of our fifteenth season. Whether you’re a regular listener or here for the first time, thank you for choosing to spend your time with us and supporting this podcast. 

Kate Wolff: There is this natural affinity between LGBTQIA plus communities and environmental movements. And it’s leading to increased activism and advocacy within both spheres. 

Adrian Tennant: You’re listening to IN CLEAR FOCUS, fresh perspectives on marketing and advertising produced weekly by Bigeye, a strategy-led, full-service creative agency, growing brands for clients globally. Hello, I’m your host Adrian Tennant, Chief Strategy Officer. Thank you for joining us. A recent article by Gracie Hakema in Harvard Business Review highlighted problems associated with masking, that is, covering or toning down the parts of ourselves that are not represented in or experienced by a dominant group. Survey results reported by the Society for Human Resource Management found that 7 in 10 respondents said they adopt a different personality at work than they do at home. Employees who feel psychologically safe and comfortable being themselves at work are more likely to put in extra effort and ask hard questions, which can benefit the company. This desire for authentic expression is the driving force behind employee-led advocacy groups like Do the WeRQ, which champions LGBTQIA+ visibility in advertising, and Clean Creatives, which focuses on sustainability within the industry. But this movement towards authenticity can sometimes clash with corporate leadership, shareholders, and consumers, especially in response to purpose-led brand activations and sponsorships. Working at the intersection of marketing, LGBTQIA+ advocacy, and environmental sustainability, Kate Wolff is the founder and CEO of Lupine Creative, a Los Angeles-based agency working with high-profile clients, including Google, HBO, FX, LG, Strava, and many more. Kate is also the co-chair of Do The WeRQ, an organization she co-founded, dedicated to increasing LGBTQIA+ plus voices and representation within the advertising industry. Additionally, Kate is a co-founder of LumiTerra and the LumiCup, a brand focused on creating aluminum sustainable alternatives to single use plastics. To discuss her creative marketing work, advocacy for the LGBTQIA+ community, and the challenges of launching a sustainable product, I’m delighted that Kate is joining us today from Los Angeles, California. Kate, welcome to IN CLEAR FOCUS!

Kate Wolff: Oh, I’m so thrilled to be here. Thank you for having me.

Adrian Tennant: Well, as I mentioned in the introduction, you’re the CEO of Lupine Creative. Prior to its founding in 2020 – that was an interesting year! – you had spent the previous decade working at global agencies, including DDB and TBWA Chiat Day. Kate, what prompted you to establish Lupine?

Kate Wolff: That’s a really great question. Well, one, you already kind of noted in 2020, I, like most, was not expecting the year of the Pandemic! So starting and waiting to build an experiential agency, at the start in February of 2020, obviously, I had different plans, so there was a real rollercoaster there. But I think if I were to really look back at my career, I think in the back of my head, I always knew I wanted to do something like this because I do think it requires a lot of planning. It’s not a thing where you wake up one day and say, “I’ve built a 20-year Rolodex of clients,” to just jump and start something new. And so I found myself kind of going through peaks and valleys of confidence, and I think that’s a lot of, you know, my LGBT experience, my experience being a woman in the creative department, the deep camaraderie, you know, and trying to find and establish my own footing, my feel home in my own skin, and most importantly, find my leadership voice and that you know took me a long time. But I think I was always driving towards something like that. And in addition to that, I’ve always had some restlessness when it comes to the structures and limitations regarding advertising work, positions, and departments. I have felt in my career that I’ve always been the person that’s going, “Oh, what’s happening over there?” when regarding strategy, or production, or creative. And so in the beginnings of my career, even in the, you know, the Chiat/Day, DDB, Hill Holiday, Reiny, Pubmodem, I was moving around, not just agency to agency, but department to department. So starting as a copywriter, then moving to production and going to strategy. And it wasn’t until the back half of my career that I really found footing in the account service and brand strategy sides of the world and that, I think, is due to a host of factors, one being me identifying as a woman and two, my organization and public speaking skills. So I naturally kind of was pushed into that, especially as I started to get more senior. And then the last big thing that really helped me jump was the job that I had right before I founded Lupine, which was at a place called RQ. When I started there, it was a start-up agency. It was playing in the influencer marketing space. It was very small. It was between four and six employees. And, I worked with the owner of that to build it up to a little bit less than 50 before I left. And that was the greatest job I’ve ever had, because that was a job where I got to build it, really, and use my own brain and thought and strategy and structure to start building infrastructure, not just great campaign work, but infrastructure and operational work. And so when I left in 2020, while I wasn’t expecting to be slammed by the Pandemic, as a small business starting out in an experienced economy, I do feel lucky that I didn’t feel like a newbie starting a business. I had a road map. And so, when I was hit with major detours, I was able to find my way back.

Adrian Tennant: Well, at Lupine, you’ve also built a really impressive client list, especially in the entertainment industry. What have been some of your favorite projects? 

Kate Wolff: Oh, that’s a crazy – it’s a crazy question, and I don’t want to take up the whole podcast talking about how much I deeply love the work we make at Lupine. But I will say, we just did a program with, [HBO] Max. It’s under the “Human by Orientation” umbrella, which is their LGBTQIA community and collective. We did a Q4 activation at Art Basel called “The Art of Drag.” And the idea was, how do we show up for the community in a way that really leaves a lasting impact in a place where they’re needed and in a conversation that fully equates to both the characters and titles of the Max programming as well as the Max parent brand? And we came up with this idea that we would go to Art Basel, one of the leading art fairs and culture fairs, but also world known, and bring and elevate drag and the art behind drag to the front stage in a place where queer people are under attack. Because that was during the time frame when there was a hiatus on the drag ban, which was prevalent for the beginning of the year, where drag was illegal, and now they were being able to reenact and play and be in that space and perform. And so we showed up, and we got some really great people. We worked with Equality Florida – we had Jeff from their team, who was actually the first man to marry another man in Florida, which was very exciting. We elevated him into a full drag look, feel, and makeover. And we chronicled that experience and partnered with Out Magazine, Out Media, for The Advocate, and Out, to cover it. And it was incredibly powerful, and we gave most, if not all, of the money to queer creators, so we were fueling that economy in a place where they needed it. So, I loved that piece of work. You know, and that’s an example of this balance of being, like, hardworking and, good – like, good for everybody involved in a way that we feel like there’s lasting impact. But you know, there’s so much work that we’ve done at Lupine that I deeply love. Whether it’s like making a fridge for LG sexy and turning it into a speakeasy that you walk through. Like, how do you get a fridge on page six? The key is Anthony from Queer Eye, but also, you know, make it a bar. You know, it’s things like that – like how do we work smarter, harder, what’s a thing that we can put in play, that’s really creative at the forefront, but maybe not so expensive, just culturally in tune? Is it famous? Will the press write about it? kind of vibes.

Adrian Tennant: 2020 was a busy year for you. Not only did you start Lupine, but you also founded Do The WeRQ with a friend of IN CLEAR FOCUS, Graham Nolan. For listeners who may be unfamiliar with the organization, Do The WeRQ’s mission is to create positive, tangible change in LGBTQ+ representation, inclusion, equity, and share of voice within the US advertising and marketing industries. Kate, what motivated you to get involved?

Kate Wolff: Well, one, you’ve met Graham. He’s extremely convincing. I love Graham. Actually, Graham and I – we have a great story. Do The WeRQ is, I call it, the legacy for me. It’s the thing I deeply care about because I have lived that experience in this space, and I would like to spend the rest of my time in this career and field doing it. Making it better for others coming up. And so that was a big part of it. But when I met Graham, I was actually introduced by the original Queen. The joke is the original Queen, which is the Dairy Queen, is how Graham and I know each other. Because a good friend of ours, a collective friend, Bevan Mahaney, who I actually grew up with and met at a Dairy Queen when I was 16, worked with Graham at Gray, and he was talking about finding somebody that might be able to get this off the ground with him. And he had a general idea, and when I met him, I fell in love with his thoughts, his mission, his value and said, “Yes, I’m fully on board, and let’s build it together.” And so together we founded Do The WeRQ, and, you know, as we started to look at, comparative organizations, Adcolor, 3%, we were finding that … What are our benchmarks and data that we can look at to then have a growth and forecasting plan? What does our five years look like? What is success? What are our KPIs? And we were finding that there was just such a lack of visibility both internally and externally for queer folks. There was a lack of data because, you know, when we were founded in 2020, the last Census was 2008, and obviously, that was null and void when it comes to good, pure data, especially considering the fact that prior to June 16th, 2020 – that’s after we were founded – being queer was still not a federally protected thing from a working standpoint. So, you know, the idea of asking a national survey of whether or not you’re queer at your job was irrelevant because you weren’t safe to do so. You could be fired on the grounds of that answer alone. And so, looking at that, we said, “Okay, first and foremost, we need to get more information, internally, and we need to see more external information of representation and how we’re getting it to ad screens, to messaging, to marketing, to target groups.” And we’ve spent our time doing that, and that was the big thing that motivated me was just seeing these, like, apps absent. These giant holes of data and information for us to do any comparative or planning. So, that’s really what we set out to do in year one and year two, and we’ve done that really well. And then the next piece is, for me, the code switching and covering that I had to employ to just remain employed was so high in my early career. And not to mention, like, no women, never mind queer women, were at the top, especially in the creative space. And if you look at advertising ownership, like agency ownership, it’s less than 1 percent are owned by women. And of that 1%, a good chunk of them are VC-backed. So it’s even hard to say that they have full ownership, which is not right, you know? So, I was giving a lot of attention to that and holding myself accountable for being the change I want. And then in addition to that, you know, I think if you’re constantly code-switching and covering, you’re not putting all your creative brain to the creative output of the work, and so the work will suffer. Because you’re not showing up as your full self. It’s like being always slightly distracted. So how can you focus on the task at hand when you’re worried about the outside factors surrounding you? And so that really was a big thing. So, how do we make more brave spaces? More structure and, amplification for queer voices? You know, how do we make more queer ownership, more queer leadership? And then, in turn, how do we translate that into the work we make for others, brands, services, and products?

Adrian Tennant: Well, as the co-chair of Do The WeRQ, you recently attended South by Southwest. While you were there, you posted on LinkedIn that LGBTQ plus-specific programming dropped by 35 percent this year compared to last year. Kate, to what do you attribute that drop?

Kate Wolff: We’ve spent a lot of time talking about this, both Graham and I, alongside some of our members. And it keeps coming back to this truth we all know, which is during times of progress, there is this direct correlation between more representation, more visibility, and the rise of those things as it correlates to the rise of hate speech, hate groups, oppression, the volume of backlash, you know, and that’s simply because the bigger the target, the more to hit. But it’s not really the hate groups, and we do talk about this a lot, it’s not really the hate groups or the hate speech that is our enemy for progress and equal rights and creating more brave spaces. Because those people, they’re not looking for solutions. They’re looking to displace the anger that they’re holding about the world that’s changing around them. I don’t really think that people truly care about who’s sleeping with whom. It seems totally, if your rational brain just goes away, where, you know, why would it matter if that person likes Bud Light or not? Right? It just seems like two totally disparate things. So, that’s hard for me to truly believe. So I don’t think hate groups are looking for solutions or compromises. I don’t think that they’re looking for ways to find common ground. I think they’re truly looking for a release, and they’re using the queer community as the target of that release because they have pent-up sadness, aggression, and they don’t know where to channel it. So all of that to be said, it’s not really our focus to deal with that. Our focus at Do The WeRQ is to focus on the real problem, which is what’s causing that 35 percent drop. Which is the insecurities amongst allies during times of turbulence. It’s the environment in which people are worried about a polarizing market or audience space or, you know, topic, and worried about upsetting others. So they’ll just wait for the thing to blow over. That for us is so hard because we see it happening immediately. Like the risk and reward for allyship drops because the risk goes up, and the reward stays the same, though because the reward is always show up. You know, show up for the people you care about. But we do see risk go up. The likelihood of having backlash by supporting people in a turbulent time is much higher than when something is calm. So, you know, that’s something that I really think I attribute the drop to, which is this insecurity and inaction that’s happening during this turbulent time, and brands and festivals waiting for it to blow over because they’re trying to play it even, they’re trying to play both sides while it’s such a triggering topic. But, at the same time, and I remind every brand that we talk to, it’s the time we need it most. You know, showing up in a turbulent time means you’re showing up there’s need. It’s not showing up when things are calm. And I think that’s an important distinction, and I hope to see more brands do it. But I do understand why they’re not, because they’re worried.

Adrian Tennant: Yeah. Let’s take a short break. We’ll be right back after this message.

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Adrian Tennant: Welcome back. I’m talking with Kate Wolff, CEO of Lupine Creative, co-chair of Do The WeRQ, and co-founder of LumiTerra. Switching gears now to another of your passions, sustainability. Not content with running a busy agency and co-chairing Do The WeRQ, you’ve co-founded LumiTerra and the LumiCup a range of single use aluminum – or aluminium products. Can you tell us the founding story?

Kate Wolff: Well, I love the way you say aluminum. I wish I could say it that well. I absolutely can. I say this to my wife, Tracy, I know I sound crazy because it’s a lot, I’m doing a lot. But I’m also, you know, a team. I have teams in every aspect and LumiTerra and LumiCup is one of them. So, you know, how we kind of came to be for the past six years or so, we’ve been a group of friends that have found ways to work with one another, whether I was supporting on the marketing side, whether they were working together on another adventure, but we’ve all been, in sustainability in some way or another. And we all are entrepreneurial at heart and in spirit. And so, in 2021, we kind of put our brains together, because we had done a few different ventures around sustainability it wasn’t that they weren’t successful it’s that the barrier for product adoption was so high. And so when we put our brains together on this one, we just knew we needed a new product. And we knew this product needed to meet consumers where they were already. So not trying to change a behavior, but trying to find a way to, make the behavior that exists better for the environment and the world at large. And so, we wanted to find something easy and simple without any sacrifice to the user experience, and thus the Lumi and the LumiCup were kind of born. LumiCup is our single-use sustainable product, and Lumi is our sustainable line of products whose goal is to eliminate plastic – any single-use plastic cup, to start. And we’re leading with cups, but we have a lot of big ideas. So there’s going to be a lot that’s coming down the pipeline here. But, our tagline is Conscious Without Compromise. It kind of sums up our user experience. And the goal is to make something seamless and easy, but also good.

Adrian Tennant: What challenges have you faced getting the initial products to market?

Kate Wolff: How much time do you have? Um, no! What challenges have I experienced? Oh my god, all of them. Every day. Every moment. Talk to me in a year and we’ll see where we’re at. You know, startups now, obviously, most of them are in service and intellectual IP. This one is a product. It is a fabricated piece of … you know, we have equipment. We are making something that is tangible and physical. As we were just starting out, we’ve been in the thick of it, and it’s been so exciting. I will tell you, I haven’t felt more alive. I love starting new things. That’s one of the reasons why I was drawn to marketing, because you’re constantly starting a new project, right? I didn’t realize I could apply that to companies, and now I feel like a Pringles can – like once you pop, the fun don’t stop! So I am finding myself like really enjoying the experience of finding routes to find source material, adjusting our machinery, finding the best messaging and platform, to quality checking that message to make sure it lands internationally, to, signing up and trying to beat timelines to get in, you know, venues at a certain time frame. It is, it has been a wild experience, and it’s just this beautiful mix of curiosity, education and excitement. And as a joke – but like, that’s a blend of drink I could drink forever, and I would especially do it out of a Lumi cup! 

Adrian Tennant: I love it. The advertising industry advocacy group, Clean Creatives, has revealed that despite big ad agencies holding companies’ claims about environmentalism and pledges to reach Net Zero emissions by 2030, they continue to work extensively for fossil fuel clients. WPP topped Clean Creatives’ annual “F-List” with 55 fossil fuel contracts. But all the other major holding companies – Omnicom, Interpublic, and Publicis – have contracts too. Kate, what’s your take on the revelations from Clean Creatives?

Kate Wolff: I mean, to be totally honest, it’s not really surprising to me because it feels a little bit unavoidable. And I know that’s kind of a terrible … as somebody that has dedicated their lives to, you know, underserved representation as well as sustainability … but I do think it would be silly of me to not acknowledge that these major companies need major lucrative brands to fuel them. Pun intended on fuel! But you know, for them to not work for a company like this would decrease the size of the company they are and the lifeblood of these holding companies. And I do think that there’s some truth to that. And so the real question is, “How do we, as employees of said companies, as people acting in our economy, like how do we make changes that make them make changes?” And that’s really hard to do, but it has to come from a collective conscious, right? So how can we do better? Like can we ask for greener initiatives internally, externally, when producing things? Can we work together to make strides to get in the right direction? I really wish it was more black and white, but it does feel a little gray here because it would be very hard to rip off a Band-Aid from a holding company, you know, perspective like of an Omnicom or a Publicis, right? Because they’re funding so many people’s jobs that to do so, to walk away, it means that revenue would go away. And so it’s mostly about finding ways that we can all make the right steps forward and towards a more collective conscious around the environment so the work we do does better and hurts less, you know? And get these larger companies that are destroying the environment to make concessions with us. And I think that is really the only way, because I’m cynical, I’ll tell you that right now. I just don’t think that if Omnicom fired one of their major clients that made that list, another company like Publicis or Interpublic wouldn’t pick it up. That is capitalism at its finest, you know? And so it’s how do you decide collectively that we can do better and then make sure we all do better? I do not have an out of the box solution for that, unfortunately.

Adrian Tennant: Right. I mean, it’s definitely a journey. So, in what ways might employees at least start to hold the agencies they work for accountable and encourage transparency?

Kate Wolff: Yeah, I mean, like, that’s kind of what I’m getting at, which is, like, let’s talk more. Let’s start having real dialogue. Use your voice. Your voice is so important. and the other thing is, like, not to quote Brene Brown, but I will. let’s paint success for one another and be realistic about it. Like, what is success from a brand standpoint in terms of transparency and accountability when it comes to sustainability? What is that on an individual standpoint? What are the things you’re holding yourself accountable? What does that success look like? And be realistic about it. Like, what are your actual goals to move a production towards something? I know with Lupine, we used to do a lot of packaging and so one of the things that we made ourselves accountable for is to do the least amount of trash, you know, in the best way we can do. So in 2020 and 2021, we were doing a lot of gifting. How do we make stuff that is not designed to be thrown away? You don’t need to put everything in a branded box. You can put it in a duffel bag and they’ll keep the duffel bag and they’ll use it. One thing down, you know, so like how do we do even small steps like that? Where we have, “Okay, at the end of the year, I want to make 40 percent less trash.” “Great, let’s do that. That’s something we can work towards.” And then the last thing is let’s show up with our money because money talks more than anything. Let’s make larger companies no longer be the lifeblood of these holding companies by challenging them with our wallets. That’s an individual, conscious decision, and that is a way to show up on a micro level that has macro effects.

Adrian Tennant: Well, as we’ve been talking, I’m wondering, do you think there are any parallels here with LGBTQIA+ advocacy? 

Kate Wolff: Oh yeah, for sure. I mean, you’re talking about the performance, the performative nature of everything. Greenwashing is something that, again, we’d have to have a separate talk – it’s … I will get irate and immediately start spinning out! And pinkwashing is the same. We always like to say, “We’re gay in December, so come on around.” Can you imagine if we were only queer for 30 days? That’d be nuts. It’d also be a really jam-packed month. But yeah … so I do think, you know, there are real parallels there in terms of advocacy, and I do think people get caught up in what the performance is, and that really is dictated by when the problem is outweighed by both the intent and the outcome. So I would like to see less of that. It would be great.

Adrian Tennant: Eric Swank, Associate Professor of Practice at Arizona State University’s New College, found in 2018 that people identifying as LGBTQ+ were more than twice as likely as others to join environmental movements. Fun fact! Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to public office in California back in the 1970s, championed environmental sustainability alongside the fight for gay rights. Kate, what’s at the heart of this relationship between LGBTQIA+ identity and interest in environmental issues? 

Kate Wolff: I mean, is it wrong to say that we just care more? No, I’m kidding. We don’t. We don’t. But I wish that was the answer. There is a natural affinity between these groups. I mean, the Harvey Milk thing, even ‘Come Out. Come Out, wherever you are,’ was such a champion, you know, around representation, we think about that on the Do The WeRQ side all the time. You know, you’re more likely to vote, to side, to become an ally. And the stat’s still true, if, one out of, you know – it flips from two to one and one to two – based on if you know somebody that is queer, whether or not you support queer issues. So like, that is an amazing stat. It takes one person to shift somebody’s entire viewpoint. But there is this natural affinity between LGBTQIA+ communities and environmental movements. And it’s leading to increased activism and advocacy within both spheres. And I think that’s due to a host of factors – one of them being the shared experience of marginalization in general, especially within the political climate in the U S right now. Alongside that there is this intersectionality of these issues revolving around nature and social rights. There’s this natural cohesion of an effort where somebody feels like their voice isn’t being heard, and so it’s hard for nature to have a voice, and marginalized folks do not have a voice, right? So there is this natural affinity born from feeling displaced. And then I also think there’s this natural understanding within the LGBTQIA community that, environmental, folks are disproportionately affected by degradation. Environmental degradation disproportionately affects marginalized communities in general. So, like, our environment is really important because when, and this is true for LGBTQIA, but it’s also true for any marginalized group, live in the worst places. We tend to be put in corners. And so like, our environments, if the global environment starts to decrease, we often feel it first. So, such as fighting for environmental justice, or health care, or well-being for LGBTQIA individuals, these are all particularly vulnerable positions for us, and it’s something that we are deeply in tune with. So I do think there is a direct correlation between sustainability, environmental rights, and queerness – so much so, that actually LumiTerra, the LumiCup, Lumi the brand, is run by, co-founded by five individuals, three of which are of the community.

Adrian Tennant: Listeners will probably have a sense of how you’ve successfully integrated your passions for creativity, LGBTQIA advocacy, and sustainability into your career. So Kate, what advice would you give to young professionals who also identify as LGBTQIA and want to make an impact that aligns with their interests and beliefs? 

Kate Wolff: Hmm, you know, at the risk of sounding like a much, much older Millennial, You better work, is kind of my vibe. I just, you know, I wish it was … I wish it was easy for me to say, you know, like, “I am where I am because I, innately knew what I was doing,” or that “I was always able to do whatever I wanted to do.” But the honest answer is that I’ve had to work really hard, and I have worked really hard for all of my career, including now. I’ve spent my days arriving first and leaving last for most of the time of my journey in professional worlds. Not to mention that, you know, I didn’t always have a job I was so deeply passionate about, but I was so deeply passionate in my own education, and for other queer folks, I cannot tell you enough, like, if you love yourself, take care of yourself and find value in the things you do at work, even if you’re doing something that feels beneath you or administrative or non-creative. Or, you know, these things you can learn from them, and you can apply skills and techniques and understanding of different audiences and processes in a way that can elevate you in the office, outside the office, in different passion projects that you might have floating, what your side hustles are, all of those things. But it does come from grit, tenacity, and dedication. And, I’ve always found that the more I knew, the more I could influence a room. And where I am now, I can eventually influence the building. Right? And that is really how I found a way to make a real impact that aligned with my interests and beliefs. Like, my advice is that you get in there, you love the time, you ask good questions, and you step up for your teammates. Because this is a team sport. It just is. Especially in marketing and advertising. It is designed to shuttle whatever the creative thought or clock consciousness is around different departments to get their own, shine on it, and change it. And it’s important that you show up for your teammates and that you learn as much as you can. Because that would be, you know, any young person coming in, if you want to really lead, impact, you gotta start working now. It’s not just gonna happen to you. And I think that’s a little bit of a mis-commitment. You know, I think tech has done, at least to me, a disservice. I used to wait for my break. I would ask my parents to log off a computer, and then I would sit and wait the 15 minutes of AOL dial-up on a phone line to get 20 minutes of talking to my friends in chat or to leave an angsty away message up so somebody would highlight it and see that I left them a message. Like I think about my patience with technology, and I think that patience has stayed, maybe not with tech, but definitely with life. But with, like, phones now, or applications, or basic technology, if something doesn’t work the first time, I might as well have a total mental breakdown, hissy fit, just come undone. And it’s crazy to me that I used to sit in front of a computer for 15 minutes as though that was the norm, and just being totally fine with that. And all of that to be said, what I mean is, don’t get caught up in the age of immediacy. Just always have an immediate understanding of what you’re earning in the moment. Whether that’s monetary, whether that’s education, whether that’s experience. But earning things can be found in so many different ways. Make sure that you’re feeling full every night you go to bed, but your fullness is based on stuff that is building towards something that you want. And then lastly, and I say this to everybody, every person, check the server. Check the server! It is a well archived knowledge base that will give you or any person a leg up or a head start in any new job, any place like that. And no matter, no matter your level, check the server. When you start a new job, spend one week of your first month, like at least, like one week of work, just combing through it, opening documents, reading things, looking at processes and formats, and how other people think, and other creative ideas, and how people are laying stuff out. And you will just get better. To be so much better off than the person next to you. It’s basically what chat GPT is – now, they’re just doing it for you. And eventually, you’ll have that – we’ll all have that. But for right now, if you wanna beat the game, look at the docs that you have access to. Use the resources you have in front of you.

Adrian Tennant: Great advice! Kate, if IN CLEAR FOCUS listeners would like to learn more about Lupine creative, Do The WeRQ, or LumiTerra and the LumiCup, what’s the best way to do so? 

Oh, you can definitely find me on the internet. That’s absolutely the place to find me. A bunch of different ‘@’ handles here. @lupinecreative – L-U-P-I-N-E creative; @DoTheWeRQ – that’s Do The WeRQ W-E-R-Q because we are queer. And @theLumicup, which is L-U-M-I. See what we did there? Aluminum – Lumi! We’re very brilliant. Those places, you can easily hunt me down. But if you wanna just email me, the generic Lupine is the fastest way to get to me, and that’s howel – like at the moon – so howel@lupinecreative.com. I’d love to hear from you.

Adrian Tennant: I see what you did there, Kate Wolff. That’s very cute. 

Kate Wolff: Yeah, you know, love a good wolf pun … where I’m sitting in the den right now, my pack’s outside, you know, I’m sitting in my office, it’s called alpha, you know, we love … it’s never-ending!

Adrian Tennant: Kate, thank you very much for being our guest this week on IN CLEAR FOCUS. 

Kate Wolff: I loved it. Thanks for having me. 

Adrian Tennant: Thanks again to my guest this week, Kate Wolff, CEO of Lupine Creative, co-chair of Do The WeRQ, and co-founder of LumiTerra. As always, you’ll find a full transcript of our conversation and links to the resources we discussed on the Bigeye website at Bigeyeagency.com – just select ‘Insights’ from the menu. Thank you for listening to IN CLEAR FOCUS, produced by Bigeye. I’ve been your host, Adrian Tennant. Until next week, goodbye.