Get to know our members in their current season of interests and work.
Mary Cruz:
I hail from Melbournetown Australia. Home of the best coffee in the world and less known for its very erratic weather (but true). I’ve been a marketer for over 14 years, having split my time living in Melbourne, London, Amsterdam and now Toronto. I like it here, but I do miss real beaches.
Recent Loves:
I recently finished watching Seasons 1 and 2 of Mindhunter on Netflix. I’m a little obsessed with true crime and I love how it digs into the psychology of criminals rather than the usual forensics drill. I also love that Jonathan Groff plays a preppy FBI agent after being the comedic talent in Frozen and Hamilton.
I’m currently reading Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell. Again, this one is about human behaviour (is there a pattern here?) and it’s fascinating. I recommend it if you want to gain some insight into your own biases, and why and how people make incorrect judgements even when they appear to be sufficiently informed. Go MG.
Finally, Jojo Rabbit is worth the cinema ticket. Taika Waititi is brilliant.
Projects:
My marketing strategy work lately has been focused on persona workshops for correct audience targeting. Persona development is a very early step in marketing strategy and it blows my mind when people start building companies without doing it. I’ve been thinking about creating a formal workshop, but TBD.
Creative Inspiration:
One of my favourite IG accounts is @newyorkercartoons. The content is always very truthful and humorous, and there’s genius in its simplicity because it hits the right chord. Other cartoonists I like are @tangosleepless and @metromonster who are equally clever.
Kickstart Motivation:
My great grandmother used to say something like ‘don’t delay what you can do today’, and this piece of advice has avoided a lot of stress for future me!