Sandra Hind
Co-Creative Director, Carbon Creative
Sandra started working in advertising over 20 years ago (almost pre-dating email). A conceptual copywriter by trade, she has worked for agencies big and small including BCM, DDB, Publicis, Junior and, WWAV Rapp Collins in London, and her own boutique advertising agency, The Hoopla Family. With numerous national and international awards, and experience in everything from TV to DM, she has worked on hundreds of clients across dozens of sectors including Lloyds TSB, Triumph International, British Gas, Conrad Jupiters, Australia Post, Brisbane Writers Festival, Yellow Pages, NRMA Insurance, Flight Centre, WWF, Suncorp, Tourism Queensland, Sky Digital, UQ University, Queensland Transport, Spicers Retreats, Golden Casket, Colorado, Procter & Gamble and various Australian Government accounts. Sandra joined First Nations owned and run social change creative agency, Carbon Creative, around three years ago and is passionate about using the power of words and pictures to help create change. In her free time, Sandy has previously started and run a coffee shop called Atticus Finch and a vintage clothing outlet called This Old Thing. These days, she loves nothing more than curling up with a good book and silently correcting every misspelling she sees.
Career & Background
What inspired you to do what you are doing now?
I’ve always loved telling stories and writing, so falling into a profession where I could do it for a living feels like a gift. For me, putting yourself in someone else’s shoes, writing something that evokes an emotional response that drives them into some sort of action (be it buying that carton of milk you’re selling, or signing that petition to end modern slavery), is like a drug that keeps me going.
Could you tell us a bit about your professional background and where you are headed in your career right now?
After doing a BA in Humanities, majoring in film and media, I had no clue what I wanted to do, or even what I was really qualified. So I started doing some work experience at both an advertising agency and a radio station, which led to me getting hired as a junior copywriter. Since then, I’ve worked as writer and CD at agencies big and small, both in Brisbane and in London and even owned a small agency for a while with my art director partner at the time. To be honest, after owning an agency I fell out of love with the industry for a while and went and started a cafe (yes, for real). But taking that break made me realise how much I missed writing, and that led to my path back to the industry. Working at Carbon has reinvigorated me as well. Working on social change projects after a career of selling products and services has me learning new things every day, and can be both very humbling and extremely rewarding on both a personal and professional level. So now, to steal Carbon’s tagline, I’m at the point where I just want to ‘make good’ – good work, good change for the world, a good difference to the team around me…. the list goes on.
Your favourite food for thought
Books
Whenever I’m having a crisis of creativity I love going back to “Hey Whipple, Squeeze This” by Luke Sullivan and “Cutting Edge Advertising” by Jim Aitchison. For me, they help me to refocus on the process and ‘what matters’ when we’re trying to create. I would also highly recommend “Nina Simone’s Gum” by Warren Ellis. It’s such a beautiful book about the creative process that resonates so powerfully with me. And it’s just bloody great.
Podcasts / Thought Leaders
In the main, the podcasts I follow aren’t very serious. For me, they’re a way of freeing my mind after concentrating on serious things during the work day. Some of my favourites are the superb “Big Small Talk”, the absolutely brilliantly witty “The Rest is Entertainment”, and the always inspiring “Take 5” with Zan Rowe.
What drives and inspires you
What are your core values?
- Authenticity
- Humour
- Kindness
Who is your biggest inspiration and why?
What a question! I honestly couldn’t name just one as there are so many people who inspire me on different levels, professionally, personally, emotionally… Every day, however, I’m inspired by the amazing women who surround me who manage to confront so many things and come through with their kindness and humour intact (while I am flat out just getting myself up, fed and out the door every morning!).
You as a Mentor
Why have you decided to become a mentor?
In my entire career I have never had a female CD, and most of the creative departments I have worked in have been male-dominated. I feel a sense of duty to those amazing women who came before me to help uplift those who come after me.
What are the top 5 skills or qualities you bring to mentoring?
- Collaborative
- Empathic
- Looking for potential
- Non-judgemental
- Present
Ready to apply?
The best time is right now. Take a chance – you never know where an Assisterhood mentor can take you.