Valerie Madon
Former Chief Creative Officer at McCann APAC
Painter. Ceramist. Gelatiera. Creative Leader. Mother of two amazing humans and one 4-legged barking machine.
Leadership was never the destination for me. Creation was. My north star has always been joy that comes from making the work so I’m always getting my hands dirty.
For me, creativity never clocks out. Beyond building brands for others, I’ve built my own Licktionary, an ice-cream brand I created with my husband, Farrokh Madon. Today, I’m devoting more of my time to shaping a more tactile expression of my creative practice as a ceramist.
Career & Background
What inspired you to do what you are doing now?
Since the young age of 5, I found joy as long as I was making art and kept pursuing it in life.
What was your journey and where are you headed in your career right now?
Graduated from art school and became an assistant to a photographer. During my spare time in the studio, I learned to build our company website with Macromedia Dreamweaver 1.0 by reading the manual.
Back then, a website was a nice-to-have and no one was teaching it in Singapore. That kick-started my career in pure-play digital agencies for first 10 years and my big break in creativity came through Leo Burnett which I would call my school of advertising.
Being one of the few creatives that could straddle between digital and traditional in those early days helped me land critical roles such as CCO of JWT and Facebook. My role at Facebook elevated me into a regional title as I continued to lead regional creativity for Havas, VML and McCann.
Your favourite food for thought
Books
- Hegarty on Advertising
- How to Deal With Idiots (And Stop Being One Yourself)
- The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck
Podcasts / Thought Leaders
- Ai Weiwei
- Pharrell Williams
- Gary Vaynerchuk
What drives and inspires you
What are your core values?
- Family
- Integrity
- Hardworking
Who is your biggest inspiration and why?
No one in particular because I learn from many different people by observing their different strengths. Most of those who inspire me are outside our industry, such as Pharrell Williams, Michael Jackson, Banksy and many others.
You as a Mentor
Why have you decided to become a mentor?
To help others learn fast and not give up.
What are the top skills or qualities you bring to mentoring?
- Collaborative
- Confident
- Direct and honest
- Highly knowledgeable
- Resilient
Ready to be a part of Assisterhood as a Mentee?
The best time is right now. Take a chance – you never know where an Assisterhood mentor can take you.