Bright Bright Great would like to extend a warm welcome to our new Director of Projects, Jeanne Henry. Jeanne will be assisting BBG with all BBG accounts and sales.
What is your name and official title at BBG? Jeanne Henry, Director of Projects. Hello, Hello. I am excited to be here. What got you interested in (your role)? I’ve always been interested in communication (the heart of project management), first through my writing background, but that skill set grew when I was working for a book publisher, and I really got to understand the power of design in communication and how important it is to elevate messages. From there, which was many years ago, I got the chance to work in the creative agency space and loved how project management combined so many things that I love from organizing to getting to talk to people across many different industries and fields of expertise. I haven’t looked back since! Project management has really felt like a natural fit for my interdisciplinary background. What interested you in working at BBG? I was really drawn to the broad range of digital projects and the high-energy and excitement of the BBG team. What skills are you excited to polish, or learn in the next few years? I’m always really excited to learn more about the development process and grow my knowledge base as technology is always changing—it’s important to stay up-to-date and always be looking for different ways to innovate, and to keep knowledge fresh. Outside of that, I’m always interested in trying new ways to run projects and expand on some of the strategy skills that I use as a project manager. I’m always a student. What are your hobbies or interests outside of work? I’m an essay and poetry writer. I love wandering through independent bookstores and finding an author that I’ve never heard of. I like trying to surprise myself by new adventures. Coffee shops, running, and board games with my partner, Edmund, is also pretty high up there in interests. Who is currently inspiring you the most creatively in design? Outside of Amy Schwartz and all the lovely work of my colleagues, I really enjoy the human and hand-drawn data visualizations of illustrator Mona Chalabi. I love Claire Wasserman and the whole, supportive and dope community of Ladies Get Paid. Who is currently inspiring you the most creatively in a field outside of graphic design? There are really lovely writers and advocates for social change that inspire me and urge me through their work to take as much action as possible for positive, progressive social change and to write better poetry. Those people include Clint Smith, Eve Ewing, and Tarfia Faizulla. Among others. I’m also really inspired by the Blood Orange album ‘Freetown Sound’ from 2016. It’s amazing and never gets old. What’s the closest thing to real magic? Love. Love is magic. Does everyone say that? Well, it’s true. If you were given a one-minute ad slot during the Super Bowl that you couldn’t sell, what would you fill it with? Poetry, yo. The poetry ads in New York City and here in Chicago show mostly stale poetry from dead white men. I’d love to have a dope ad the represents the real and current freshness of poetry. Would you rather always be 10 minutes late or always be 20 minutes early? 20 minutes early, for sure. I’m the person that walks around the block because they got to a meeting too early. – Be sure to follow Jeanne: Jeanne Henry LinkedIn Jeanne Henry Twitter