Megan Lally has been elevated from managing partner to CEO of Chicago-headquartered independent advertising agency Highdive.
“Megan has always been the leader of this company, and now we’re making it official,” said Chad Broude, co-chief creative officer and co-owner at Highdive. “Our late partner, Louis Slotkin, used to whisper ‘smartest person in the room’ about her. He was right seven years ago, and he’s right today.”
As CEO, Lally sets the vision for the agency and drives its operations, overseeing growth, account management and strategy. In the last year, the demand for Highdive’s approach to big-brand advertising led to 20 percent YOY growth, and expansion to more than 100 employees. Highdive’s work is known for tapping into pop culture and creating social currency, topping the USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter three years in a row (including for a Barbie-themed ad for Rocket Mortgage) and often tapping into cultural currency with the likes of Danny DeVito, Anna Kendrick and Bill Murray.
“Megan is an exceptional leader and visionary. Her passion is infectious and she makes everyone around her want to be the best version of themselves,” said Mark Gross, Highdive’s co-founder and co-chief creative officer.
In addition to new clients such as Dollar Shave Club and State Farm, Highdive continues to grow its business and creative opportunities with longer-term, creatively-driven clients including Jersey Mikes, Boost Mobile, Beam Suntory, Lay’s, Perfetti Van Melle (Airheads, Chupa Chups, Mentos) and NHL.
“As a leader, Megan is all about relationships, healthy relationships. She understands that if you’ve got strong relationships in both directions, the work will follow and the business will follow,” added Jon Marks, sr. director at Beam Suntory.
Prior to starting Highdive with Broude and Gross in 2016, Lally was at big-brand agencies including Leo Burnett and DDB where she worked on award-winning campaigns for Allstate, Donate Life America, Capital One, PepsiCo, AB InBev and State Farm.
“Overnight Success” Has Been More Than A Decade In The Making For Meghann Fahy and Eve Hewson
Meghann Fahy and Eve Hewson, two of the stars of Netflix's whodunit "The Perfect Couple," have news for you if you want to call them breakouts: They've been working in this business for more than a decade.
Fahy made her TV debut in 2009 in an episode of "Gossip Girl." Hewson's first big film role was in 2011's "This Must Be the Place." They do concede, however, that it's recent TV roles โ "The White Lotus" for Fahy and "Bad Sisters" for Hewson โ that have led to new frontiers of opportunity.
Susanne Bier, who directed "The Perfect Couple," says both Fahy and Hewson are "going to be big stars."
"They certainly have proper, profound star quality, Both of them in very different ways," Bier says. "Both are incredibly creative, incredibly smart, and also have a impressive insight as to who they are. You can be a great actor or actress and not necessarily really know who you are yourself. And they do."
Hewson, 33, whose dad is U2 front man Bono, may have grown up in a famous family but she's now in demand in her own right. She will next be seen in a second season of "Bad Sisters, " out in November. She's in Noah Baumbach's next film, alongside Adam Sandler, George Clooney and Riley Keough. She's also been cast in Steven Spielberg's next production and is set to star opposite Murray Bartlett in a racing series for Hulu.
Fahy, 34, is in production on a limited series with Julianne Moore and Milly Alcock called "Sirens," written by Molly Smith Metzler ("Maid") for Netflix. She also has two films in the can with Josh O'Connor ("The Crown," "Challengers") and Brandon Sklenar ("It Ends With Us").
The two actors spoke candidly about this phase of their careers. This interview has been condensed for clarity and... Read More