#sparkchamber 112518 — Nancie McDonnell Ruder
A warm #sparkchamber welcome to problem solver, business leader, and author Nancie McDonnell Ruder. Raised in New Jersey, her marketing career began at the Leo Burnett Company in Chicago, where she worked in account management and strategy for notable clients Proctor & Gamble, Eli Lilly, The Gap and more.
She started her own brand strategy, research and training company, Noetic Consultants, in 2002 with the goal of becoming an effective extension of clients’ teams. [The word noetic is related to intellect and thinking. She chose this name because it reflects the company’s commitment to helping clients think through their challenges strategically in order to get to the best possible outcomes.] Noetic clients include Samsung, PepsiCo, Nike, Marriott, Mayo Clinic, and Discovery, Inc.
A believer in “creativity, living a holistically healthy and high integrity life, and continually striving to do my best and be my best,” Nancie recently authored Jack and Jill Went Up the Hill: How Senior Marketers Scale the Heights Through Art and Science. Derived from more than 50 in-depth interviews with some of the world's best marketers, the book provides readers with a fresh take on maximizing their own potential — secrets to marketing success, straight from the marketers’ mouths! The Noetic Art & Science Assessment, and a toolkit of resources are included, allowing readers to determine where they fall on the marketing art/science continuum ― and teaching how to ascend from there. With anecdotes, insight and wisdom, this is a wonderful book for any marketer on your holiday gift list!
1.] Where do ideas come from?
Gaining stimulus from any and all places, then making connections — especially connecting disparate things. In order to come up with the actual ideas, one needs to be focused yet relaxed, typically.
2.] What is the itch you are scratching?
I have ambition to grow my company and grow myself as a person. I am embarking on a new chapter of life now in my company and my personal life and want to be intentional and reach for the stars.
3.] Early bird or night owl? Tortoise or hare?
Early bird. I get up early and work out typically, then my body and brain are ready to dig in.
4.] How do you know when you are done?
I am never done :) But certain tasks do need to come to an end. I tend to have a sense when I have set the bar high — of when I am there.