Bossing It: The Power of Creating Trust with Carrie Heather
When Carrie was a young girl, she stepped into a giant pair of shoes. Carrie kept pressing forward through a 15-year long global freelance producing career before joining Harriet at Creative Blood as the director of production. At the birth of By Association, Carrie became the EP as well as DOP to serve as the nexus between client and production to create nuanced, fast-paced projects with her razor-sharp urgency and calm sensibility. She believes no task or ask is unsolvable, and no shoes are too big to fill - though nowadays, she spends most days helping others grow into their own through outreach and mentoring with programs such as Streetlights, Made in Her Image, and Authority Collective.
LBB> What was your first experience of leadership?
Carrie> My very first experience of leadership was as a camp counsellor. As a camper, I remember watching my camp counsellors, clipboards in hand, saying things like, “Girls, time to go to soccer” and I immediately knew I wanted to be just like them. I wanted to hold camper’s’ hands when they were homesick and help them get to their activities on time., It felt natural to me to be in leadership that way. I use real life experiences when I think about leadership. In my late teens, I got promoted from waitress to supervising waitress. Waitressing helped me learn to prioritise. Supervising helped me learn to delegate responsibility. Both jobs informed a lot of the way I operate today. I am always balancing between the compassionate camp counsellor who wants to nurture people and the task-oriented supervisor that understands how to move things forward so that we can all get our jobs done.
LBB> How did you figure out what kind of leader you wanted to be and what kind of leader you didn’t want to be?
Carrie> It is so important to make sure that people feel heard and seen. I never want to be a leader that leads with fear or with a patriarchal gavel. I want to be the type of leader that inspires, that encourages people to have opinions and give feedback. I want to be able to hear what works for my team. I know that what feels intuitive for me may not be what works best for them. My job is to create boundaries for people. Whether they’re on staff or freelancers, my highest priority has been to make sure our employees are in alignment with our company value system, one which holds space for people personally and professionally.
LBB> What experience or moment gave you your biggest lesson in leadership?
Carrie> On a shoot, one of our freelance producers made some comments that were negatively perceived by the talent. She made some mistakes, and it caused tension on set. I needed to give her feedback. I took a little too long to get back to her. She ended up hearing about this through the grapevine. She queried- Why did she need to find out from other people? I told her I had needed a moment to process but really, I was in fear and had taken a little too long to figure out how to handle the situation. It taught me that even if I need a day or two to process, it’s important for me to take the emotion out of it and be able to have the hard conversation on behalf of the team.
LBB> Did you always know you wanted to take a leadership role?
Carrie> I think I always knew I wanted to be a leader - it’s probably the fire sign in me. My experience has allowed me to be inspired by my mentors, implement what works and omit what doesn’t. I always knew I wanted lead in a positive way. I’ve never wanted to own my own company, but I wanted to be a leader within one. I think it’s the maternal instinct in me that inspires me to be in leadership. I like being in a place of decision making, so I can lead from a place of love and inspiration instead of disrespect and fear. Commanding by way of fear is an old school mentality, one that I convey to my producers and managers as they lead their teams as well. If you think screaming at a PA is the way to get them to move faster, you’re not right for By Association.
LBB> What is something unique about the way you lead?
Carrie> I would say being a mom has helped set the stage for how I lead in business. I want to be a positive role model that builds upon strengths instead of weaknesses. For instance, if your child has a perceived weakness, like struggling in Math, a first reaction may be to get them a tutor. But if your child is killing it in math, you may not think to bolster them with a tutor. Why, as a society do we lean into our weaknesses and not our strengths? Let’s support them in their strengths to make them the absolute best they can be. We celebrate those wins. This builds enthusiasm for the task at hand and overall confidence. Once a person’s confidence is bolstered, I like to listen to the pillars with which someone is struggling. I usually find there is some fear and reluctance. Since there has been positive performance, we now have a foundation on which to build upon. I speak from experience on this one, I’m an EP who sucks at Math.
LBB> What are the aspects of leadership that you find most personally challenging and how do you work through them?
Carrie> I think the biggest challenge for me is dealing with conflict or disappointing people. I don’t like the idea that people could have 'issues' with me. I’m challenged by not taking things personally – so I push myself out of my comfort zone in order to navigate conflict from a professional position, not an emotional one. Leadership requires confidence. Confidence also comes in being willing to admit my mistakes. I am always working internally to create boundaries for myself around the emotional side. I’m not coming to these difficult conversations as Carrie, anxious I’ll be perceived in a negative light. I coming as the EP and head of production. I’m bringing my professional side to the conversation to serve the greater whole.
LBB> Have you ever felt like you failed while you were in charge and how did you address the issue? What did you learn from it?
Carrie> There are two places I feel like I’ve failed. One is not being able to ask for the support that I needed. The other way I think I’ve failed is at following my gut and reading the room. I tried something with our team recently that was presented to me at this managerial conference. The moderator recommended something called a 'clearing exercise.' This is an option question. No one is required to answer. The idea of the clearing exercise is giving people the opportunity to speak during an office meeting and share any personal boundaries they are up against. The way it was presented to me was to open with, “Is there anything keeping you from showing up to work today?” I presented this question to the team and quickly found that something was rubbing them the wrong way about it. The feedback from my team was that it seemed I am prying into their lives as if to say- “Why won’t you be good at your job today?” And so, I went back to the managerial teacher and told her that everyone had been flustered and she reframed it for me with more lightness in the delivery. I reworded this question, so it sounded less like people were in trouble and more like, “Is there anything going on for you that you want to share? And anyway that we can support you?” I had this moment where I was like what the fuck. I wished I had understood the purpose of the exercise rather than presenting it EXACTLY as it had been fed to me in my training. I wouldn’t have had to go through this whole experience and question. I learned that I need to take information, discern it and then present it in a way that feels good. One of the positives that came out of all of it is that I was able to have some open conversations with the team that gave me deeper insight into their needs and how I could support them. I got to practice not beating myself up and reminding myself that I am always learning.
LBB> Do you think it’s important to be as transparent as possible in service of being authentic or is there value in being careful and considered?
Carrie> I think there’s room for both. To reiterate what I said above, I think all people want to be seen and heard. I think transparency and authenticity are always important, as well as being careful and considerate. An example of this - I had to release a producer from a job and I was really concerned about hurting her feelings. She is a trusted producer and a professional and so am I. However, the emotional Carrie wanted to avoid the difficult conversation about releasing her. The professional head of production knows that authenticity and transparency goes much further in the long run.
LBB> As you developed your leadership skills did you have a mentor?
Carrie> I have always had multiple women as my mentors. They have taught me all sides of this business, helped me navigate challenges and patted my back when I fucked up. The best learnings really come from reflection. From my first job as a PA to becoming a formidable line producer and bolstering my trajectory to become a head of production and EP. The reason I lead with a feminine energy is because I’ve been supported and guided through my career by women who are moms, by women who believed in me and challenged me and so in turn I want to give back and do the same. They taught me the power of creating trust and positive reinforcement.
LBB> How important is your company culture to the success of your business and how have you managed to keep it alive?
Carrie> Our company culture is one that doesn’t subscribe to the same hierarchal, patriarchal culture that so many people in this industry expect. We don’t operate as 'just production.' ByA’s ethos is that we want people to be on an even playing field. We are all humans with the same end goal. As we come up against tighter budgets and old school thought processes, we need to stay service minded, while putting up boundaries. We know that clients come to us for our expertise, so we gently guide and lead. I’m proud of what By Association stands for and I think our way of working puts us at the forefront of where I hope the industry is headed.
