My Biggest Lesson: Jamal Dauda

Jamal is a creative leader who has helped innovate music and culture initiatives in house at major brands including Red Bull, WeTransfer, and Playboy, as well as at agencies such as Day One. He spearheaded digital content, brand marketing, and innovation strategies that generated visible market impact and cultural influence. In his time at WeTransfer as the global head of TV and film, Jamal helped develop their film 'The Longest Goodbye,' which ultimately won an Oscar for Best Live Action Short film. His work has also been recognised on the Adweek Creative 100 List.   

Leaving the sandy confines of UC San Diego, I was all but sure my future would involve a return to Los Angeles, an arduous but fruitful climb through the music industry, and my eventual placement in the pantheon of great music executives of the twentieth century. I sorted out the move to Los Angeles reasonably quickly, but the rest was a different journey than I could have ever imagined. As is likely the case for many of us in those formative years within the workforce, I had an insatiable restlessness to do more, learn more, and be more. I just didn’t always have the patience and focus it took to achieve any of it. 

I don’t want to represent that as any self-deprecation, as I worked just as hard and just as many hours as any of my contemporaries, but toiling on the wrong things versus locking in on the right ones is a lesson that has taken years to understand (and probably a lifetime without still ever mastering it). Yet, as I meandered throughout every corner of the music industry in search of an oasis of purpose, I was fortunate enough to find mentors in and out of various roles that helped me craft who I wanted to be as an employee, colleague, and, hopefully someday, a leader. With beauty and undefeated clarity of hindsight, here’s a hit list of the revelations people were kind enough to help me realise: 

Candace Mandracia – Small tasks can make for significant victories if you’re patient enough to see them through. 

Juliana Plotkin – Be a person who can get things done, and you’ll never lack opportunities.

Adrian Martinez – When you think you’ve worked hard, try working a little harder.

Brett Fischer – Creativity is ultimately the business of people. The better you connect with them, the better you can finally serve them, clients and consumers alike. 

Michelle Jubelirer: You can fix a deficit of skill. It’s much harder to fix a deficit of effort.

Kirdis Postelle – Protect Ya Neck 

Matt Sadie – Curation is one of the highest forms of creativity. Our work is only ever as good as our lived experience. 

Simon White – Bask in the gentle warmth of today to unlock a better tomorrow. 

With all that wisdom at my disposal, you’d think I would’ve flourished, right? Alas, while I was able to accomplish some beautiful things and live a life that fifteen-year-old me could have never imagined, I remained unfulfilled. And even worse, I felt a hopelessness that was wholly unfamiliar. I used to believe the posters that told me to keep calm and carry on, but I was constantly anxious and running on fumes. 

Ultimately, the greatest, most trajectory-altering lesson I received was from a dear college friend and eventual colleague, Ida. As we were catching up on all things life and the universe as a pair of former Tritons are want to do, she offered me a new landscape and opportunity to take my then music industry experience and apply it to the brand and culture work at Red Bull, where she was thriving at the time. 

Outside of gracious introductions and warm guidance, she forced me to face a mental tug-of-war that I had never previously encountered. 

Who would I be if I left the music industry? A never-was executive? Or a creative reborn? Could I ever go back to music? Or are you forever exiled to some industry Elba? Will my mom ever understand what I do for a living?

Ultimately, the answer to all of those questions is wonderfully unresolved. But that was never the point. The gift my friend Ida gave me was the ability to grapple with what often feels like two opposed thoughts simultaneously at any given time while staying in the pocket and finding insight, empathy, and creativity in the space between. So much of the brand, marketing, and advertising spaces suffer from analysis paralysis. A never-ending ability to talk itself so circularly that somehow, the safety of inaction has overwhelmed the danger and beauty of forging into the unknown. 

It’s the greatest gift I’ve received. To stand in the rush of two wildly opposing points of view and find value, merit, and eventual understanding in both. It’s been a tool for work, life, and all the lovely moments in between. I constantly challenge creatives (and myself) to swim further than any preconceived boundaries and not be afraid to explore what they find past the horizon.