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Ryan Paulson of Dentsu Creative on Being a Good Listener
And performing musical comedy shows about his life
Ryan is CCO of Dentsu Creative, New York. He previously led campaigns for Samsung Global at BBH USA. Earlier, he spent several years at McCann on the Verizon and Mastercard accounts. Ryan also served at Droga5 and Mekanism. It all started with his first internship which, coincidentally, was with Dentsu.
Ryan is passionate about mentoring creatives. He’s taught at the School of Visual Arts, Denver Ad School, Ad House and as part of D&AD’s Shift program.
We spent two minutes with Ryan to learn more about his background, his creative inspirations and recent work he’s admired.
Ryan, tell us …
Where you grew up, and where you live now.
Wisconsin. The Bronx. One gave birth to me. The other gave birth to hip-hop. I won’t say which is which.
How you first realized you were creative.
In church Sunday school as a kid. I wouldn’t shut up, so my teachers started calling on me to act things out. Bible stories and verses. And I realized that I loved performing, or at least I loved talking loudly in front of people.
A person you idolized creatively early on.
Rodney Mullen, the skateboarder. He invented what became street skating.
A moment from high school or college that changed your life.
Someone in my church told me they thought God was calling me to become a minister, which I pursued before having a crisis of faith.
A visual artist or band/musician you admire.
A book, movie, TV show or podcast you recently found inspiring.
Slow Productivity by Cal Newport. It makes you think about what it takes to create something of value that endures.
One of your favorite creative projects you’ve ever worked on.
“Mastercard Touch Card.” It was awesome to be a small part of this larger project with an amazing team.
A recent project you’re proud of.
“The Next Big Thing is You” for Samsung. Great team on this. Very proud of the work we did.
Someone else’s work that inspired you years ago.
“Fear No Susan Glenn” for Axe. So much great work from BBH N.Y. in that era. You don’t see writing this good in advertising very often.
Someone else’s work you admired lately.
I’ve had several students whose work and work ethic I admire, so I’m going to shamelessly use this space to get people to look at their books: Elyza Nachimson, Jungmin Kim, Lindsay Baek.
Your main strength as a creative person.
I hope I’m a good listener.
Your biggest weakness.
I still talk too much.
A mentor who helped you navigate the industry.
I have had so many: Caprice Yu, Britt Nolan, Kevin Mulroy, Julianna Cobb, Erica Roberts, Kevin Brady, Chris Wooster, Jeff Kirschner, David Horowitz, John Patroulis, Rob Reilly.
How you’re paying it forward with the next generation of creatives.
I’ve had the opportunity to teach at multiple places and mentored through awesome programs like the 4As. I’m also a big fan of D&AD’s Shift, which provides an entree into the industry for creatives without formal training.
What you’d be doing if you weren’t in advertising.
I’d be touring Canada performing solo musical comedy shows based on my life. Which is what I did before I got into advertising. That’s also my retirement plan.
2 Minutes With is our regular interview series where we chat with creatives about their backgrounds, creative inspirations, work they admire and more. For more about 2 Minutes With, or to be considered for the series, please get in touch.
