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Movement's Ly Nguyen on Helping e.l.f. Rock Pinterest
She disconnects to connect
With nearly two decades of experience across Omnicom, Publicis Groupe and IPG, Ly is currently the chief creative officer at Movement. She leads a multidisciplinary team of 90+ creatives and strategists producing social and digital work for Fortune 500 brands.
We spent two minutes with Ly to learn more about her background, her creative inspirations and recent work she’s admired.
Ly, tell us …
Where you grew up, and where you live now.
I was born and raised in Southern California, where my family settled after arriving as refugees. They found their way to Orange County as many of the Vietnamese diaspora have. I had dreams of moving to New York for college. But fate kept me closer to home, living in cities across Los Angeles County in my 20s and 30s. Eventually, I settled down with my husband, two kids, two dogs, a cat and a tank of fish in Chino Hills, Calif.
How you first realized you were creative.
I’ve been drawn to the arts for as long as I can remember. In kindergarten, I’d paint pictures and hand them out to friends, whether they wanted them or not. I had my own craft kit for making family birthday cards. When we got our first computer, I taught myself to code simple prompts and games. But it wasn’t until freshman year of high school that I discovered graphic design. Something clicked. It brought together my curiosity about digital platforms and my love of making things. That’s when I knew I wanted to become a creative professional.
A moment from high school or college that changed your life.
My favorite courses in college were about entrepreneurship, not just art skill-building. That set the Art Center College of Design apart from other programs. We learned how to build resumes and portfolios that stand out. But it wasn’t about formatting or language. It was about strategy—like investing in custom-cut paper so your resume literally popped out of the stack. These were tricks of the trade and invaluable insights that could only come from people in the industry sharing their lived experiences. That’s when I realized success isn’t just about talent. It’s something you can influence in how you present yourself. It shaped how I’ve navigated my entire career.
Your most important creative inspirations, and some recent stuff you love.
I find a lot of inspiration outdoors. It’s where I go to clear my mind. I disconnect to stay connected. I’m also drawn to content that highlights storytelling, authenticity and humor. Example: Zohran Mamdani. He takes real issues and approaches them in a kinetic way that meets the audience where they’re at. Outside of the social space or advertising, I find artists who embody creativity, hope and artistic integrity, like Jon Batiste, sources of awe and inspiration.
One of your favorite creative projects you’ve ever worked on.
One of my favorite projects was the return of the GR Supra while I was part of the Toyota.com team at Saatchi & Saatchi. What started as traditional content creation and landing pages expanded into something much bigger. We shot assets with the entire ecosystem in mind, speaking to audiences in a way that resonated with the enthusiast community. This translated into a collector’s edition, hardbound brochure. We also developed videos to educate consumers. But the Australian market loved them so much, they repurposed our videos into a :30 spot. We were also asked to partner with L.A.’s Ornamental Conifer and Race Service to produce a custom, hand-painted car, a vending machine that distributed merch and premium giveaways. It was a proud moment that flipped the script on the traditional model, proving integrated campaigns don’t always need to start from the top down.
A recent project you’re proud of.
Launching e.l.f. Cosmetics on Pinterest with “Color e.l.f.nalysis,” an AI-powered color analysis tool that helped beauty lovers discover their season and shop products made for them. Color analysis searches on Pinterest were up, but actually finding your season meant expensive consultations or tech that didn’t deliver. We built a custom Pinterest extension. Users took a selfie, got their season and unlocked curated, shoppable boards matching their color palette. We launched it on the first day of summer and let creators and social do the rest. The results led to 99 percent positive sentiment, 553M million earned PR impressions and a 15 percent spike in “color analysis” searches during launch week.
Someone else’s work that inspired you years ago.
Jessica Walsh’s “40 Days of Dating” inspired me when it launched in 2013. The project was brilliant. She and her friend Timothy Goodman decided to date each other for 40 days and document everything through questionnaires, videos and artwork on a website. But what I admire most about Jessica goes beyond that one project. She became a partner at the revered Sagmeister & Walsh at just 25, then founded her own agency, &Walsh, making it one of the few creative agencies founded by women. She’s also the founder of Ladies, Wine & Design, a nonprofit created to address the fact that only 3 percent of women hold leadership positions in the creative industry.
Someone else’s work you admired lately.
The Marty Supreme Zoom call was a masterclass in low-effort, high-reward marketing. I’m sure we all saw the staged 18-minute “leaked” Zoom meeting with Timothée Chalamet pitching increasingly unhinged ideas to A24 executives. Then he actually followed through: the orange blimp appeared, the streetwear collab sold out and is now reselling for over $1,000. The joke became real, and that’s what made it stick. He turned his social presence into the distribution engine and created a persona that was impossible to scroll past. Low production cost, maximum cultural resonance and proof that talent-driven authenticity wins.
Your main strength as a creative person.
I’m intuitive when it comes to people. I read what motivates them, where they’re stuck and how to unlock momentum without forcing it. I see the throughline between strategy, culture, creative output and business outcomes. I’m comfortable zooming out to define a point of view, then zooming all the way in to shape how that POV shows up in messaging, systems and behavior. I move easily between creative instinct and operational reality. And I’m often able to translate complexity into clarity, and something teams can actually act on.
Your biggest weakness.
Procrastination.
A mentor who helped you navigate the industry.
I’ve been fortunate to have women in the industry with decades of experience, like Dianne Wilkins and Taleah Mona-Lusky, offer their time to talk things through and guide me during challenging moments. It’s a big reason why I champion diversity, mentorship and purpose-driven initiatives.
What you’d be doing if you weren’t in advertising.
I’ve always had a love for food and cooking. It’s one of my favorite ways to decompress after a long day. After my mom passed during the pandemic, I created a blog called “Cooking Off the Cuff” to process my emotions and document family recipes and stories. So I’d likely be doing something related to the food industry.
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.
