Newsletter
#WFH Diaries: Sara Soares and Maria Leiria of Wunderman Thompson U.K.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc across the globe, we’re checking in with creative people to see how they’re coping. Here’s an update from Sara Soares and Maria Leiria, associate creative directors at Wunderman Thompson U.K.
Give us a one-line bio of yourselves.
We’re Sara and Maria. S&M. Because M&S was taken. We’re a creative team at Wunderman Thompson U.K.
Where are you living right now, and who’s with you?
North London, with our partners.
What’s your work situation like at the moment?
We have a morning meeting every day in Microsoft Teams to figure out a plan to nail the apocalypse. So far work has been OK but the apocalypse is still happening.
Describe your socializing strategy.
We’ve been playing matchmaker for friends who are quarantining alone.
How are you dealing with childcare, if applicable?
We don’t have kids. If anything, we’re the babies.
What are you reading?
(Sara) I’ve recently gone vegan—because that’s what you want in a pandemic, to decide you’re going to cut out entire food groups when supplies are already low—so I’m reading vegan cookbooks.
What are you watching?
If your answer to this isn’t Tiger King, you’re not doing this right.
What are you listening to?
Our partners. All day, every day.
How are you staying fit?
Angela Lansbury Positive Moves. Thank us later.
Any tips for getting necessities?
An awkward moment since all this started.
When there’s a lot of people in the meeting and we’re all mute and cameras off, you feel secure enough to leave and make a cup of tea, right? Wrong. That’s when someone will ask YOU a direct question and you won’t hear it because the kettle is on. Luckily, “my internet connection is terrible” is the new “the dog ate my homework.”
Best work email you got since all this started.
“5 minutes late. Diaper duties.”
An aha! moment since all this started.
Everyone still has their own definition of essential/s, but show us someone who doesn’t smile widely when they find a tin of Heinz Baked Beans on a supermarket shelf right now.
What’s your theory on how this is going to play out?
We’ll probably be in lockdown for another two months. When we get out of lockdown, we have a choice to make. We either go back to what we were doing before, or we take this chance to become better humans, better brands, better employers, making better products. For all. Personally, we both have been very fortunate, as no one in our family or friends has been severely ill, so we understand that being this hopeful is a luxury. But we are. Also, no matter what happens, we’re all getting out of this and immediately joining a gym. They are going to make a killin’.
