Che-Na Stephenson has spent her career getting people to care about things they weren't thinking about five minutes ago.
Yogurt. Vodka. Laundry detergent. The occasional skeleton.
At Venables Bell + Partners, she leads creative across Espolòn Tequila (US + Global), Girl Scouts, Bob Evans Farms, and new business. She helped win the Espolòn pitch and launch Ride the Rooster, a global brand platform that brought the characters from the tequila label into the real world. Not every job lets you put a skeleton on a call sheet.
Before that, she was a Creative Director at Grey, leading work for Downy and Advil, and spent six years at 72andSunny, where she rose to Creative Director and helped shape work for brands including Smirnoff, 23andMe, Cheerios, Honey Nut Cheerios, Seventh Generation, Nature Valley, Cîroc, and Carl's Jr. She also helped create Yoplait's Mom On, a platform that took on mom-shaming. A surprisingly ambitious assignment for yogurt.
She's a founding member of Women That Fight, a creative collective putting its talents toward causes worth fighting for. Her work with Stop AAPI Hate and the National Network of Abortion Funds has helped turn creative thinking into something designed to move people.
Her work has earned industry awards, and she's been invited to judge for The One Club, The One Club's Young Ones and Advertising Week's Future Is Female Awards. Her perspectives have appeared in Communication Arts, Little Black Book, and Ad Age. As a leader, she believes the best creative work comes from good instincts, good people, and leaving egos at the door.
Outside of advertising, she's a wife, mom, and dog owner to Colonel Popcorn. According to 23andMe, she has the genetics of a gifted athlete. Her golf game has requested a second opinion.
Interview in Communication Arts | Advertising That Won’t Be Silenced
AAPI Month
Interview in Authority Magazine