Darrin Stephens is a Verb
Management Lessons from a McMann & Tate Marketing Legend
If you’re under 40, you may have no idea who Darrin Stephens is, but long before Don Draper, the Manhattan advertising firm of McMann & Tate employed a creative Account Executive that routinely wove together magical (even “Bewitching”) campaigns for products like Barker’s Baby Food, Zoom Detergent and Baxter Sporting Goods. Darrin Stephens was a magician with an easel and poster board. He was so fast on his feet and able to make such a positive impact with his client presentations, that we sometimes use his name as a verb at Active8.
darrin stephens /dar-uhn stee-vuhnz/ v. To turn a challenging or even hopeless situation into a positive and exciting new venture through creative storytelling … and maybe a little magic.
Example: “Don’t forget we have to meet with (insert big client name here) Monday. You better Darrin Stephens that PowerPoint presentation right quick.”
Poor Darrin was under a lot of pressure. He was talented and worked hard to do a good job for his demanding clients. That alone can be a big challenge, but Darrin had to do it while people were casting spells and turning him into inanimate objects (yes, once he was turned into a doorknob). His mother-in-law was always working against him. No matter how much success he had, it seemed like his job was always on the line. Rather than offer support, Larry Tate—his boss and “frenemy”—just set unreasonable expectations with a trigger temper to go with them. To add to his pressure, Darrin had to juggle all this while hiding the fact that his wife was a witch.
Even with all the challenges, Darrin Stephens was always able to put together a magical solution, usually at the very last second when everything was on the line. He thrived in chaos.
Strategic Leadership
With Active8’s tremendous growth over the last few years, there are certainly times when we can relate to Darrin. When that happens, I hope we are just as good at sheltering our clients and delivering magic. While some level of chaos might be inevitable in a growing and dynamic marketing agency, there’s often a fine line between chaos and an environment charged with positive energy.
There have been many keys for us in minimizing the chaos during rapid growth. We’ve developed tighter processes, invested in better tools and systems, built a strategic plan for the company, and added amazing new staff members that fit with our culture. To make all this work, we’ve established a clear leadership team that thinks strategically while managing our daily operations.
Heather Price, Content & Project Manager
Heather uses her deep storytelling and marketing experience to oversee the content we generate from social media posts to full websites. She works directly with clients and across all our creative teams (writers, designers and videographers) to ensure our major projects proceed on time and exceed expectations!
Morgan Reed, Art Director
Morgan’s rare blend of artistic ability, communication skills and understanding of client priorities makes her the perfect fit to manage our entire team of Graphic Designers, matching each project (large or small) to the designer that fits best with the client’s brand and industry.
Becka Christian, Director of Operations
Becka puts on a Master’s Class in Marketing most every day at Active8. Her years of experience as CEO of Holtz Leather Company plus being the Managing Director of a Marketing agency plus building effective Marketing programs for clients in a variety of industries adds up to the perfect skillset for directly managing our Accounts Team and overseeing Active8’s overall operations and health.
This team of three embrace their roles, take ownership of their respective areas, and accept accountability. They work together seamlessly, cooperate and collaborate daily, and communicate productively. Together, they identify plans and solutions to best exceed our clients’ goals. And—just like in Bewitched—we’re able to make magic, and occasionally hilarity ensues.
