Jamie D’Attoma, 37, is a partner and the executive vice president of creative marketing and communications agency SHADOW. He’s based in Los Angeles.
My career journey:
I started with creative marketing and communications agency SHADOW 12 years ago, when it was just a traditional PR shop. I worked within the agency’s hospitality division as a publicist, where there was always a huge emphasis on events as a source of press and buzz. I learned how to run a red carpet and a door, manage a photographer and a guest list. I realized quickly that I loved event work and was good at managing that kind of chaos.
I now oversee the experiential division, where I get to utilize that background and provide our clients with extraordinary results and shareable content across multiple platforms. I work with SHADOW’s lifestyle brands, including American Girl, American Eagle, aerie, Casetify, e.l.f. Cosmetics, Glenmorangie, and Sun Bum, among others. Whether dreaming up big experiential ideas or architecting a functional gathering, my team and I focus on every aspect of the guest experience, beginning with the ideation stage through the execution. In 2021, SHADOW made me a partner in the agency, a true recognition of my value and impact on the agency and a nod to our promising future.
What my day-to-day looks like:
While there is no typical day at work for me, many are spent connecting with clients around upcoming events and activations, so we can ideate and conceptualize their initial visions. With that comes many fun and fast-paced internal meetings or out-and-about experiential vetting with site visits and conversations with vendors.
My leadership style:
I am all about collaboration regardless of job title or years of experience. I lead by example, but also take the time to listen to my team as I value their input, allow them to make their own decisions, and learn from them each and every day. I believe this style of leadership motivates my team to independently think on their own while knowing they always have a go-to for a gut check when needed.
My greatest career accomplishment:
Going from an administrative assistant to a partner at SHADOW over 10 years is my biggest career accomplishment. It’s rare in this day and age to have stayed at one company for so long, and I am so proud of my dedication and hard work over the years. I’m truly thankful every day for getting to work with people who inspire me and who I value tremendously.
SHADOW was behind the production for American Girl's 35th anniversary celebration and World By Us collection debut in New York City during Fashion Week.Photo: Courtesy of SHADOW
What inspires me:
Aside from the brilliantly creative people I’m fortunate enough to work alongside, music and film has always inspired me. I love pulling inspiration from stage set designs and audiovisuals from live musical performances.
My most memorable event:
There have been so many incredible projects, but the time where I really felt like I “arrived” as a producer was in the fall of 2019 when I produced an immersive three-day activation—the “beauty-verse”—for our client e.l.f. Cosmetics. The private event for media and influencers introduced three separate product launches and incorporated live actors, silent disco headphones, dramatic lighting, and a high-energy, haul-style shopping spree. The multi-room layout and one-at-a-time guest experience created otherworldly moments and allowed attendees to suspend their disbelief to alter their brand perception, showcasing e.l.f. in a much more elevated environment than one might normally find it.
Some impressive stats I’m responsible for:
Being one of the first production teams to produce a virtual event, at the start of the pandemic in May of 2020, with 17,000 attendees for our retail client American Eagle.
Being a part of e.l.f. Cosmetics’s Glow Storm holiday campaign with our two-day IRL guerilla-style stunt, where our brand ambassadors took to the streets of NYC and handed out 1,000-plus “glow bundles” in Manhattan and Brooklyn. In the first week, the campaign generated more than 5 billion earned media impressions, 10 million-plus video views, and a 3,268% increase in web traffic.
Producing a marquee event for American Girl’s 35th anniversary celebration and World By Us collection debut in New York City during Fashion Week. To bring this to life, we produced a first-ever fashion show in partnership with Harlem’s Fashion Row, the premier agency that creates a bridge between brands and designers of color in fashion.
D'Attoma's ideal day OOO? "Somewhere warm outside in the sun with my close friends, the perfect playlist, and absolutely NPA—no phones attached," he said.Photo: Courtesy of SHADOW
It was not very funny at the time, but one mistake I made early in my career was not obtaining all the needed measurements for an event I was producing for one of our retail clients. We built this beautiful custom display unit only to find out it was too big to load into the venue’s elevator. We had to take the unit apart piece by piece and re-install it on-site only a couple of hours before the event started, and I was stressed to say the least! I realized a production 101 that day: the importance of getting all needed measurements to best execute both load-in and load-out and more so, to always expect the unexpected with experiential projects, and to have plans A, B, C, and D.
The advice I would give my younger self:
Don’t listen to your inner saboteur. Believe in yourself. Use your voice with confidence but just as importantly, harness your listening skills and be open to diversity of thought, people, and opinions.
My ideal day OOO:
Somewhere warm outside in the sun with my close friends, the perfect playlist, and absolutely NPA—no phones attached—enjoying some quality time IRL without the distractions of social media or notifications.
What’s next for me:
As the state of events continues to adapt and evolve, I’m optimistic about the future of SHADOW’s experiential work, aiming for bigger and better. I’ll continue to study event trends and emerging technologies and keep growing my network of diverse vendors, partners, and personal relationships so I can grant my clients unrivaled access to the world of experiential marketing.
BizBash's 2023 40 Under 40 list is sponsored by VDA, a Massachusetts-based experiential marketing and event design agency that specializes in custom live, hybrid, and virtual experiences designed to drive business growth through client collaboration and creative thinking.
