Circus Forum: Elizabeth Stephens and Janeen Ritson of mcgarrybowen
This week Circus Forum is hosting not one, but two creatives from mcgarrybowen in New York. Elizabeth Stephens, Associate Creative Director, and Janeen Ritson, Senior Art Director, will be here in Atlanta taking a look at portfolios and sharing their advice on how they made it from being Creative Circus students to creatives in New York City.
A few of our students got to learn about what it’s like to work at mcgarrybowen earlier this year, but you’ll all get to learn more when Elizabeth and Janeen take the stage in the theatre. Take a look at the bios from Elizabeth and Janeen below:
Elizabeth Stephens: Elizabeth began her career in 2007 at EnergyBBDO in Chicago, working on print and TV for brands like Wrigley and the Art Institute of Chicago. She made the transition to Digitas in 2009, creating digital advertising for a range of P&G brands and Disney. In late 2010, she quit her full time job in Chicago for two weeks of experimental freelance at mcgarrybowen, sleeping on a wide range of friends’ sofas. That turned into a full time gig working on Verizon, and she has been living in Brooklyn and working at MB ever since. The beginning of 2013 marked her official transition into the world of social media, where she feels most at home. She’s a highly motivated cooking geek, a somewhat lazy yogi, and a passionate Game of Thrones fan (the books AND the show). In her next life, she will return as Danaerys Targaryen.
Janeen Ritson: Janeen began her career in 2007 at Arnold in Boston, where she worked as an integrated art director for five years. During her tenure at Arnold, Janeen worked primarily on Ocean Spray, helping grow the campaign domestically and internationally, as a part of a small, but scrappy team that won several Effies for their work in the CPG category. She also had the opportunity to produce work for a wide range of other clients while at Arnold, including New Balance, Progressive and McDonalds. In 2012, after completing a 200-hour yoga teacher training, Janeen realized that she was ready for some major life changes (explosions), which led her to quit Arnold, move to Brooklyn and take a job at Mcgarrybowen. Here she worked on the 360 team for the better part of a year, before taking on her latest role as Senior Art Director on the Verizon social team, alongside her old Circus comrade and new partner, Elizabeth Stephens.
In other news, Janeen has run three NYC Marathons and is currently training for her fourth. She’s also a yoga teacher and has a wicked ice cream addiction that rivals only her obsession with dogs.
Elizabeth Stephens and Janeen Ritson will take the stage in the Carol Vick Bynum Theatre this Friday, August 2nd, at 1:30PM. Follow @creative_circus on Twitter and search the hashtag #CircusForum to follow the live-tweeting of the event.