OK Boomer! In this episode of our flagship podcast One Take, we sit down with Tony Sharpe, who transformed the condescending insult into a creative shop aimed at companies who want to reach, yes, boomers. No edits. No retakes. Just authentic insight into becoming a content creator.

Welcome to Your Gray Matters, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to ending age discrimination across advertising, marketing, and the creative industries.

At Your Gray Matters, we believe creativity and leadership don’t have an expiration date. Our mission is to fight ageism, elevate seasoned professionals, and celebrate wisdom at work.

👉 Learn more: ⁠https://www.your-gray-matters.org/⁠

👉 Support our mission:⁠https://www.your-gray-matters.org/don...

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👉 The Scoop – Tony Sharpe was a hotshot creative director at Foote Cone & Belding in Chicago, working on one of the agency’s best clients (Johnson Wax) when he was laid off at 50. Today, he managed to take that oh-so-common insult (OK, Boomer) into a business and plays guitar and vocals in his band “You Me & Kyle”.

👉 Decisive Moment – Got laid off at 50. Started a touring rock band (You Me & Kyle) and a consulting company (OK Boomer).

👉 Unexpected change or event – The ad industry has been hit by dozens, if not hundreds of changes that have completely transformed it.

👉 What did he do? – That a guy like Tony would take all of his experience and create “OK Boomer”? That’s expected. That an “old guy” would form a touring band, master AI tools to create video and artwork, master social media to create a community? That’s the unexpected part. And Tony is enjoying it tremendously.

👉 About older workers – There are people out there like you and me that have seen social media, and messaging, and media, and all those things done well and have led teams that did all those things well. Wouldn't that be the person you would want on your team? Wouldn't you like to have somebody that has seen all the parts and done them well? That's what I would say to a CEO.

In this episode of our flagship podcast One Take, we sit down with famed Miami artist, Mano (no need for last name) to talk about taking the plunge into being a full-time artist, creating a vibrant art community, then losing it, only to start rebuilding it with even more energy. No edits. No retakes. Just authentic insight into becoming a content creator.

Welcome to Your Gray Matters, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to ending age discrimination across advertising, marketing, and the creative industries.

At Your Gray Matters, we believe creativity and leadership don’t have an expiration date.

Our mission is to fight ageism, elevate seasoned professionals, and celebrate wisdom at work.

👉 Learn more: ⁠https://www.your-gray-matters.org/⁠

👉 Support our mission:⁠https://www.your-gray-matters.org/donorbox⁠

🔔 Subscribe now so you don't miss any episodes

👉 The Scoop – Mano –everyone just uses his first name—is one of the iconic Miami artists. Mano was, and is, a musician. He also was, and is, an engineer. And he is an artist. But, over and above, he was the decisive artist in Miami’s Bird Road Art District. To be sure, there were many good artists, but Mano and his wife Cuqui took the lead and transformed a group of artists into a movement.

👉 Decisive Moment – Mano (the engineer) was offered a transfer “up north”. By then he had been painting more and more and didn’t want to leave Miami behind, so he decided to be an artist and jumped into it both feet first.

👉 Unexpected change or event – You can say it was expected… but not expected at the same time. After 16 years of being in the same studio, the owner of the building announced he was tearing it down, so in a single swoop Mano lost his studio, his Bird Road Art District and his community.

👉 What did he do? – Paint from home, of course. But also, and with a lot of help from Cuqui, is wife and an expert in promotions, he has begun getting out more to exhibits, galleries and more.

👉 About older workers – As you grow older you have all that experience under your belt and face it, it’s not the technical part, you know how to deal with people, you always have to deal with people.

When I was young, there were three things I wanted to be: a war photographer, a Rock & Roll concert promoter and a Formula 1 driver.

I became an ad guy and was lucky enough to meet people like Ernesto.

In this episode of our flagship podcast One Take, we sit down with Ernesto Adduci, who began as an AE in Costa Ric, became one of the leading international AEs for FCB and transitioned to being the creator of the biggest rock festival in Costa Rica. No edits. No retakes. Just authentic insight into becoming a content creator.

Welcome to Your Gray Matters, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to ending age discrimination across advertising, marketing, and the creative industries.

At Your Gray Matters, we believe creativity and leadership don’t have an expiration date. Our mission is to fight ageism, elevate seasoned professionals, and celebrate wisdom at work.

👉 Learn more: ⁠https://www.your-gray-matters.org/⁠

👉 Support our mission:⁠https://www.your-gray-matters.org/donorbox⁠

🔔 Subscribe now so you don't miss any episodes

👉 The Scoop – Ernesto Adduci’s life has been amazing. From a small international ad agency in Costa Rica, Ernesto rose to senior international posts at FCB and Leo Burnett in Chicago to creating the largest Rock festival in Costa Rica. Ernesto defines himself as a “content creator”. We think that’s a total understatement.

👉 Decisive Moment #1 – Ernesto had cancer seven years ago, in 2018. After a year of chemo, surgeries, and debilitating treatments, of thinking he would die he emerged and asked himself “what makes me happy?” And decided to pursue that life.

👉 Unexpected change or event – The switch to money at the expense of quality. Ad agencies went from wanting to hire the best people to hiring the people who achieved adequate results for the least amount of money possible.

👉 What did he do? – The combination of cancer and the lower standards in the industry pushed Ernesto to leave “corporate”. Today, he works with his wife on her catering company, works as a fractional creative director with an agency in Costa Rica, as a freelancer with others, owns a record company and, naturally, organizes the yearly Rock Fest

👉 About older workers – For many older workers money is no longer the primary consideration. An older worker will bring this “nothing to lose” mentality and take the kinds of creative risks that, mixed with their experience understanding what works, benefits any company that hires them.