We're in the prime of our power

We want to bring a new idea to the table, to give a face to women Over-50, and to affirm the richness of our years

Susan Lee Colby and Kathy Sjogren, co-founders of GraceCreative, a LA-based advertising and marketing agency

Washed in the warm light of a Mediterranean summer, Cannes sits lazily on the French Riviera, and for a few years, at the onset of my career, reporting from its Advertising Festival was a regular fixture for me. Year after year, returning to the city was like meeting an old friend. I enjoyed crossing the invisible line that separated everyday people’s lives from the events on La Croisette, the expansive palm tree-lined boulevard with its array of luxury hotels with glitzy names - Hȏtel Martinez, The Carlton, Majestic Barrière portrayed in the vintage posters of the Cȏte d’Azur. Sometimes I arrived by train, and was blinded by the sun upon leaving the dark and gloomy enclosure of the tracks. Sometimes I arrived by car, riding on the highway that runs along the cliff overlooking the sea, and regretted not being in a convertible in the roaring Twenties. 

The air around the Palais des Festivals, with its unforgettable 24 red-carpeted steps, buzzed with expectations. From the benches on the sea promenade, the pensioners got a glimpse of the success-driven Mad Men jogging along, strolling by behind sunglasses and dutifully attending PR events. During that week, it seemed that the clock ticked faster, as the hours were stretched in an endless series of breakfasts, talks, interviews, exhibitions, screenings, reporting, and parties in swanky villas in the surrounding hills. Every day felt as if it was just taken out of a crispy package and laid in front of me. Nights made no exceptions. I can still see myself barefoot on the beach at a wrap party, a blond bob wig on, a shot glass dessert in my hand, and the nose up, looking at the lavish fireworks that, in a pre-financial crisis time, waved good-bye to the event. 

I always had a passion for advertising, with its short stories and catchy phrases, and never got tired of meandering amongst the global campaigns exposed on the underground floor of the Palais, noticing how the nuances in the subtle art of persuasion changed by changing country. Every time I could, I sat in a red velvet chair watching commercials that run non-stop showcasing the best ideas of the season. On these premises, it was inevitable that I felt an immediate attraction for the story of Susan Lee Colby and Kathy Sjogren, co-founders of Grace Creative, the Los Angeles-based marketing and advertising agency on a mission to change the perception of what aging means, and to debunk the myth that creativity is a young mind’s prerogative. (Tell it to the 33-year-old Michelangelo on the way to paint the Sistine Chapel when the average life expectancy in 16th century Italy was 35). It is not just their journey that matters. It is the industry where they operate that counts, too. Advertising is one of the most ageist sectors in the world, and also one of the most powerful in shaping how we perceive and what we think about growing old. And yet, it does so on the basis of a flawed intergenerational disparity. In 2017, 63% of workers in advertising, public relations, and related services in the US were under 45. The rest of the world is no exception.

Very likely that without knowing each other, Susan, Kathy and I might have rubbed our shoulders sometimes on La Croisette. It would have been nice to get to know them in one of those luminous summers, but I welcome the timing of our encounter. Now I can fully appreciate not only their creativity — I love their Golden Door campaign with Annie Leibovitz’s shots — but the boldness of their statements. From the creation of Grace Creative to their #AgeisNOTjustanumber campaign, a “message in a bottle” which Susan, Kathy, and their team assembled while working remotely in the middle of the lockdown, their work and their stance are a testament to the power of creativity and to a more inclusive view of aging. 

Tell us a bit about yourselves. 

(Kathy) We worked at different advertising agencies and marketing companies for some of the biggest global brands. It was a fantastic experience. We had a lot of fun and rewards, but in advertising you start to age out. Suddenly, you’re too old and if you’re old, for the industry standard, they think you are not creative. 

How did the idea of Grace Creative come about?

(Kathy) Susan was driving in the car one day and she called me. “I have this age manifesto,” she told me. “We need to start our own advertising agency.”

(Susan) Yeah, this intuition came as a whole idea. When you’re in the industry for a long time, you use your skills to advance something you’re passionate about. We’re in the prime of our powers and we’re passionate about advancing a different idea of this time of our life. It’s a stage when we can get things done quickly, we’re more resilient and less prone to react to what might upset us.

(Kathy) There’s a sort of shortsightedness on the side of the market. We’re the ones who buy everything and you don’t talk to us? They think about Millennials as buyers, but Millennials don’t tell their secret. They get their money from mom and dad. The cohort of the over 50 is the most empowered as consumers, but they lump us in with everyone else. We wanted to change this.

If you think about it, even clients age.

(Kathy) One of our clients is a woman over 50. She’s the COO of Golden Door, an iconic luxury retreat in Southern California. She came to us with the goal of aging down the image of the spa to make it more relevant for the over 45 demographic. 

How did your story help you in launching Grace Creative? 

(Susan) I was raised in the Chinese culture in which age is something to be respected and honored. It is viewed much differently from the West, where nobody wants to grow older.

Why did you pick the name Grace?

(Susan) We brainstormed a lot for the name, but that’s the one that stuck. We wanted a name that expressed the strengths that experience brings to your work - patience, open-mindedness, flexibility, being fast on our feet, a cool head, and a sense of humor. Grace is what we bring to our work.

How has this experience changed you so far? 

(Kathy) Grace helped make us pretty fearless. What you generally consider the worst thing is not the worst thing. We are more relaxed; we can be ok with not making everything so perfect, because we know that life is not perfect.

Compared to the advertising agencies as we know them, this translates into less stress even for your clients, right?

(Susan) There’s a lot less ego involved and also less insecurity here. A lot less judgement. Exactly because we’ve seen a lot and experienced a lot, we’re less judgmental, we bring a different approach to the table. 

Tell us about your #AgeisNOTjustanumber campaign.

(Kathy) Age is not just a number is a way to bring to the table a new idea. It’s an invite to see what age looks really like. The narrative is always focused on what we lose, but we wanted to bring out another perspective and talk about what we gain instead. There’s so much richness in our years. It’s time that we own our age. What we want to lose, in reality, is the way older people are seen.

(Susan) Creativity works like a multiplier. We saw it happening again in this video. We were in the middle of the lockdown, we’ve been on Zoom non-stop, and we asked what could we do creatively to push the message forward, to try to change the narrative despite working remotely. All the women in the video were happy to film themselves on their mobile phones to tell their stories. Even with quarantine hair!

Do you notice growing awareness in the industry for a more up-to-date approach to aging?

(Susan) Yes, there are some changes, but it still feels that there are no realistic portraits of middle age. There is still so much to be done. It’s a big rock to push up the hill. We need to re-teach what it means to age.

An ex-industry insider like Cindy Gallop talks extensively about aging and advertising. When we factor aging into the equation, what is it missing in the advertising industry?

(Kathy) We need agencies that keep older people employed, instead of having young kids advertise to us. They don’t have any idea of our age and even for the most creative young talent it is difficult to imagine this age if you’ve not lived it.

(Susan) Change has to start within the corporations, with more diversity and generational diversity in the C-Suite. If the composition of the people at the top of corporations changes, agencies would gradually have to adapt.

Companies are interested in the wealth of older generations, but I think that there are great opportunities in leveraging their activists’ power. Do you agree?

(Susan) There have been some examples of social justice marketing, for example the “Run Like A Girl” campaign. #AgeisNOTjustaNumber is a way to redefine the perspective on aging We didn’t plan to start it as a movement, but now we are asking individuals to submit their own videos and asking companies to take the commitment to share it on their platform. We created the movement out of the necessity to put a face on this demographic. We are presenting female founders—there are so many new brands launched by women over 50—to demonstrate how age makes us all a force.

To join the #AgeisNOTjustaNumber movement, click here.