Jacqueline Millstein

Background

About Jacqueline Millstein

I am the proud daughter of a Madman. As a child, whenever I visited my dad’s office at Wunderman, Ricotta & Klein (which later became part of Y&R), I would sit at his drafting table surrounded by hundreds of Magic Markers, certain that like my dad, I would spend my life in advertising. So it was no surprise that when my fifth-grade teacher asked everyone what they wanted to be when they grew up, unlike the future astronauts, teachers and firemen, I stood proudly and stated that I was going to be an Advertising Creative Director. Two weeks after graduating from Parsons School of Design, I landed my first Madison Avenue job. Cunningham & Walsh was a testosterone laden agency whose roster included Liggett & Myers and American Motors. I neither smoked nor owned a car, but I did have a uterus, which made me the perfect candidate to be their very first female junior art director. Within a year I moved on to SSC & B/Lintas and was promoted from Junior to Art Director, given a coveted window office overlooking the East River and had my first national commercial for Mop & Glo air in prime time. Cinderella can’t go to the ball until she washes and waxes the floor. Mop & Glo saves the day. While at SSC & B, I would go on to create national print and TV campaigns for Dixie, Noxell and Pepsodent. I was even fortunate enough to have Richard Avedon shoot one of my Noxzema spots. Fast forward to 2006 (after all I’m not job hunting). After serving as CD at two NJ boutique ad agencies, I joined Ritta & Associates (now known as RITTA) as their CD. In 2009, Kay Ritta retired and Koryn Schermer, Kevin Janosz and I took over ownership of the agency. I love what I do. I also love mentoring young creatives in whom I see untapped talent. It’s one of the more rewarding aspects of my job. My advice to them is reflective of what I have strived to do throughout my career: Slow down your delivery so that your mouth has the chance to catch up to your brain. Be inquisitive. Go off script. Better yet, never have a script to begin with. Admit when you just don’t know the answer. Don’t turn off your brain when you leave the office. My best ideas are often born between the shampoo and cream rinse segments of a shower – I think it’s the hot water. The advertising landscape has changed over the years, but one thing has remained constant. We are storytellers. When we tell the right story to the right consumer in an authentic manner that resonates with them, we can impact on their purchasing decisions.