In an agency model, senior people negotiate with the client, and then execution is mostly up to junior people. At Red Dot, senior people actually do the work. I don’t have junior people on my team.

​

Two, I wanted to see the industry change from a business practices perspective. It wasn’t just about making money, it was also about being the change in the industry. One of the things is that we focus on better business practices, including diversity and inclusion in the broadest sense.

 

Also, because I have an international background, my work is not about Toronto and from there the international market; it’s more like, how do you work with no borders? How can you take full advantage of digital, regardless of your location or industry? At Red Dot, we’re very agile, and we innovate from one industry to the next. This way, we don’t have to cannibalize our own strategy; we use all our knowledge, but we have enough experience that we can custom tailor to each client.

 

Q. Where did the name Red Dot Digital come from?

 

I created the business on July 1, 2014. I had a couple of partners, and we had a different name at first, but our goals weren’t aligned, and we parted ways by February. I loved our existing bold red colour scheme and wanted to keep it in the rebranding. So starting with that, I brainstormed with some of my closest people and Red Dot came up. One reason I liked it was its resemblance to a bull’s-eye on a target. Another was about connecting the dots; we connect the dots between all your different assets, goals and strengths. We want to connect the dots in your business and then hit the target every time.

 

Q. How did you build the team?

 

It was very organic. I’m a big believer in synchronicity, and that you meet people for a purpose, whether temporary or permanent. So I have a dream team in my head, I identify who I want to work with. Sometimes it doesn’t work out right away, but I keep them in mind. We’re a project-driven organization, so we create a team around a client; my dream team can expand as much as it needs to. I need a variety of skills in my team, so I’ve brought together a range of people, including old colleagues dating back to the turn of the millennium and people I’ve just met. We’re some of the best people in the business! The common factor is that we are all in alignment with the Red Dot vision.