2007 Interlake graduate Nathalie Con received national recognition in Adweek’s 15 Most Innovative Agency Executives in Media Buying and Planning.

Con serves as the associate director of strategy for Giant Spoon, a marketing agency based in Los Angeles. She works with several large-scale clients including NBC, which she helped “strategize the marketing push behind ‘This Is Us,’ the most successful of all freshman series this season,” according to Adweek’s May 8 issue.

Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Con’s family moved to Bellevue when she was 2 years old. Con knew she wanted to pursue a creative career at a young age.

“As a kid, my mom was very into scrapbooking so I got an early glimpse into the world of storytelling and visual arts. In middle school, I created my own magazines called the ‘The Red Book’ that featured hot boy bands at the time, short stories, ‘What’s Hot and What’s Not’ listicles and quizzes like ‘Which Charlie’s Angel Are You?’” Con said. “Several years later, I find myself still doing what I love — understanding people and cultural trends. At Giant Spoon, I just use those insights to help position television shows, clothing, automobiles, tech platforms and create stories for the right audience.”

Con attended Chapman University in Orange, California.

She is proud of her side project, creating Oh Laud, a social recommendation platform that focuses on entertainment and pop culture.

“It’s my experimental baby. While building this site with my team, I’ve taught myself how to start an LLC and work with developers overseas. It’s a straightforward social platform for people who want to share their favorite podcasts, TV shows or books with their friends without the clutter of personal statuses and photos,” she said.

Con has faced several challenges working in advertising in terms of her youthful appearance and soft voice.

“[It’s difficult] looking like a teenager in the workplace. [You have to] work twice as hard to prove that you deserve your seat at the big kids table, and that no, you aren’t the intern,” she said. “Everyone is gulping, trying to get a word in. I like to let people talk back and forth while I collect my thoughts and make sure I’m not just repeating what everyone else is saying. After people are tired, I’ll chime in. Sometimes I’ll raise my hand and people will think it’s weird but hey, attention is given.”

She also expressed the challenge of staying positive when ideas are canceled.

“Everything is about perspective. Fight for things you really believe in, but let things go as much as you can.”