The Creative Lead Playbook Podcast

Cathy Davenport Lee

Welcome the Creative Lead Playbook. I’m a product design and creative marketing leader who’s been in the digital industry for over 15 years. I’m here to tell you all the stuff you DIDN’T learn in school, so you can navigate the politics, get buy-in more quickly AND become the creative lead you’ve always dreamed of being. Whether you’re just starting out, making a transition, or just looking for some support along your journey, this podcast is here to help. Listen on to find out more. If you like what you hear, sign up for my free Substack newsletter at https://lunchboxnotesnewsletter.substack.com. lunchboxnotesnewsletter.substack.com

  1. Advice for New Grads

    06/16/2025

    Advice for New Grads

    I put together something special: it's all the advice I'd give to to anyone starting out in the industry. Listen on to find out more. P.S. I started a Substack - sign up here: https://thecreativeleadworkshop.substack.com/ -------- I’m Cathy Davenport Lee, and I hope today’s episode leaves you feeling inspired and ready to push the boundaries of your creative career.  Don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and sign up for Lunchbox Notes—my free encouragement and advice letter for creatives. Stay connected for more insights, tools, and resources to help you thrive. Until next time, keep creating, keep pushing, and let’s move this industry forward together. Follow for more: IG  |  Website Get full access to Lunchbox Notes at lunchboxnotesnewsletter.substack.com/subscribe

    8 min
  2. OK, Let's Talk About GenAI

    03/04/2025

    OK, Let's Talk About GenAI

    I've been thinking A LOT about AI lately - and having a lot of passionate discussions about it with various people. In my day job, I'm leading the design for a product suite that contains various AI apps. I also wrote a series of research articles about using GenAI in the key art process on LinkedIn. I'm also giving a talk as a mentor for the Women in AI Summit in the next couple weeks.  So like, suffice it to say: it's a bit of an obsessive topic for me. I'm willing to bet you've been thinking a lot about it too, and trying it out for yourself.  Given all the hype in the social feeds, I really wanted to put out some content that wasn't skewed towards trying to either persuade you to BLINDLY ADOPT IT or conversely - VEHEMENTLY REJECT IT. There's good and bad. Just like everything. So, please enjoy the following top-of-mind advice I've got for you on the GenAI landscape. I already have a few more ideas for episodes, so you'll be hearing more from me soon. -------- I’m Cathy Davenport Lee, and I hope today’s episode leaves you feeling inspired and ready to push the boundaries of your creative career.  Don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and sign up for Lunchbox Notes—my free encouragement and advice letter for creatives. Stay connected for more insights, tools, and resources to help you thrive. Until next time, keep creating, keep pushing, and let’s move this industry forward together. Follow for more: IG  |  Website Get full access to Lunchbox Notes at lunchboxnotesnewsletter.substack.com/subscribe

    17 min
  3. Beyonce Pad Thai (How to Hack Your Brand Persona)

    03/02/2025

    Beyonce Pad Thai (How to Hack Your Brand Persona)

    I have a new episode that talks all about a hack I have to help you define your personal (or small business) branding. I was inspired to share this after I went through an exhaustive process of defining my audience, catering my writing and graphics to that audience, and then realizing that the audience in my head wasn't who showed up. (And that that audience probably doesn't even exist 😫). The people who've showed up for me this journey - they showed up for who I actually am, not who I thought I had to be to attract people into my corner of the world. I wanted to give you a shortcut so you don't have to go through all that. You can use it whether you're writing your LinkedIn summary, developing your design portfolio or your building your side hustle. It takes literally 3 minutes. Listen on to find out more. -------- I’m Cathy Davenport Lee, and I hope today’s episode leaves you feeling inspired and ready to push the boundaries of your creative career.  Don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and sign up for Lunchbox Notes—my free encouragement and advice letter for creatives. Stay connected for more insights, tools, and resources to help you thrive. Until next time, keep creating, keep pushing, and let’s move this industry forward together. Follow for more: IG  |  Website Get full access to Lunchbox Notes at lunchboxnotesnewsletter.substack.com/subscribe

    6 min
  4. Squashing Otherism Mentality: How to Collaborate With Others (When Your Company's Going Through Changes)

    02/06/2025

    Squashing Otherism Mentality: How to Collaborate With Others (When Your Company's Going Through Changes)

    Today’s topic is all about getting along with other people.  I know that sounds potentially generic or vague, but it’s a vital skill when you work for any company - large or small. I’m personally inspired by the time I spent at a really big company and there were infrastructure changes. When I was thinking about what skill or tool helped me the most during those times, I suddenly remembered something really important that I wanted to share with you. What I'm about to say is the key to resolving friction, ensuring good cross collaboration, and getting along with other individuals or teams.  Listen on to find out more. -------- I’m Cathy Davenport Lee, and I hope today’s episode leaves you feeling inspired and ready to push the boundaries of your creative career.  Don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and sign up for Lunchbox Notes—my free encouragement and advice letter for creatives. Stay connected for more insights, tools, and resources to help you thrive. Until next time, keep creating, keep pushing, and let’s move this industry forward together. Follow for more: IG  |  Website Get full access to Lunchbox Notes at lunchboxnotesnewsletter.substack.com/subscribe

    17 min
  5. Uplevel Your Audio (Which Mic to Buy)

    01/06/2025

    Uplevel Your Audio (Which Mic to Buy)

    We've all been on that Zoom call when that one guy unmutes himself and suddenly you hear a litany of heavy breathing, explosively loud typing, background noise, popping and clicking. Maybe we don't want to admit it to ourselves, but we definitely get a certain idea in our heads about somebody who has bad audio on a Zoom call, right? I think the opposite is true, too. When somebody has really good audio quality and/or video quality, we start to subtly think of that person as being a little bit more professional, a little bit more reasonable...and maybe even having a little bit of star quality to them. It's possible to incept people into getting a more sparkly impression of you - just by paying attention to nonverbal cues like audio quality. I'm all about doing whatever I can to help you in your careers. So today, what I want to give you is four different recommendations for upleveling your sound quality. Listen on to find out more! Links to products I've mentioned in this podcast: Wired Ear Buds Wireless Lavalier Microphone Inexpensive Cardioid Microphone Higher-End Cardioid Microphone These are just guides - I encourage you to buy a variety of options from a place with easy returns so you can choose what's truly right for you. -------- I’m Cathy Davenport Lee, and I hope today’s episode leaves you feeling inspired and ready to push the boundaries of your creative career.  Don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and sign up for Lunchbox Notes—my free encouragement and advice letter for creatives. Stay connected for more insights, tools, and resources to help you thrive. Until next time, keep creating, keep pushing, and let’s move this industry forward together. Follow for more: IG  |  Website Get full access to Lunchbox Notes at lunchboxnotesnewsletter.substack.com/subscribe

    16 min
  6. Personal Branding: How To Get Unstuck

    12/17/2024

    Personal Branding: How To Get Unstuck

    Okay, tell me if this sounds like you.  You've recently started a new business and you're trying to get yourself established...and you feel like you're drowning in all the things you need to do to brand yourself.  Setting up a website, getting a logo in place, starting social media accounts...it's completely overwhelming. You spend two hours adjusting a button style on your website, or you generate a hundred different AI logos and hate them all. You can't think of any ideas, and it just feels like you're spending an insane amount of time on these tiny things that don't add up to a complete picture. If that's you, don't worry! There's nothing wrong with you. Branding for yourself is always the absolute hardest thing to “get right.” I wanted to share 3 simple tools that I use to help get unstuck when I'm dealing with personal branding. Listen on to find out more. -------- I’m Cathy Davenport Lee, and I hope today’s episode leaves you feeling inspired and ready to push the boundaries of your creative career.  Don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and sign up for Lunchbox Notes—my free encouragement and advice letter for creatives. Stay connected for more insights, tools, and resources to help you thrive. Until next time, keep creating, keep pushing, and let’s move this industry forward together. Follow for more: IG  |  Website Get full access to Lunchbox Notes at lunchboxnotesnewsletter.substack.com/subscribe

    12 min
  7. Workload Planning for Creative Managers

    12/06/2024

    Workload Planning for Creative Managers

    When you’re a manager of a team, you’re going to have to figure out how to make sure that the work that needs to get done, gets done. And you’re going to need to figure out how to do that in a way that makes sense - from a budget and a project perspective. But you also want to make sure it makes sense from a HUMAN BEING perspective. One of the biggest mistakes creative managers make (imo) is that the second they run into an extensive coverage need, first thing they do is throw their employee’s well-being out the window (usually along with their own).  It’s “emergency mode”, all hands on deck 24/7, except that "emergency mode" doesn’t ever end because the requests and projects keep coming and coming. Curious about how to plan coverage in a financially savvy, effective, and humanely balanced way — even in high-pressure situations? Listen on to find out more. -------- I’m Cathy Davenport Lee, and I hope today’s episode leaves you feeling inspired and ready to push the boundaries of your creative career.  Don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and sign up for Lunchbox Notes—my free encouragement and advice letter for creatives. Stay connected for more insights, tools, and resources to help you thrive. Until next time, keep creating, keep pushing, and let’s move this industry forward together. Follow for more: IG  |  Website Get full access to Lunchbox Notes at lunchboxnotesnewsletter.substack.com/subscribe

    16 min
  8. When You Feel Afraid to Take Vacation

    12/03/2024

    When You Feel Afraid to Take Vacation

    It's that time of year — you're tired, ready for a break, but there's roughly 1,483 tiny pots boiling over at work.  Or if you're a freelancer, maybe you just got a windfall of client projects and you're afraid to ease off the momentum, even though you feel like you're sleepwalking during the day. So how do you deal with the anxiety you feel about resting long enough to actually rest?  That's what today's podcast is all about. I'm going to give you some tips on how to set yourself up to feel rested all year round, not just in the holiday season. -------- I’m Cathy Davenport Lee, and I hope today’s episode leaves you feeling inspired and ready to push the boundaries of your creative career.  Don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and sign up for Lunchbox Notes—my free encouragement and advice letter for creatives. Stay connected for more insights, tools, and resources to help you thrive. Until next time, keep creating, keep pushing, and let’s move this industry forward together. Follow for more: IG  |  Website Get full access to Lunchbox Notes at lunchboxnotesnewsletter.substack.com/subscribe

    11 min
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About

Welcome the Creative Lead Playbook. I’m a product design and creative marketing leader who’s been in the digital industry for over 15 years. I’m here to tell you all the stuff you DIDN’T learn in school, so you can navigate the politics, get buy-in more quickly AND become the creative lead you’ve always dreamed of being. Whether you’re just starting out, making a transition, or just looking for some support along your journey, this podcast is here to help. Listen on to find out more. If you like what you hear, sign up for my free Substack newsletter at https://lunchboxnotesnewsletter.substack.com. lunchboxnotesnewsletter.substack.com

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