In Conversation with Ciaraleaf Meaney

Tell us about your background: 

I'm a freelance Creative Director, based in NY, my expertise is in brand storytelling for fashion and beauty brands. I started out my career in London working for agencies before I moved to work in house and then stateside nearly 10 years ago now. My passion is providing a full service from helping brands define their position, develop their storytelling strategy, creating their visual content to designing and overseeing their marketing assets. I also have a special place in my heart for brands that are trying to be more purposeful!

What do you wish you’d known when you started out?

I wish I'd known what a stylist was or that it was even a possibility as a career path. I come from a fine art family and I felt I was late to discovering the world of fashion!

Best career advice you've ever received?

You gain experience from every job, even the ones you don't like.

What leadership qualities are important to you?

Having an authentic vision and being able to delegate.

What has been the biggest challenge in your career so far? 

My Bloomingdale’s role was probably my biggest challenge. A Creative Director for five of their departments, responsible for the creative across all marketing channels, with a team of nine art directors & designers, but I learned so much during that experience! And we shot celebrities and created campaigns with print catalogs, email & e-commerce campaigns, that rolled out across in-store executions - it was hard work but so fun to see it all come to life.

And for fun, what is your favorite wardrobe staple?

Favorite wardrobe staple... is currently a Maryam Nassir Zadeh
ochre brown jumpsuit that I got on the Real Real, just the right amount of put together but casual I love.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ciarameaney/

Website: https://www.ciaraleafmeaney.com

Instagram: @ciaraleaf