ERIN CAMPBELL
SVP, STRATEGY AND DIGITAL, SAATCHI & SAATCHI X Erin lived all over the U.S. before her family settled in Jonesboro during her teen years. Because her most formidable years were spent in the South, she considers herself a proud Southern girl, minus the accent (though that might be debatable depending on who you ask). She’s lived in Northwest Arkansas for almost 20 years and has been married to husband, Brandon Campbell, for 14 years, and they have one son, Everett, who is 4. She’s worked at Saatchi & Saatchi X for over 12 years and loves creating gamechanging Shopper Marketing ideas for clients, retailers and shoppers that solve problems and drive business.
Education: B.A. Journalism, University of Arkansas
Have you stayed on a straight path to your career goal? I have never, and still don’t, have a specific career goal, like I want to be a CEO or CMO one day. Instead, I feel like I am on a never-ending career path to find meaning, purpose and personal development. As long as I continue to learn, improve and provide value, I am open to where the career gods want to take me.
Quality you admire most in women: Women have massive mental and emotional capacity. They get stuff done. They see things differently. And they do it with such heart. Now, if we could all be a little easier on ourselves!
Personal Mantra: My workout instructor at Nooma says, “If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you.” It is so simple and so true and so applicable to my physical, mental, spiritual and emotional journeys of personal development. This reminds me to lean into the discomfort with curiosity and anticipation, knowing it will grow me, instead of running away screaming with fear (which I want to do most days)!
Best advice you’ve ever received: One of my first mentors had me read “The Road Less Traveled” by M. Scott Peck. The first line of that book is, “Life is difficult.” The idea is that life is a journey and along that journey we are faced with a series of difficult choices. Each choice has a consequence, and we need to thoughtfully make a choice based on the consequence we can most live with. This has motivated my decisions to make firm work-life boundaries, as I am not willing to compromise my family-first value to expedite my career climb. I know these decisions are hard, sometimes painful, and I have peace that I am doing it for a greater purpose.
Advice you’d give to other working women/moms: Embrace the gray. I have constantly struggled and strived for “rightness” with a two-dimensional ideology of success or failure, right or wrong, all or nothing. The reality is life isn’t so black and white. I try to give myself grace.
Surprising fact about you: We catch and release spiders in our house. We have this cool contraption that helps us catch them. It even has a magnifying glass so we can get an up close and personal look before we release the little guy or gal back into the wild.
Thing you’re most proud of: Being a mom to my son and intentionally working to raise him to be a loving, accepting, inclusive and gracious young man with purpose.