2016 Commencement Speaker
Dany Lennon Montague P’13 Dany is founder and president of The Creative Register, a talent management firm that combines facets of agenting and representation and focuses mostly on talent in the media, communications, and marketing fields. Dany’s career began as a copywriter and art director in London, and she came to New York when she noticed a void in creative representation. The Creative Register now represents accomplished creative makers and thought leaders worldwide. Headmaster Charlie Cahn said, “Dany is fascinating and funny. People like her. She is also a passionate fan of Suffield. Dany’s candor, sense of humor, and concern for others led me to ask her to share this special day with us.”
H
ello, graduates of 2016! Congratulations to all of you on your incredible achievement. You actually made it. Bet you were not that sure you’d all be standing here today, or maybe you were, but your parents were not! Whatever, I want you to know that you should lap up every moment you have left on this fantastic campus where you’ve been sweetly coddled by one of the finest and most inspirational faculties in the country, not to mention your inimitable headmaster, and a community that you are going to find extremely hard to replicate so collectively in your favor ever again! Mark my words. This be true.
Congratulations to your parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, cousins, dogs, cats, or even your pet hamster, because they have provided you with this thing called "unconditional love,” “unconditional belief in you,” “unconditional support,” (financial included, you are going to miss that) and “unconditional patience!” So, families, rest knowing that the next four years your very grateful son or daughter may well be in debt up to their eyeballs, or they may not, but whether they are or are not, they are going to be preparing for the the ultimate event! It’s called REALITY.
So who am I? I am that person you will be meeting for the rest of your life. I am that person you will be watching out for hoping that when the phone rings, it’s my voice you hear. I am the person that can potentially make your dreams come true. I am also the person that can equally crush them. I am that person that provides opportunity for ambitious career mongers in the multiple worlds of communication, entertainment, music, fashion, publishing, advertising, public relations, design, and technologies. But what am I? I am in the representation and talent management business. That means to you, I build careers. I help highly talented people find positions in multi-disciplinary worlds, and I stay with them and help build their trajectory for their future. Some call me an agent, some a headhunter, some a search consultant, some a coach, some a troublemaker! I have been in all of those roles for over 30 years in the USA within my own company that I built with the sole purpose to make a difference to people’s lives and create opportunities to affect change. Yep, I am pretty old as bling. But please note my young friends, I am actually still standing here, very relevant, powerful in my industries (important for you to know), influential, and I seriously do make stuff happen. A bit like your headmaster, Mr. Cahn—smart, progressive, diverse, creative,
Above Photo Headmaster Cahn, Dany Lennon Montague P’13, and Board of Trustees President Fred Powers ’83, P’14
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