Grateful for the opportunity to discuss organizations I love like Clark Hill Law, Legal Marketing Association – LMA International, Ronald McDonald House Charities Ann Arbor, and Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit. And I want to frame this intro you wrote! 🙌
“When I picture the sort of person who would be heading up marketing for a law firm like Clark Hill, Roy Sexton wasn’t who I had in mind. But I’ll be totally honest: I’m glad.
“After nearly 20 years of experience in marketing, communications, and business development Roy has risen to the top of his game and now sits as President-Elect of the LMA for 2022. An impressive feat for sure, but what really draws me in is his character.
“Roy is a warm, charming iconoclast, pushing his lawyers to bring more to the table than, well, just law. There’s an air about him that he deliberately chooses to be different, almost as if he’s smiled in the face of corporate law and said ‘let’s try this another way, shall we?’
“We spoke about his team, his philosophy, and why a master’s degree in theatre beats an MBA.”
Rob Kates and I had a delightful chat with fab Jennifer Smuts today. We covered EVERYTHING! The magic that is Australia, four legged friends, Legal Marketing Association – LMA International, being true to oneself, and owning one’s career path. Jennifer is the epitome of authenticity and grace. You’ll love her remarks about talent development and recruitment.
And thanks to my dad Don Sexton for joining us from his car on the way to Tractor Supply Co. to buy dog food. 😅 He told us all about Indianapolis Museum Of Art’s immersive VanGogh exhibit, wine in cans, and the restful nature of benches.
Thanks to Nancy Slome, Sue-Ella Prodonovich (AND her 🐦 birds!), Nancy Leyes Myrland, Gina Furia Rubel for watching and/or commenting!
Following its May 2021 “Simply Smarter” brand launch, Clark Hill has been shortlisted for “Best Marketing Campaign” for the 2022 Managing Partners’ Forum (MPF) Awards.
In association with knowledge partners Harvard Business Review and the Financial Times, these international awards celebrate leadership and management excellence in professional services organizations globally.
After winning the award of “Best Marketing Initiative” in March 2020 by MPF, Clark Hill continued to build on that momentum a year later with the launch of a new brand and website. Following several years of expansion for the firm, the Simply Smarter initiative aimed to achieve a streamlined brand and corporate identity, complete cultural integration, and firmwide strategic alignment.
“It was essential to develop a brand that reflected and united our culture and consolidated our internal and external corporate identity across geographic regions,” said Susan Ahern, Clark Hill’s Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer. “We have utilized the firm brand across each office and practice culture to unify identity, create cohesion, and amplify cross-collaboration.”
Clark Hill is one of four organizations shortlisted in the Best Marketing Campaign category. The MPF Awards will be held virtually on the Remo platform at 5 pm on June 15. Leaders from each shortlisted organization are invited to attend.
“We’re honored to have our brand campaign be recognized on an international scale, and we look forward to joining other organizations in celebrating many innovative achievements,” Ahern said.
Join us this Thursday with host Roy Sexton and his guest, Jennifer Smuts, consultant for KM Talent. Jennifer is a legend in the legal marketing and business development community AND an incredible supporter of this show, so we are thrilled she will be joining us.
Having recently relocated to Australia, Jennifer will be sure to regale us with tales of her adventures down under and offer insight into career development, coaching, and growth for our viewers. Jennifer writes, “Having enjoyed a successful, 20 year career working in legal marketing and business development in the U.S., I’m excited to take the skills I’ve gathered and apply them in my new position helping clients identify valuable talent and aiding candidates in the search for their dream roles. With a passion for helping organizations understand, create and elevate diversity, equity and inclusion within their corporate culture, I look forward to serving clients in a meaningful way.”
Jennifer is a life-long learner, and in 2021 she completed the eCornell University Diversity & Equity certificate program. As a founding member and past-President of The Legal Marketing Association-Metro Philadelphia Chapter, she continues to stay involved in the legal industry’s premier marketing association, most recently as Chair of the Chief Marketing Officer group for the Philadelphia local and co-Executive Editor of Strategies, The Journal of The Legal Marketing Association.
Legal Marketing Coffee Talk is brought to you by: By Aries and Kates Media.
The Entrepreneurial Lawyer podcast hosts Dan Cuneo and Sarah Ruttan Bates visit with Roy Sexton, Director of Marketing for Clark Hill Law and 2022 Legal Marketing Association – LMA International president-elect, about the process of rebranding culture at law firms. Watch and subscribe …
I told you she was prolific, and I’m amazed the posts worked out to be 500 (!) entries even.
If I had it to do over, I probably would have organized the site a little differently. All of the Talk of the Town Whitley County and The Post and Mail columns that she worked so diligently on were posted first, then her editorials, and finally her more wide-ranging Goodreads blog entries: carefully crafted show tunes versus free-spirited jazz riffs.
One could argue, though, that those Goodreads blog entries were closest to her soul; those were where she expressed her fiercest critiques of sexism, ageism, intolerance, and animal abuse.
But now it’s all in one place, hopefully for readers to continue to discover her unique voice for years to come!
Thank you, Lauren Swearengen, for this lovely and heartfelt surprise. You made my day. Grateful for your friendship, heart, and kindness. Love you, sweet soul!
#LMA22 … I know as human beings we tend to take more photos of the fun and silly moments and the moments of authentic connection, and those were plentiful. And much needed.
But there was so much substance, so much growth, and so much value achieved this week. energizing and thought-provoking, and I know our 850 attendees will bring so much value back to their organizations from this experience. The curriculum was deep and thoughtful and beautifully executed. And I myself was part of many robust conversations as people unpacked the ideas and concepts they explored. Enjoy these images of one incredible week: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10224716694763670&type=3
Thank you again, Passle #LMA22 kids, for this hysterical, delightful, and slightly horrifying “Roy pillow/voodoo doll”. I’m looking at YOU, chief of shenanigans Will Eke and your co-conspirators James Barclay , Connor Kinnear , Cam Dobinson , Alistair Bone , Edward Lovatt , Eugene McCormick , Sam Page , Sarah Strachan , Tom Elgar , Jennifer Green.
“Broyda” – as Brenda Plowman and I dubbed the dolly at Tuesday night’s neon soirée – is safely ensconced between a Wizard of Oz Winged Monkey and one of my many Passle octopi. As one would. He did get a wee bath as Kourtney Goebel baptized him with a glass of wine that same evening. 😅🍷. But he’s good as new, if slightly tipsy still.
And now he is all tucked in and right at home. Although mischievous pup 🐶 Hudson is eyeballing him mightily. That might not bode well … 🤣
Love you all, and thank you for becoming such a vibrant and essential part of our Legal Marketing Association – LMA International community. Your support, camaraderie, insight, and fun are greatly appreciated. It’s like we’ve all known each other for years in all the best ways!
Reel Roy Reviews 