This episode features Omid Farhang, co-founder and CEO of Majority – Adweek’s newly crowned Multicultural Agency of the Year. This is a fascinating insight into how one man very consciously transitioned from insecurity to market leadership.

From starting a podcast that became his personal ‘business school curriculum’, to purposefully connecting with the CMOs he most admired, Omid shares how Majority has redefined ‘multicultural’ from marginal to mainstream. As he puts it, “Beyoncé doesn’t make a different album for black people and white people. Why do agencies?”

He also describes why it’s so important to dismantle formality in client relationships and why he encourages his team to have a very specific kind of ‘bad meeting’.

Omid also beautifully fulfils the show’s promise of optimism – seeing creative problem solvers as his ultimate source of positivity, and how independent agencies are raising the creative bar for everyone, including network shops.

HIGHLIGHTS:

[03:27] The difference between being ‘multicultural’ and ‘for the culture’

[07:05] How a podcast became Omid’s business school

[11:30] Cracking the CMO code

[12:53] How formality harms clients relationships

[15:51] When fear is justified 

[18:14] The two kinds of bad meetings

[20:57] Breaking out of the multicultural niche

[24:47] Diversity isn’t a risk management strategy 

[28:58] Why small agencies are thriving right now

[31:47] How bureaucracy gets in the way

[35:06] The hopefulness of creativity