S1 Ep. #5 Representation should be a standard, not an afterthought.

It’s difficult for companies and leaders – even those with good intentions – to create diverse and heterogeneous teams because people tend to hire what they see in the mirror. In our own research, only 59% of traditional employees report working with diverse teams, but based on recently revealed workforce statistics across the marketing and advertising industry, the reality of diversity is actually much bleaker. 

In this episode of the Rosie Report podcast, Steph sits down with Winter Mendelson, Founder and CEO of Posture Media, a full service creative, marketing, and advertising studio in New York City that is passionate about diversity, inclusion, and intersectionality. There’s no hiding how big of a fan we are of Winter, as their mission in starting Posture so closely aligns with the mission of We Are Rosie– to spread wealth and power to underrepresented and marginalized groups in our industry. Winter chose the challenging path of entrepreneurship to create a business that celebrates the incredible work of underrepresented creatives and entrepreneurs. The work that drives culture and trends but often don’t get the recognition they deserve. Tune in to hear Steph and Winter chat about what the future of representation looks like in the advertising and marketing industry, and how we can work to make representation more of a standard than an afterthought.

By moving to the big apple just one day after graduating from the University of Georgia in 2012, Winter began their pursuit as a queer non-binary person on a mission to make an impact on the industry’s lack of representation. Since starting Posture 7 years ago, Winter has presented on diversity in media at educational institutions such as Parsons, RIT, Harvard, Pratt, and others, and has been interviewed for major media platforms such as Refinery29, NBC News, VICE, Huffington Post, OUT, Curve, and more.