Kristen Shenk of MLTI NYC
For our last speaker event, MCMP was joined by Kristen Shenk, Founder and Creative Director of MLTI NYC, a multi-disciplinary boutique creative agency based in New York City. MLTI NYC serves both Fortune 500 companies and start-ups in Campaigns, Branding, Art Direction, Graphic and Motion Design, Photography, Brand Films, and more. Kristen has partnered with brands to create campaigns, stories, films, experiences, and multi-disciplinary designs in order to engage, inspire and build brand love. These brands include Prime Video, Foot Locker, Brisk Iced Tea, ZI, and more.
Before MLTI NYC, Kristen landed a postgraduate internship at Nike, where she stayed for eight years. At Nike, Kristen started in product creation and then segwayed into more of a communications-centered role. She’s also worked on art direction for the Rio Olympics, accepted a job at PepsiCo Design Innovation Center, and helped to rebrand Aquafina. A few years ago she was looking for something to reignite her creativity and decided to found MLTI. MLTI stands for multidisciplinary, which compliments how the agency creates 360-degree designs and storytelling through graphic design, art direction, social media, web design, branded experiences, etc. Kristen knew that storytelling is a superpower and wanted to tap into visual storytelling. She has collaborated with people from all across the globe, i.e. Portland, South Africa, Taiwan, and worked with a mix of businesses, i.e. established brands and startups. Kristen prides herself and her agency on the fact that it is a female-founded company since only .01% of creative agencies are founded by women.
Kristen also shared some helpful tips with MCMP’s members.
Kristen’s Building Blocks:
Collect life experiences
Pursue radical collaboration
Present a new perspective
Craft a laser-focused message
Arguably most important
Can’t tell too many stories at once
Weave a red thread
Tell a consistent message throughout the campaign
Creating subconscious connections
Build romance and create theater
Romance the story; don’t want to tell it plainly
Work on your self-story
Along with her building blocks, Kristen reminded MCMP members that putting things out into the world takes courage so do it anyway! She encouraged members to put their hearts and souls into the work they are doing in order to bring their passions to the table because we all have stories to tell. Kristen mentioned that when in a leadership position, look at potential employees’ portfolios before their resumes. Lastly, Kristen said, “If you don’t know what you want to do, be kind to yourself and give yourself grace. Do some soul searching and see what you are passionate about.”
—- Kristina Gurgone, December 2022
