Meet Laura Johnston

We were lucky to catch up with Laura Johnston recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Laura, you’ve got such an interesting story, but before we jump into that, let’s first talk about a topic near and dear to us – generosity. We think success, happiness and wellbeing depends on authentic generosity and empathy and so we’d love to hear about how you become such a generous person – where do you think your generosity comes from?

My generosity comes from the generosity of others–it’s a perpetual wheel of receiving and giving back. So many people have selflessly shared their time and talent with me, personally and professionally–that I’m continually inspired to pay that generosity forward.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I founded and run a creative brand and marketing consultancy, Twin Persimmon. We do five things for clients really well: Story-selling, Accelerator Sessions, Brand Activation, Creative Sherpa-ing and Custom Creative Team-Building, We believe in bringing Fortune 100 level creativity, marketing and execution to clients of all sizes. Our clients range from famous global brands like Pepsi, Walgreens and Arm & Hammer, to intrepid startups like ClearSpace, Drip Drop, Mike’s Hard Lemonade, SweetBuzz and Show Strategy.

I started this company because I believe that EVERY brand deserves world class creativity, great work starts with great clients, work should be fun, and the more interesting and diverse people you bring together to solve a problem, the more interesting the solution. Simply put, Twin Persimmon is about ideas, not org charts. Tangible output, not big agency overhead.

A new product that’s received a lot of interest is our Pitch Package. Often companies (established and startups!), have a strong brand identity, but haven’t fully commercialized their story and value proposition. They lack some simple, impactful tools to really help scale and sell themselves–everything from a visually-forward pitch deck to a founder’s story to social media plans/templates. We love creating this kind of work for people and helping brands work really hard to drive business.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

1. Professional Karma–Be good. Do good. If you make a mess, try to go back and clean it up. It’s not about being perfect, but it is about being authentic and real. This lesson took me a long time to truly learn. I always knew this was true, but have only recently fully embraced it, and with that, enjoyed the ability to let a lot of things go.
2. Curiosity. I am a creature driven by possibilities, what if and how might we conversations. I love to learn about people–get to understand them and know what makes them unique. As a perpetual student, marketing has given me the incredible gift to learn and understand things I never would have otherwise experienced: Olympic athletes off the field of play, the nuances between pneumatic and cordless power tools, the complex criminal world of forced labor, coffee cupping, pet nutrition…I could go on forever here… Some lessons are joyful. Others, heartbreaking. All precious and invaluable.
3. Think like a journalist. I went to a fantastic journalism school. And failed completely to get a job in that field. But the skills I learned–active listening, preparing beforehand, asking questions and getting to the point in a sentence (the lead!)–have really served me well as a marketer. I also picked up my curiosity about cultural trends and reverence for their importance in society from this foundation.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

Twin Persimmon is always on the lookout for new clients and creative collaborators

Our most successful clients value creativity and impactful ideas/solutions. We love clients who need help–who give us the big, hairy challenge and look to us to help solve it. Fearless collaboration is key. We need to get under the hood of a business and brand to have maximum impact.

We look for creative collaborators who bring diverse perspectives and experiences–and are expert in their particular creative or strategic specialities. Creative pros who value ideas, craft and collaboration thrive while working on our projects.

You can find us at twinpersimmon.com or reach out to me personally at laura@twinpersimmon.com

Contact Info:

• Website: https://twinpersimmon.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/102710038

Image Credits

Steve Ewert