Meet Roger Baldacci

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Roger Baldacci a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Roger, we are so happy that our community is going to have a chance to learn more about you, your story and hopefully even take in some of the lessons you’ve learned along the way. Let’s start with self-care – what do you do for self-care and has it had any impact on your effectiveness?

For self-care, I start from the inside out. My mornings begin at 6 AM with a Zoom Bible study led by my pastor and about 15 others from church. We dive into the Word, ask tough (and sometimes “dumb”) questions, and grow together spiritually. I’m usually the guy who asks what everyone else is thinking, but too embarrassed to say out loud. People tell me they’re glad I speak up.

After that, I head into what I call my “5-50” routine—five days a week, fifty weeks a year in the gym. I do push days (bench, shoulders, triceps) on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and pull days (back, biceps) and legs on Tuesday and Thursday. Strength training is especially important once you’re on the back nine of the golf course, so to speak. Truth is, I’m in better shape now than I was in my late twenties. I spend about two hours each morning on lifting, mobility work, and stretching—then I wrap with a 15-minute sauna session. I work for myself, so I can schedule my mornings like this. But even if you can’t, I firmly believe there’s always a way to put yourself first.

For decades, I didn’t. I put clients, direct reports, my agency, my family—everyone ahead of me. The stress showed up in my waistline, in chronic sciatica pain, and in a stress-induced eye stye the size of Rhode Island.

These days, I’ve strengthened not just my body, but my spiritual life. As a result, my stress levels are close to zero. I think more clearly. I solve problems faster. And because I’m more relaxed, the ideas flow more freely. Self-care isn’t a luxury—it’s the foundation of everything I do.

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

So this is my origin story: I was bitten by a radioactive dung beetle…

Ok, not really. I was just always a creative kid. In elementary school, a teacher pulled me aside and sent me and another student to some special writing program because of our short stories. In college, my writing professor told me—after class—that when he asked students to choose a partner for an assignment, every single person in the room picked me. That moment stuck with me.

I’ve worked in advertising for over 35 years. I’ll spare you the long version and boil it down to a few simple truths:

I loved what I did. And I was always willing to work harder than everyone else.

I wasn’t handed juicy assignments when I was starting out. As a junior writer, I had to fight for the scraps that slipped through the cracks after the senior teams had their pick. That taught me what I now call “Volume of Quality.” Anyone can come up with one great idea. Maybe two, maybe five. But can you create fifteen? Because the odds are, most will never see the light of day—killed by shifting strategies, nervous account execs, indecisive clients, or just bad timing. Good creatives come back with a good ad. Great creatives come back with something even better.

That mindset helped me win awards, pitch and win new business, earn a healthy living, and eventually land my dream job at Fallon in Minneapolis—at the time, the hottest agency in the country.

I later returned to Boston and became the Creative Director on the Truth campaign, the now-iconic national teen tobacco control initiative. After 20 years, I found myself a middle manager—and got laid off by a new CEO looking to cut senior salaries.

That was a blessing in disguise.

I launched a freelance studio called Howard Roark Industries, named after the character in The Fountainhead. Then I co-founded Strange Animal, a creative collective of senior advertising folks doing high-level work without the bloated overhead of a traditional agency. https://www.strangeanimal.co

Now, I’m building something brand new—Amen Supply Company. It’s a faith-based lifestyle brand that aims to get the Word of God out there through bold streetwear, accessories, home goods, and art. Everything we create is made by artists, designers, and believers who want to express truth and beauty in their work. The brand is edgy, unexpected, and grounded in faith.

We’re planning to launch in early fall. Stay tuned.

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

The qualities that carried me through advertising—and would apply to almost any industry—boil down to my personal tagline: Hungry. Hardworking. Humble.

Hungry.
You have to go get what you want. I know today’s world is used to DoorDash, but a wolf doesn’t stay in its den hoping dinner will wander in. It hunts. I was never content to be content. I made my own luck. At Fallon, I once photocopied a creative brief off the desk of an art director sitting next to me—he was supposed to partner with a legendary creative director on a new assignment. I didn’t wait. I started concepting. When the CD stopped by and saw me working on it, he said, “Good—I’m too busy to tackle that anyway.” That brief turned into an award-winning BMW ad in my portfolio. If I had just sat quietly at my desk and “waited my turn,” it never would’ve happened. Lesson: get after it.

Hardworking.
Advertising is a tough business. Not Alaskan king crab fisherman tough—but close. You have to outlast the idiots. Outwork the person next to you. Outdeliver the person above you. I came in early and stayed late. I didn’t even know I was preparing for the grind of agency life—it just became who I was. Later, as a Creative Director, my team jokingly referred to my leadership style as “Baldacci Bootcamp.” Keep up… or get left behind.

Humble.
At the end of the day, we’re all just people trying to make it through this weird life on a spinning rock. Be kind. Nobody wants to work with an a-hole. The ones who shout the loudest are usually the most insecure. I’ve always treated the greenest intern with the same respect I gave the most tenured client. My favorite Bible verse—and the one I wear on my wrist—is Matthew 23:12: “Those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?

If I knew I only had a decade left, I’d spend it merging the things I love most—helping people, traveling, and sharing the Gospel.

If money weren’t an obstacle, I’d go on mission trips around the world, introducing people to the God of the Bible. I went to Ecuador several years ago, and I’m headed to Puebla, Mexico this August. I love meeting people, learning about their culture, and hearing their stories. There’s something beautiful about connecting across language and background, especially when the conversation is about faith, hope, and purpose.

A young man from our church recently went on a mission trip to Japan, and the town he visited had literally never heard of Jesus. Not rejected—just never heard. That really stuck with me. So many people form opinions about Christianity based on media, movies, or memes. They’ve never opened a Bible. They don’t know who Jesus really was.

He taught radical love. Love your neighbor as yourself. Love your enemies. That kind of love is still the most powerful force in the world—and if I had ten years left, I’d spend them helping people experience it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://rogerbaldacci.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/baldacci/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roger-baldacci-a41ab4/
• Other: https://www.instagram.com/amensupply/

Image Credits

None needed.