We were lucky to catch up with Tori Nygren recently and have shared our conversation below.
Tori, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
My first ‘flow state’ at work came when I was mucking stalls as an unpaid stable hand, age 9. It was 7:30 a.m. The air was muggy and the smell of horse poop was pungent. Time passed like I was floating down a river, slipping away, one muck at a time. It wasn’t about the actual work, but about what it represented: spending more time with horses. So when folks ask, where does my work ethic come from? I’d say mucking stalls.
If ‘mucking stalls’ sounds unglamorous, it is. Even when I was on vacation, I loved to wake up early and go take care of the horses at the local stable. Feeding them. Picking their feet. Letting them out to graze. And then, of course, mucking their stalls. The stable managers welcomed the unpaid help. I welcomed any excuse to be around horses.
Work ethic comes from finding purpose in the tasks that need to get done. Completing each task that helps get you closer to your dream. Work ethic is about having a clear dream or vision, and putting in the work necessary to get there.
Now, as a Co-Founder of Hogwash Studios, a creative agency and production company, I know that there are stalls to be mucked in a sense. There will always be work that needs to get done to create a healthy and happy environment where people can grow. Despite sometimes needing to shovel shit. It’s about finding work that ceases to feel like work, or when it does, knowing that the destination is worth the effort.
#MuckOn
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I started my career as a copywriter at Droga5 before working in-house at Uber. While on-set, I was filled with the most wild and crazy ‘let’s make things’ energy and that fueled my love of directing and filmmaking. Now, those two passions are fused at Hogwash Studios, a hybrid creative and production studio that I run with my fiancé Matt Stanton. With hubs in Miami, New York, and soon to be San Francisco, our hybrid-remote team’s goals aren’t just to make ads, but to make content that matters.
When creativity and culture converse, extraordinary things happen. Our hybrid collective of agency creatives and production company veterans work side by side from concept to completion, creating content that fuels global conversations and defines trends. Some have even referred to us as ‘that studio that makes cool shit’ (which we’re taking as a compliment).
No waffling, no hemming, and as little hawing as possible (unless it’s preceded by a “yee”).
We go. That’s what we do.
Just let us know where.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
When working in a creative field, it is most important to be:
1.) Curious about the world. If you aren’t curious about the world around you, you will not evolve.
2.) Open to practice, practice, practice until you are an expert at your craft
3.) Empathetic towards self and others.
I’d also add tenacity to seize the opportunity when you see it and kindness as a practice that’s best started with self and extended to others. It takes guts to put yourself out into the world, put ideas into action, and to dare to dream big or do things differently. If you are willing to take the leap of faith, it’s best to foster a kind attitude towards yourself & others, always. Most things in life come down to being willing to do the work, and being willing to make mistakes. If you never make mistakes, you will never learn and grow. So be kind to yourself if you go for it (no matter if it works or doesn’t work out).
Who is your ideal client or what sort of characteristics would make someone an ideal client for you?
Advertising (usually) sucks. But it doesn’t have to. Everyone at Hogwash is a ‘let’s figure it out’ kind of maker, thinker, and strategist, and we want to work with like-minded clients who also want to collaborate to change what’s possible.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.hogwash.nyc
- Instagram: @hogwash_studios
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tori-nygren/
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
