Thedrum

Susan Franceschini, executive director of ThinkLA, may be in the thick of the Los Angeles ad scene, but she considers herself a neutral Switzerland and loves getting to play with the best agencies, brands, marketers and media companies in town. Franceschini never would have pictured herself at the helm of LA’s biggest ad club, but with her 10 years in human resources at Davis Elen, four years as a recruiter at Chiat, she was led into a role she didn't even know existed before, and it’s one in which she thrives. Her superpower is being a good listener, which is a reason she can wrangle the strong personalities of the LA ad scene and bring them together for a greater good, all while remaining calm, centered and focused on the task of shining a brighter light on the market. She also says we should all ask for help from time to time and avoid the possibility of “hero syndrome”, that moment when intention is swamped by the reality of being overburdened with trying to manage big workloads. “It brings out the b