Stuart Thursby
Stuart is a Creative Director based in Toronto with a 15-year track record of building and leading teams alongside rolling up his sleeves and getting the work done.
His creative career has blended the hell out of the concepts and craft of advertising, digital, experiential, and the web, working at some of the best shops around — BBDO, Cossette, Proximity, Array of Stars, FCB/SIX, Teehan+Lax, Trajectory, DDB, DARE, Edelman, and many others, plus 4+ years owning and running Stack.
Stuart’s core belief is that the best creative isn’t a one-off, but that magical mix of a spark of an idea that’s got enough legs to work across the board. That’s why he’s charted the path he has to date, refusing to stick to one media or method or agency size, but learning from all of them.
Presentations
UX Camp Spring 2024
How to Start, Grow, and Close an Agency in Under 5 Years
After a decade spent working at some of the best agencies around (BBDO, Cossette, DDB, FCB/SIX, Proximity, Teehan+Lax, and more), I started my own boutique shop, Stack Creative.
After 4 years, about 50-odd website projects, numerous advertising campaign and branding projects, and infinite lessons learned, I decided to wind things down in order to focus on the two parts of the business I love the most versus wearing all the hats: the work, and the people.
In this talk, I will go through the top 10 lessons learned in those 4 years, offering a different and more personal take on agency/studio entrepreneurship than just the highs and lows. I would allow 10 minutes for Q&A as well.
