I have always been a late bloomer. I didn’t consider myself to be a “creative” until very recently. I was so fixated on my role as a producer, executor, that it took many collaborations with writers, directors, developing, and other people telling me how much my ideas were valued, until I kind of clued in... it’s like that scene in Almost famous, where the young William Miller, suddenly finds out his true age is only 11, because his mother has been lying to him. That is kind of my inner monologue when I figured it out “CREATIVE, I’M A CREATIVE”???
As I get older,I really have started to realize my own process. I get a thought, or an idea, and I never realized that there was an urgency to get it out of my head. I now know to put up little boundaries especially with kids, I will say things like “I am in a zone, do not disturb” . Sometimes, like a flower, I will have a seed that has been planted at some point and it will grow inside my head. Out of nowhere, it will spring into full bloom and I NEED TO WRITE IT DOWN.
One of the best moments of my career has been my relationship with knix. It is one of the greatest brands I have ever known, and to have the ability to work with a woman like Joanna, and a creative like Dave, has truly been a game changer for me in every way. Joanna walks the walk and talks the talk. She gave me something not many people have given me, and that was a seat at the table and the confidence to take something on in a different way.
It was January of 2020, I was working freelance on a contract . We were in the office, and someone mentioned that Dave from knix posted an RFP (request for proposal) on LinkedIn. I knew Dave from my Jingle Punks days, when he was an ad executive. Always the warmest, funniest guy, always kind and generous with his time, willing to listen. We also were neighbors; I would see him and his beautiful wife walking their dog. I remember he once said, “I am going to work full time for my wife’s new underwear company” ...
I immediately called Dave, and said, “Hey, saw the posting, what do you need?” They were about to work on their first video campaign. They wanted to launch something in March for International Women’s Day, and they knew it was a tight timeline, and they needed some help. Normally these kinds of RFP’s would go through an Agency first, then an idea would come, and production would be briefed at that point. This was a tighter than tight timeline.
Dave told me the general idea “We want to celebrate women over 50 and their sexuality”. I WAS IN LOVE with this. I said, don’t talk to anyone else, and let me come in tomorrow. I brainstormed all night, and knowing this was the first spot, and it was going to be a decent but not huge budget, I let my creative and producer mind join forces. I had it. What was synonymous with sexy older women? MRS ROBINSON. There was also an aesthetic that I loved, that was very much coming back into the ether, the simplicity of the old 90’s Calvin Klein ads Black and white, “nothing gets between me and my Calvin’s”
I showed up at knix office the next day and I pitched the idea of doing a remake of Mrs. Robinson with a female artist, the idea was the track would be played over a woman in her 50’s dawning the latest knix collection. This was the platform we jumped from. It was achievable, affordable, and it worked with the brand identity. Joanna took a chance on me. I said, let me produce this for you guys from within. It can be a knix production, I will show you full transparency, you have built this company from the ground up, let's take the same approach with production. We will do this as a team. I will never fully be able to explain what this opportunity meant. And not to mention, the relationship and friendship that came out of it, one of the most amazing collaborations of my career.
Fast forward, my dear and late friend the great David Hayman who died way too young only a few months later, was a music supervisor genius. He flipped over the idea, and I remember when we went to try and license the song, they wanted $500k USD lol… we pivoted. One of my last emails from him may he rest in peace, his passion was undeniable:
IDEA: Either license WHAT I AM as is, create a remix with the master, or do a minimal-hip-hop-sassy-sexy cover it with a new female artist from TO/LA.
Make noise. No one licenses this. A lot of writers on it but should be painless to clear for this great brand.
Funny enough the Paul Simon connection made me think of her. They were married. She and him were like cats & dogs. Screw him - give her the $$$. He’s had his day in the ad game.
Take it for what it’s worth. Run with it. A great brand deserves a great song regardless of our involvement… although we like to make it happen!
BIG BOHEMIAN LOVE!
David
We brought on one of my dear friends, creative genius and director Soleil. We worked together, Soleil, Joanna and Dave and the knix team, and still using the idea of simplicity, cast an incredibly diverse group of women from 50-80 (Shout out to Jules Casting), and ended up using the song CONFIDENT by Demi Lovato, Joanna used her music connections to help seal the deal. Simple but colorful backdrop, beautiful, elegant, and simple choreography, these women, their bodies, their stories of how women 50 and over are some of the sexiest, strongest and most confident women in the world and of course the star, KNIX.
We put it together fast, with an amazing team. The spot came out March 8th of 2020. I will never forget where I was when Covid hit, all of us I am sure have the same memory of that last day before the world changed. As we were putting this spot into the world, the first night of lockdown, as we were still pushing out the media, I remember having to cancel our little wrap dinner, and I went over to Dave and Jo’s home that first night before full lockdown.
The spot was a huge success, and it went viral. It was shared by so many big influencers, and media outlets and that was with the noise of what was now the Covid news cycle. We went on to make another 4 amazing big brand spots, one about Leak proof underwear, one about bodies, one about big strong women, and the last one perimenopause opening an important conversation.
With each one, there was a new excitement, collaboration, and incredible energy.
I am so proud of the work I have done with knix. I am so grateful for the opportunities Joanna and Dave and knix have given me. Joanna is the type of woman who says your name out loud in a room full of other powerful women. She shares her platform to uplift, and she has created a brand that truly has solved problems for women that nobody else has managed to do for thousands of years. I am forever grateful for the ability to work with artists like Soleil. We get to play in the most creative way and with all our collective energies, processes, and BIG emotions, it's at times messy, but beautiful.
This is a love letter to knix and to Joanna and Dave, and a love letter to me. Dear Kari, you are creative, and that will always be the driver of everything you do.
Now go write yourself a love letter and send a thank you to all the people who have taken a chance on you! Lastly, don’t forget to take a chance on someone else too.
Also go buy some knix, you won’t regret it.