Xanthe Wells is VP of Global Creative at Pinterest, where she leads the House of Creative, recently named In-House Agency of the Year at the Gerety Awards.

Before Pinterest, she led global creative for Google’s Pixel and Nest brands, earning a Cannes Grand Prix, a D&AD Black Pencil, and multiple Agency of the Year honors.

Earlier in her career, she worked on Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, and Monsters, Inc., and spent formative years at TBWA\Chiat\Day with Lee Clow.

In this episode of Second Wind, Xanthe shares a philosophy of creative leadership that runs counter to most playbooks. Pressure feels productive, but it narrows thinking. Relaxation isn’t a luxury. It’s a creative requirement.

We talk about building psychologically safe teams, why lowering the stakes leads to better work, and how to protect creativity inside high-pressure organizations. Xanthe also shares lessons from Pixar, Google, and Pinterest, her perspective on AI as a creative tool, and why human taste, humor, and empathy still matter more than ever.

This is a conversation about leading creatives with generosity, clarity, and trust, even when millions of dollars are on the line.

Cindy Gallop built BBH US from a room with a phone. She became one of the most influential voices in advertising and then walked away with no job to go to. It was the best decision she ever made.

In this episode, Cindy talks about why a job is not the safe option and why placing your future in the hands of a corporation is more dangerous than betting on yourself. She explains the daily drip of microaggressions that kill confidence, why most women never get the support they deserve, and why her advice is simple: get the f*ck out and build something that gives you agency.

We also talk about BBH, MakeLoveNotPorn, pitch culture, leadership, sex education, and why the future is female and founder-led.

This is Cindy at her most direct and most generous.

Billy Bohan Chinique, VP of Marketing and Digital Innovation at Virgin Voyages, joins us to talk about the future of travel, fashion, AI, and brand storytelling.

He shares how he went from call-center sales to designing digital experiences, how he ended up styling Sir Richard Branson, and why showing up as your real self became an accelerant for his career.

We get into Jen.AI, the Jennifer Lopez campaign that pushed AI before it was cool, the making of Virgin’s AI-powered mermaids, the shift toward creators, and why “brand as operating system” is the only approach that still makes sense.

If you care about creativity, travel, leadership, or the next frontier of marketing, this is a conversation worth hearing.

Chapters:

00:00 Styling Richard Branson

02:10 Fashion and authenticity

03:55 Breaking into travel

06:50 Building Virgin Voyages’ digital platform

11:05 The origin of Jen.AI with J.Lo

16:00 AI-powered mermaids

19:50 Brand as operating system

26:20 The new creator economy

32:00 Talent, hiring, and AI literacy

36:20 Becoming an AI-native company

39:40 Billy’s legacy