Ann Wixley

On the face of it there’s no obvious connection between performing for the late Nelson Mandela’s Inauguration and solving a marketing brief. But both jobs are about translating a story for an audience. My career in performance, stories and persuasion began as a professional principle ballet dancer at 17, pivoted to consumer PR for Diageo, Levi’s and South Africa’s first black youth radio station, and led on to founding the ideas division for a media hot shop. Arriving in London I pioneered the role of Creative Director in media in three different agencies, and continue as ECD at Wavemaker UK.