Courtney Kuebler talks about closerlook’s collaborative culture with Built In Chicago

Built In Chicago, November 2020

closerlook’s culture in one word: “Collaborative,” Creative Director Courtney Kuebler said. “Starting a new job and working on a new team with a new client during a global pandemic was a little daunting. Knowing who to turn to if I needed help on a certain project or with a new process also could have felt daunting. But everyone in the company was really helpful, whether it was taking extra time to guide me, teach me or point me to the best person who could help.

“There’s not a lot of big ego at closerlook, which is refreshing. It doesn’t feel competitive, like a lot of agencies, but rather really does feel like everyone wants to contribute to make the work better. We’ve had to learn how to collaborate creatively in new ways, but there’s never a time I don’t feel that I can tap into people and that those people won’t roll up their sleeves and help.”
 

“There’s never a time I don’t feel that I can tap into people and that those people won’t roll up their sleeves and help.”

The coolest project Kuebler has worked on recently: helping to promote a documentary that tells the stories of three people living with a rare disease. 

“The team has been working on an amazing documentary that tells the stories of three people living with a rare disease,” Kuebler said. “It’s the first time this disease has been highlighted in this way, and it’s beautifully executed. I’ve been working to bring the documentary to life across different channels, and it’s helped me grow professionally in terms of learning more about the media and strategy side of things. We’ve also created an unbranded social community that connects these people who might otherwise have a hard time finding someone else living with this disease, and so it feels a bit different than most social work I’ve done in the past. 

“We’re really trying to create rich content that’s helpful, meaningful and gives them a resource. We want it to feel like we’re having a conversation with them, versus at them. Keeping this very specific audience in mind when creating all of this has helped me to be more strategic, thoughtful and creative in a new way.”

A version of this article appeared in Built In Chicago.