“I just kept saying to myself, just keep working and if I can imagine myself in the next role — in my boss’ role — I’ll keep going. 20-plus years later, that’s what happened,” she said.

Earlier this month, Reyes was promoted to CEO at TBWAChiatDay New York, replacing former CEO of six years Rob Schwartz, who also stepped into a new role as chair of the newly-formed TBWA New York Group.

A Latinx, Queens-bred, Harvard graduate, Reyes has steadily climbed the ranks at the agency since joining in 2016, serving as managing director before becoming president in the summer of 2018. Reyes has been an integral part of client partnerships like Hilton, TD Bank, Facebook and PepsiCo throughout her tenure. Through a tumultuous 2020, when budgets were shrinking and clients were putting work on hold, agency staff said Reyes spent hours on end working to ensure everyone kept their job.

“She’ll do the impossible and she won’t even announce it to anybody,” said Chris Beresford-Hill, chief creative officer at TBWAChiatDay New York.

Before landing at TBWAChiatDay New York, Reyes spent 12 years at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners before moving to Verizon to serve as vice president of brand creative.

Reyes has been about the silent hustle her entire life and her upbringing has a lot to do with that, she said. As the daughter of immigrant parents from El Salvador and Puerto Rico, money was hard to come by with her parents working as a housekeeper and taxi driver. Her upbringing in New York City was a difficult one.

“My sister and I would collect bottles from the neighborhood and turn them into cash to help out at a really young age,” she said. “There was no shame in that.”

It was a lesson in hard work, Reyes said. The mission was to get food on the table each day, which didn’t leave much room to daydream about a career in advertising. That changed when a New York-based youth program called Prep for Prep tapped Reyes to enroll. Prep for Prep was working to empower inner-city students of color to compete with more privileged students. It was here, more than 20 years ago, that Reyes learned about advertising and fell in love with it. It inspired her to land her first job as an account executive in 1997.

“Every moment is a set up for something,” Reyes said, noting that even the most challenging parts of her career, including navigating 2020, have been learning opportunities. …read more

Source:: Digiday