11 Comments
User's avatar
Hannah Forbes's avatar

nice read and R/GA origin story, from a fellow alumn. happy birthday 🎈

Expand full comment
Rei Inamoto's avatar

Hello, fellow alum! Thank you for the compliment and the BD wishes 🙇🏻‍♂️

Expand full comment
Roger Sho Gehrmann's avatar

Rei, you’ve nailed it. We're told to stay hungry and disrupt, but honestly, it’s not about being the youngest or the latest tech whiz. It’s about owning where you're at and using your perspective to make some noise.

The paradox you mentioned — youth gets all the praise, experience gets overlooked. I don't think relevance isn't is about battling age, it's about flipping it into your secret weapon.

Look at Sir John Hegarty. The guy’s 80, still teaching, still publishing, still full of fire. He’s not chasing trends — he’s too busy sharing wisdom from years of knowing what actually matters.

That’s the real relevance.

Expand full comment
Rei Inamoto's avatar

“What actually matters” - amen 🙏

Expand full comment
Maggienomics™'s avatar

Nice post but err

Sir John Hegarty isn't relevant at 80 because he brings decades of wisdom.

But because he is Sir John Hegarty 🤑

Expand full comment
Rei Inamoto's avatar

Not just because of that. He keeps at it.

Expand full comment
Ivan's avatar

Nicely said. I was asked to talk about "generational studios" a few weeks ago and it was something I hadn't really thought about before. Like you, I came to the conclusion, based on only my own experience and examples like yours, that relevancy is attitude and learning based. It's a lifelong process.

Thanks for the thoughtful essay and happy birthday.

Expand full comment
Rei Inamoto's avatar

Thank you, Ivan. What was the context of the request for a talk on "generational studios?" Would love to know more.

Expand full comment
Ivan's avatar

It's was part of a paper that a London creative recruitment company is doing about the value of having a variety of age ranges in studios. Specifically the older range, which for some strange reason I was interviewed 😁

Expand full comment
Rei Inamoto's avatar

Sounds interesting. Would love to see it when it becomes available.

Expand full comment
Ivan's avatar

I'll make a note to get you a copy when it's done if you like. (I have no part of the process)

Expand full comment