Partner and Director of Accounts, James Millard, is one of four heartbeats that drives our agency forward. While his day-to-day responsibilities cover lots of ground, his end-goal is to provide our clients and partners with the support, counsel, and guidance they need to achieve success.
What is your name? Do you prefer to go by a nickname?
James Millard. Some of my friends call me Jimmy—but that’s a weekend moniker.
What is your role and what are you responsible for doing?
I’m both the Director of Accounts, as well as one of the firm’s founding Partners. I oversee client strategy and relationships, and direct day-to-day operations across the agency. While I’m not a creative (but will always try and get an idea or two into the pitch), I work closely with our design, copywriting and development teams to get exceed client expectations and goals.
How do you describe what you do to friends and family?
I work behind-the-scenes to help our clients look good, and provide our team with the support needed to do their jobs. If I have my ducks in a row, so will everyone else.
What’s been your favorite project to work on?
There’s too many to name. As a collective, I truly enjoy working on Consumer Packaging designs. We oversee these on a daily basis for a myriad of brands. I don’t know if there’s anything more rewarding than walking into a Target, Trader Joe’s, or Wegmans, and seeing something on-shelf that our team designed.
What do you listen to when you’re working?
The office joke is that my music taste isn’t all that tasteful. I have a repeating playlist that features 4-5 artists: Simon & Garfunkel, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, The Beatles, Queen, Weezer and Vampire Weekend. Every now-and-then I’ll throw some “ambient beats” into the mix.
What was your first job? Did you like it?
I washed dishes at a restaurant in East Aurora, New York. I wasn’t old enough to drive, so my parents had to pick me up when my shift was over at 2AM every Friday and Saturday night. While it wasn’t glamorous, it certainly taught me the value of a dollar at an early age.
How would you describe yourself?
Self-motivated and incredibly passionate about what I do. I’m also pretty competitive, but that’s tempered down a bit in recent years… Unless we’re playing Euchre.
How would you describe Mirror Matter?
Tenacious, hungry and understanding of our value.
Apple or Android, and why?
Apple. The last Android I had overheated and went kaput. As soon as that happened, I put all my eggs into the Apple basket.
How did you get linked with Mirror Matter?
My partners and I had worked together for almost 10 years prior to starting Mirror Matter. We saw a need for an agency that understood the importance of brand development, but wasn’t too “boutique” to bring items to-scale. We combined the buttoned-up nature of a large agency and the dynamic creativity of a small agency to life when we formed Mirror Matter.
What part of “agency life” do you like the most?
The chase. Even when we’re working with clients of 5+ years, we always ask ourselves, “What can we do that pushes the limits?” to ensure we’re being the best partner possible.
Ideal retirement plan?
Golf and lake house living. However, I don’t see that happening for quite a while!
Coffee, tea, or other?
Coffee—black.
What book, show, or podcast would you recommend to the world? Why?
Revisionist History by Malcolm Gladwell is, bar none, my favorite podcast. I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone. It covers lots of topics, and gives you a greater understanding to important—and unimportant—moments in history.
Winter, Spring, Summer, or Fall? Why?
Fall. Football, hoodies and outdoor cooking.
What are you looking forward to most about the next year?
Solving problems for existing—and new—clients.
