Community Highlights: Meet Ingrid Reyes of M&A Creative Agency USA

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ingrid Reyes.

Hi Ingrid, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m Ingrid Reyes, an advertising executive currently living in Los Angeles, but spending a lot of time in Napa Valley where I’ll be moving soon. I’m passionate about wine, food, and travel. I’ve traveled around the world to different wine regions across the US, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Spain, Hungary, Australia, and South Africa. I’m also a foodie at heart, I’ve been fortunate to visit some of the best restaurants around the globe, I guess you could say, I’m a “Globetrotter Gourmand”, always in search of the best food and Michelin Star restaurants no matter where it is.

I’ll tell you about myself and start at the beginning. When I was 15, my parents moved us to Los Angeles, it was a magical time. High school was a happy time, it was a time of self-exploration and discovery, a time of wonder. I attended L.A. High, the mecca of diversity, which was a gift to me, learning about so many cultures, and taking something from each of them enriched my life. My parents had instilled in me a gift, which saw no color or race, and I thrived at school, a straight “A“ student, graduating with full honors, that year all honor roll students were featured in the L.A. Times, I remember thinking it was so cool to be in the paper!

After graduation, I went to the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising and majored in interior design, a childhood dream. But before college, I had taken six months off and worked at an advertising agency as a receptionist. The energy there was magnetic, fast paced, the people happy​​, I loved everything about it and I fell in love with it, but it was time to go fulfill my childhood dream and start school. Once I graduated from college, I got a job working with high-end residential and commercial clients, like The Four Seasons Santa Barbara and the St. Regis Princeville, Hawaii and a few very successful Hollywood stars and producers. After six years in the business, something was missing, I yearn to be in the corporate world, advertising had made a lasting impression, so I decided to leave my interior design career and start from scratch in an industry I knew very little about; advertising. Once I started in the ad world, I never looked back.

Making that decision was the best thing I ever did! My first job was at a TV station, NBC/Telemundo, where I worked as a sales assistant for a  year, before getting a job with one of the station’s clients at an ad agency.

That set me on the path that has taken me from working at boutique agencies to global agencies to now having my own ad agency with my partner, where I am CEO for North and South America. For years, I worked hard at agencies climbing up the corporate ladder, from being a supervisor, then a director, then VP, to SVP to EVP, to Managing Partner, Director of North America at a global agency, the behemoth, WPP, at Mindshare in New York, where I oversaw American Express, Kimberly Clark, Sprint, among nine other accounts, while managing several teams across North America and the Caribbean.

When I left Mindshare and came back to Los Angeles in 2015, I decided to open my own marketing and communications consulting business, where I remained until I met my business partner, Luis Marques, Founder and Global CEO of M&A Creative Agency.

In 2018, I found myself again wanting more, it was time to do something I’ve been passionate about my whole life. In 2019, I decided to follow my passion: the wine industry. I knew I wanted to stay in the ad business and wanted an agency with a linear rather than hierarchical agency culture, a collection of the greatest professionals, and a specialty in the wine and spirit’s market.

My vision became a reality when I met my business partner, Luis. He’s been doing advertising for global brands in the beverage, food, and hospitality industry for 25 years. When we met and he told me what the agency specialized in, I couldn’t believe it, it was everything I had been dreaming of! After a few chats, we decided to partner up and opened the U.S. division from where I lead the agency as CEO, Americas, launching M&A Creative Agency in the U.S. in April of 2021.“

Currently, we are working on several projects, but there is one that is very special, it makes me very excited and proud. It’s a “Celebrity Wine”, for an iconic drummer, Kenny Aranoff, he’s doing it in partnership with Smith Devereux Wines in Napa Valley. It is scheduled to be released this Fall, get ready for it, it’s going to be epic! We developed the packaging and are very proud of it, the design is unique, one of a kind, never seen before, either in the beverage or luxury packaging industry.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Not always, it’s never a smooth road, it is life happening at every single step. Success does not come easy, there is work to be done before you get there. But don’t fret, there is a rainbow at the end of the tunnel. First, you must know what you want, you must know your destination, otherwise, how would you know where you are going?

But there is a secret: love what you do! If you love what you do, it’s not work, therefore, it’s never a task, its pleasure, it’s a challenge that will get you up every morning with a smile on your face and will get you to your destination. You see, my mother is a strong woman, I am who I am because of her, she comes from a humble background, her schooling is minimal, but she is fearless. I’m the oldest of 4 and the first girl in the family, I was loved and spoiled, but I was born an independent soul, and she told us that we could be anything we wanted to be, and I believed her. I was raised with no prejudice, I don’t know what race, or religion, or gender is, I am an equal individual that knows my potentiality, nothing can stop me from achieving what I set my mind to do. I am one of those lucky people that walk into a room and only sees potential.

I’ve had my share of struggles through my career, but I keep raising to the challenge through reaching to the deepest of my being that always leads me to the answers, leading me to always deliver the best for my clients. I always aim to over-deliver on everything I do.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about M&A Creative?
M&A Creative Agency is a multi-national award-winning full-service advertising agency specializing in branding, luxury packaging, and communications focused on the beverage, food, and hospitality industries. For 25 years, we’ve worked with global and regional brands around the globe. Our U.S. division has offices in Napa Valley, NY, and Los Angeles,​ ​headquarter​ed​ in ​​Portugal​, with offices in Lisbon and Aveiro​. We also have offices in Bordeaux, France.

Our core services include storytelling, branding, creative, strategy, content, luxury packaging design, digital, high-tech, e-commerce, media, social, and production. In addition, the agency has extensive experience in a variety of other industries, including hospitality, auto, financial, telecommunications, and entertainment, among many others.

I’m most proud of our reputation, our clients love us, they are our friends, we are recognized by the best in the industry globally and used as “Best in Class”, that makes me proud! My partner, Luis, is the best there is, he is Global Creative Director, our clients can be sure that everything is seeing through his lenses of perfection. On my end, I oversee everything else, strategy, branding, and client services, that makes us the perfect partners and agency. I truly believe that we are the best there is, we continue to win awards globally for best agency, best creative, best design, best strategy, branding, across the globe, by Muse Awards, German Design Awards, NY Product Design Awards, among many others.

What does success mean to you?
The definition of success to me is, “doing what you love, what you are passionate about, doing it when you want it, and with who you want. That’s how I define success today.” Over the years, that definition has changed, when I was entering the ad world, I considered success as climbing the corporate ladder, the title I had, and how much money I made. Knowing what I know today, I see what true success is, there is no greater satisfaction in life than doing what you love, being excited about it every day when you wake up and having the desire to get better every day! Anyone can do it, it takes focus, determination, it takes guts, but living your best life deserves all of that.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.macreativeusa.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/delicious_journey_/
• Other: https://www.behance.net/macreativeagency?tracking_source=search_users%7Cm&A%20creative%20agency

Image Credits
All photos are property of M&A Creative Agency.