Carrie Booth is a recent addition to the team, joining us from Australia to take on the role of Planning Director here at SaatchiNY. If you’re interested in getting more info, feel free to check out her LinkedIn page or follow her witticisms on Twitter.

WHAT DO YOU DO AT SAATCHI & SAATCHI?
Strategic planner

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST JOB?
A waitress at a teashop where we wore the old school maid outfit including white hats.  Our customers weren’t very nice to us, so we found ways to get our own back. Lesson learnt – always be nice to your waitress.

WHAT LED YOU ON THE PATH YOU’RE ON TODAY?
A sense of adventure.

WHAT ARE YOUR LOVEMARKS?
Converse, Innocent drinks, Lurpak, Virgin Atlantic

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE AD (ALL TIME OR CURRENTLY)?
Recently I’ve loved the Guardian’s ‘Three Little Pigs’. It’s a story that’s brilliantly well told and seamlessly demonstrates how the Guardian goes above and beyond to consider all angles of a story and engages its readers.

I think the Puma ‘After Hours athlete’ is just a great strategy, beautifully executed.

And I also have a soft spot for some old SuperNoodles work, still funny after all these years.

IF YOU NEVER HAD TO WORK AGAIN, WHAT WOULD YOU WANT TO DO?
Go and learn Spanish in South America (it would probably take me a life time) or have a farm and just live off the land … maybe I could combine the two?

FAVORITE PLACE YOU’VE BEEN TO?
Mount Roraima in Venezuela, which my friend ‘Kamikaze’ Pete encouraged me to climb many years ago. It’s a tabletop mountain that has pink sand, black volcanic rocks and unique flora and fauna.  You feel like you’re at the edge of the world and many say it inspired Arthur Conan Doyle’s ‘The Lost World’.

WHAT’S YOUR MOST PRIZED POSSESSION?
Probably my chef’s knives.  I spent a year learning to cook in the early 2000’s and my knives have become a rather precious thing since then, I’ve even shipped them from Australia to America.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE YOUTUBE VIDEO?
FENTON! Just for the comedy.

WHAT’S SOMETHING YOU MAKE REALLY WELL?
I make a great Beef Wellington (the secret is having a meat thermometer so you don’t overcook the beef).

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE COLD-WEATHER NYC ACTIVITY?

I’ve only been in New York a few weeks so yet to find out, but as I haven’t seen snow for more than a decade it will probably be trying to find somewhere with a log fire to thaw out!

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHTIME SPOT NEAR THE OFFICE?
I’m definitely at the point of just asking others where they recommend, and someone suggested the Local on Sullivan Street and they did a mean organic turkey sandwich.

WHAT’S YOUR GO TO KARAOKE SONG? (COME ON, WE KNOW YOU HAVE ONE).
Talking Heads “She Was” if I have to got it alone, not too much singing involved, lot’s of ‘hey, hey hey!’

ABBA “Mama Mia” for comedy group singing

WHAT’S THE BEST MEAL YOU’VE EVER HAD?
The Fat Duck in Bray, UK (Editor’s Note: Their website is amazing, be sure to check it out). It wasn’t just the food, it was the whole theatre surrounding the experience; I felt like Alice when she’d just fallen down the rabbit hole.

IF YOU COULD BE THE WORLD RECORD HOLDER OF ANYTHING, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

The world’s largest dinner party.   I love the ritual and sociability that surrounds food and brings people together. I would hate to be the washer upper after this event though.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE CREATIVE PURSUIT?
Cooking, so I love the number of farmers markets that New York has.

WHAT BLOGS/MAGAZINES/BOOKS/PAPERS/WEBSITES CAN YOU NOT LIVE WITHOUT?
Wired (for my inner geek), Guardian, Springwise (to get that fix of ‘I wish I’d thought of that!’) Creativity & IMDB (to end all those debates about ‘what else has he/she been in?!’)

WHAT’S THE LAST GREAT EVENT YOU WENT TO?
The Olympics in London. I was extremely lucky and wangled a ticket to the athletics.  I saw the women’s USA team smash the world record and win gold in the 4x100m, it was incredible, definitely a once in a lifetime experience.

WHAT’S THE BEST PIECE OF ADVICE YOU’VE EVER RECEIVED?
“Leap before you look” and I can’t go past Douglas Adam’s “Don’t Panic!”

Clearly, the ‘don’t panic’ should hopefully kick in just after you’ve leapt into the unknown.

WHAT’S YOUR GREATEST NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE STORY?
There are so many from the Olympics and Paralympics, but one that really stood out for me was Im Dong-hyun from South Korea who is visually impaired (and registered blind) and broke the world record in archery winning gold at the Olympics.

Tags: Australia, Carrie Booth, NYC, Saatchi NY, Saatchi NYC, Strategic Planning