#WFH Diaries: Damien Foui and Fabienne Fiorucci of Dare.Win
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc across the world, we're checking in with folks in the creative industry to see how they're doing. Here's an update from Damien Foui and Fabienne Fiorucci, creative directors at Dare.Win in Paris.
Give us a one-sentence bio of yourselves.
We are creative directors at Dare.Win Paris. We have been working here for six years on several brands such as Nike, Bacardi's group, PlayStation, Netflix and Yves Rocher, to name a few. We've got around 20 people in the creative department that we manage together.
Where are you living right now, and who's with you?
Right now, we are in Paris sharing a tiny flat. Yes, we are partners at home and at work.
What's your work situation like at the moment?
We are working from home, as is the entire agency. The adaptation wasn't that hard, because we already did teleworking before with some of our co-workers. The main challenge is to anticipate what could happen in the future for our different clients. We are currently working a lot because all of the clients are asking themselves if it's the right moment to do something—and if it's possible, what's going to be the strategic approach. On the other hand, we try to adapt our creative ideas to fit in the new production constraints (no shooting, no more events for the moment, etc.).
Describe your socializing strategy.
In the business environment, it's to keep the link with every creative in the agency by talking to them every day. On Monday morning it's a big meeting with the entire agency, and each morning there's a quick talk with our creative leads to check if they and their teams are OK. For each call, we want to keep the camera on, to keep a human link despite the screens. And in the private sphere: Happy hours, house parties and online video games help a lot.
How are you dealing with childcare, if applicable?
If we consider that Damien is a child, it's OK.
What are you reading?
Coincidence? Damien started World War Z by Max Brooks a month before the quarantine ... it might be very useful! Fabienne takes time to read all the books she bought or people lent her last months and she saved "for holidays." Today she has six or seven like that, from Patrick Modiano to the French Journalist Myriam Levain and her book Et toi tu t'y mets quand?
What are you watching?
We started the French series Le Bureau des Légendes at the beginning of the confinement, and we already finished the fourth season, waiting for the fifth. It's a masterpiece! But we also take time to discover the movies of the Ghibli studio on Netflix—it's the perfect way to spend a sunday afternoon. And on the top, we spent some time on video games: Damien on Call of Duty: Warzone with friends and colleagues, and Fabienne on Switch (she still plays at Fortnite, even if she is the only one who is over 30 on there).
What are you listening to?
We listen to a lot of music, from new stuff thanks to Spotify radio to old but gold ones that Damien keeps secret. We are also listening to a lot of podcasts such as Transfer from Slate. Each episode is a new incredible testimony from people like you and me. Other podcasts: criminal stories, or historical ones.
How are you staying fit?
Fabienne does sport every day thanks to livestream on Instagram with her coach from real life: yoga, Zumba, Sweden gym ... Damien follows her three times a week, for a boxing workout.
Have you taken up a hobby?
We don't have a new hobby, but we tried to find something to help people, especially in our industry. Because sometimes we can feel useless. We ask ourselves, "What can we do to help during this crazy period?" We can't create safety masks because (spoiler alert) none of us know how to sew. Our solutions: Do what we do. So we decided to give time to the new generation of creative people: We opened our agenda to all the people who are working on their portfolio, who need help or advice. It's every day from 4-5 p.m., and we call this "Creative Breaks." We began on March 25, and a few hours after, our planning was full. So we opened another week. People all over France come to talk to us, and it's a real pleasure to share time and talk with them, and we hope it could be useful. Because the demand is really high, and people seem to really appreciate that, we encourage all our colleagues in creative direction to also give time to people. It's creative solidarity and it's a different way to socialize.
Any tips for getting necessities?
We go out once a week to buy what we need for the next week. And we also tried a new way to find fruits and vegetables while helping to stop the waste. In Paris, Rungis is a big fresh products market. It usually delivers food for all the restaurants of the region. This time, it created boxes for people. It's called "Rungis livré chez vous." We tried a nonofficial way last week and now we have a dozen fresh vegetables to cook.
An awkward moment since all this started.
When new people at the agency discovered that we live in the same flat … during a call.
Best work email you got since all this started.
An email to invite us all to our first digital after-work party. On Thursdays, we have the habit to celebrate the newcomers and say goodbye to the ones who leave with the #RespectDay apéro. And even more so with the distance, we needed it. So we still had it, with an amazing music trivia night!
An aha! moment since all this started.
When we discovered that we can can put automatic subtitles during a Hangout call. The A.I. of Google has a really good sense of humor. Try it. :)
What's your theory on how this is going to play out?
We don't have a theory. We are just ready to adapt.
