Remembering Molly Dowd, longtime producer for agencies and brands

Friends, family and colleagues are remembering Molly Dowd, a longtime creative producer known equally for her magnetic personality, generous spirit and artistic eye, who died last month at 43. Dowd passed away April 1 from injuries sustained in a car accident. The West Orange, New Jersey, native, who lived in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband, Michael Bird, and their children Theo and Georgie, had worked at agencies including BBH, Wieden+Kennedy and Yard NYC and at brands such as Bergdorf Goodman and MAC Cosmetics during her prolific career. For the past five years, she worked at Warby Parker, most recently as senior director, creative operations and executive producer. Much of Dowd’s work involved identifying, hiring and managing photographers for advertising shoots, often in the fashion space. She was known as a core talent on every project she was involved in, despite working largely behind the scenes. Collaborators were struck not just by her talent, but by her approachability and empathy. Even when projects got stressful, Dowd’s generosity and sense of humor drew people to her, as the team at Warby Parker quickly learned when she joined. “She was superlative as a producer and a leader, yet never took herself too seriously,” said Alison Riley, creative director at the eyewear company. “I teased her that she somehow made a job that required such a breadth and depth of expertise and humanity look like a Carol Burnett skit. She offered humble, hilarious, insightful and steadfast partnership, and I relied on it daily. She was unlike anyone else I’ve worked with in 25 years, and there will never be another.” “Within Warby Parker and across the creative industry, Molly was not only known for her exceptional talent but also her kindness, warmth and sense of humor,” said Neil Blumenthal, the company’s co-founder and co-CEO. “Wherever she was—in the office or on set—people wanted to be around her.” “She perfected the art of balancing hard work and excellence with fun and laughter—so many people looked up to her because of it,” said Dave Gilboa, Warby Parker’s other co-founder and co-CEO, adding that Dowd “made friends across the company” with her infectious personality. Lifelong friends from every production Indeed, Dowd was an accomplished friend maker. At her memorial service last month, Trina Pepe, a close acquaintance from college, referred to herself as “Molly Dowd’s best friend”—then quickly acknowledged that most people in the room probably felt the same. Dowd made many of those friends at Wieden+Kennedy, where she worked for many years, both in-house and as a freelancer. Susan Hoffman, chief creative officer at W+K, recalled instantly recognizing Dowd’s talent during the interview process. “I gave her and the other candidate a photography assignment to find images that would surprise and scare me. This is when I discovered Molly’s keen eye and creative taste. Needless to say, she got the job,” Hoffman said. “Besides being an incredible woman to work with, Molly was a whipsmart talent. What an absolutely beautiful person.” “It didn’t take but a minute to be utterly besotted,” said Marni Beardsley, a former longtime W+K colleague of Dowd’s. “It was clear what mattered to Molly: meaningful connections and living a creative, purposeful life. I marveled how, in the cutthroat sea of self-importance that the fashion world can be, there in the center was Molly, shining the spotlight on others even when she was quietly the creative mastermind.” “She could see beauty in photographers’ books. She could see the energy on a shoot. She had the most incredible eye,” said Orlee Tatarka, head of production at W+K Portland. “She was full of life, always wanting to know what was going on, an amazing listener, and just so fucking real. And she was never a mean girl, which she so easily could have been because she was gorgeous and funny.” Other colleagues pointed to Dowd’s effortless way with people, which was so disarming in a business of relationships. “Regardless of what the project was, Molly always brought a sense of camaraderie and joy,” said Pietro Clemente, a producer who worked with Dowd for a decade at W+K and Warby Parker. “She knew that doing a great job didn’t mean you had to take yourself too seriously. Her kindness and sense of humor made even the most stressful shoots enjoyable and memorable. She always kept everyone laughing and would leave every production with new lifelong friends.” “To say Molly was one of the unsung heroes of our industry would be an understatement,” said Tamera Geddes, president at Nice&Frank and another W+K alum. “Her magic was in her way—self-deprecating, familial and empathetic to the bone. Her quiet leadership and corralling of incredible humans, time and again, have shaped so much of the work and meaningful relationships that exist today. Few people have ever made this industry more fun and I hope we can all bring a bit more Molly to our everyday.” Dowd’s circle of friends extended well beyond W+K. At every stop in her career, she made people’s lives better in ways big and small. “Molly was magic and had an amazing gift for making people feel seen, and for putting people at ease in any situation,” said Jason Garcia, VP of global creative operations at MAC Cosmetics. “She was also a terrific shoot producer, and often the unsung hero. Molly took some truly extreme situations, wild creative visions and insane client requests and always made them a reality for both agency and client.” Matt Berman, a longtime creative director who met Dowd in 2006 when he joined Bergdorf Goodman, said she had nicknames for many of her friends—his was “Berms”—and that everyone she met felt instantly comforable around her. He also remembers her volunteering at a nursing home two nights a week when they worked together. She had a big heart and accepted people for who they were, he said. “There wasn’t a false note about her. Some people collect antiques or sneakers; Molly collected people,” Berman said. “It sounds corny, but she really was an old soul. Here she was, younger than me, but so wise—when I vented frustrations during the day about work or life in general—she’d calm me down. ‘Berms, aren’t all these “problems” just life? Don’t take it so seriously.’” “She was so funny and so real, self-deprecating with no idea how many people loved her,” said Frances Tulk-Hart, a photographer and artist who was friends with Dowd for 15 years. “The last time I saw her was a few weeks before she died, when she had me come in and meet with Alison [Riley], the creative director of Warby Parker. It was the most fun meeting I have ever had. About five of us sat at the long table, looked at my work and then got down to the business of chatting and gossiping! It was hilarious. We had such a great time I wanted to quit my job and come and work at Warby with them all.” Dowd’s husband, Michael Bird, who is a creative director in the industry himself, said he’s gotten dozens of messages in recent weeks from people saying Molly singlehandedly changed their careers with a new job or connection, or that she made their work experience that much more fun and fulfilling. “Molly put others ahead of herself,” he said. “She was a joy to be around and saw opportunity in everything. She loved life. She was truly a selfless person and valued friendship and family over everything. She was everyone’s best friend. She met you where you were at and would welcome strangers to the table just as fast as she would for a friend whom she’d known for years. “She loved collaborating and was a natural in the business. She was approachable. She was a conversationalist. She loved helping people, connecting the dots and making great work. She looked for zero credit but deserved it all.” Molly is survived by her husband; her children, Theo and Georgie; her parents, Dennis and Mary; her brother David and sister-in-law Rajni; her brother Padraic and his partner Gina; as well as several nephews, a niece, aunts, uncles and cousins. A GoFundMe has been set up to assist the family.

Remembering Molly Dowd, longtime producer for agencies and brands

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