Liona VENTURINI

What was your very first job?

At 15 years old, I was a baker at Linvilla Orchards. A few years and a few moves later, I started my career doing Marketing and PR for Crombie in London.

Please describe, in your own words, what your job is and what work it entails.

I drive the overall creative direction for Express's digital imagery and am currently in the process of building the team for our new in-house studio which will capture a vast range of digital content.

How and when did you discover that the creative world was right for you? Tell us how you got to where you are today.

As a kid, so many things would set my mind off into a state of wonder. When I art directed my first shoot and realized I could create an image that would set off someone else’s mind into a state of wonder. I was hooked.

In your constantly growing and expanding industry, how do you find inspiration to keep your work fresh, innovative and relevant?

Escape. Travel. New surroundings. I usually find inspiration when I’m not looking.

If you had to pick one piece of work or project that you are most proud of, more for the creative work and innovation it required, rather than its recognition or industry “success,” what would it be?

The Express runway show in Mexico City. We produced a public runway show in the middle of the Zocalo. The team work leading up to that was fueled with so much excitement. Everything in the end was proof of that. Creatively we pushed ourselves more than ever and you could see it in the show, in the pictures, even the play list had more energy. The next day we made the front page news in the Mexico City papers which solidified all of our hard work. We were a very proud team that day.