Fulfilling a Vision: Lali Koehler on Finding Opportunity, Great Partnerships, and Design That Stands the Test of Time

By Julia Gamolina

Lali Koehler is the Chief Production Officer at Saatchi & Saatchi. A veteran in the industry, Lali has thrived on understanding clients’ challenges and impacting their objectives with work that touches the audience.

Most recently Lali spearheaded the design of Saatchi’s new Los Angeles office. With a personal interest in architecture and design, Lali oversaw every aspect of creating an inspirational space that fosters the creativity and collaboration needed to produce world-class work. In her conversation with Julia, Lali talks about transitioning from tech to advertising, leading the internal visioning for the new LA space, and selecting Melissa Hanley and Studio Blitz as the architect. She advises those just starting their careers to find opportunities for growth, and to embrace who they are and their own voice.

JG: Tell me about how you grew up, and how that planted the seeds for your career.

LK: I was born and raised in Brazil, in the Southeast. I also had a very unique set of parents - my dad is a doctor and my mom is an anthropologist. I actually grew up in a very unique situation in Brazil where I had a very balanced set of parents in terms of how they raised me. My dad was the breadwinner, but he was also the one driving me to school, making me breakfast, and taking me to my sports.

Looking back, I feel very lucky that I didn’t grow up with this set of preconceived notions that women are set to do only a few things in life. I never felt that limitation. Growing up in Brazil, that was not typical, so my bubble that I had with my parents, this was very special.

The funny thing about my background too is that when you’re applying to university in Brazil, you have to choose your major up front. So one of the majors that I applied to was architecture! I always had an artistic side to my upbringing through my mom. But I also applied for seven others things [laughs]...

That sounds like me when I was applying to college too, honestly.

I think in reality maybe I was just a bit lost. I ended up studying International Relations because I always had a love for travelling and being in new worlds. Then in my third year in university, I did an internship in Warsaw, Poland, at the University of Warsaw.

I love Poland. A very underrated country to visit, everyone should go.

Yes! There I started to realize that the diplomatic career, from a Brazil point of view especially, was very male-dominated, and on top of that, you often have to follow the policies of whatever administration is current. And, if you track the Brazilian government, the country hasn’t had much luck with that in the past. So I started to realize that even though international relations and diplomacy is my major, I may not want to work in that field.

Luckily, I had an uncle who worked for a pretty large telecommunications company in Brazil. He got me an internship there, and I ended up being there for four years. That time launched my career, and launched me into the corporate world.

In which ways do you feel you really launched your career there?

It’s where I discovered the internet - I obviously have been working longer than you have [laughs]. I remember thinking, “What is this Internet thing?” People don’t always talk about this, but so many things are about timing, and I happened to be coming up in my career as the internet was getting going. I started in a field where no one had a background in. When Apple was staffing for their offices in Brazil for example, they couldn’t hire people with three years of experience, because no one had field experience!

So I applied for some of these new positions, and got hired as a product manager. I managed some of these products - mail, things like this - for the Latin American market. At the time, anything and everything was possible, there was so much good energy, and the people I worked with became my second family. We were all friends, and it was fascinating to get my career going in that sense.

“...office design is so different than any other kind of architecture - the programming phase is so important.”

— Lali Koehler

How did you eventually get into advertising?

Shortly after I started my career, I got married and I moved to Spain. I spent three years in Barcelona. Spain is an amazing place to be if you want to be immersed in architecture, so of course I became obsessed with Gaudi and got to visit most of his buildings.

I then moved back to Brazil and got into the cooking world a little bit, and pastry making [laughs], but then I had to pay the bills, so I went back to tech. I joined Yahoo, and they transferred me to the United States. At this time, I was divorced, so I went to the States as a single parent with a four-year-old boy, moving on my own to another country! I think some of that bravery comes from my mom, she’s a very brave woman, but since I moved here I never moved back.

I lived in several states when I came here, but ended up living in San Francisco where I met my current husband. He’s a creative in advertising, and very passionate about this industry. I got really attracted to advertising through him, and I had a friend in San Francisco that was opening up an agency, so they asked me to come on board, and I did!

How did you get to Saatchi & Saatchi?

Being a product manager in tech as actually a great introduction for production in advertising. It seemed like a big jump - I was switching industries in my mid-thirties after all - but luckily I was not starting from scratch; I had a translatable skill set. So I worked for a few agencies all over the world, and then actually went to the client side and worked internally at MySpace.

I saw that! Oh gosh, MySpace.

We created an in-house agency there essentially. It was a wild ride but we had a very good time.

Eventually, I got to a point where I needed a bigger challenge. From a connection I had, I learned that Saatchi & Saatchi were looking for a certain candidate to fill a position to lead operations, and I was recommended for it.

Saatchi & Saatchi LA, by Studio Blitz. Photography by Bruce Damonte.

How did you come to lead the design of the new LA headquarters, from within?

I always had this artistic side, like I mentioned, and when I joined in operations, we were building a new office in Dallas. I didn’t get involved with that project, but I knew about it. What I was involved in though, was redesigning my own house [laughs]. Growing up, I saw my parents design three houses, and my mom actually became an interior designer after leaving anthropology. So I was always exposed to design.

So at Saatchi, we had been in our LA office for thirty-seven years, and we needed a new space. Moving an entire agency that has been in one space for almost four decades was a huge endeavor but a great challenge to work through. I mean, how do you even start talking about that? And LA is such a career city, that you have to be very thoughtful about what contributes to attrition of talent, how you can be the most competitive in retention. The space you provide to your team and your employees has a lot to do with that.

I think we’re all learning that now, especially coming back to working from the office after so much time at home.

Exactly. So when we knew we needed a bigger and different space, we decided to use data. What do I mean by that? We did all kinds of employee surveys and had a strategy team within Saatchi who analyzed the data. We created all kinds of maps of where people lived to make sure we wouldn't disrupt their day-to-day too much by relocating, and we did surveys about patterns of movement, how our staff would use the office, how much time they spent in meetings, all of that.

“We knew we needed a space that inspires people - the advertising industry is highly creative and competitive - so we needed a space that attracts top talent, and keeps them inspired and energized.”

— Lali Koehler

That’s so interesting. And so smart.

That part was fascinating. However, our timeline to build the new office was very compressed, and I knew it could be a problem.

[Laughs] Show me a design project where the timeline isn’t compressed.

It’s true. I knew that for our square footage, our design timeline would be insane. And, although I took it upon myself to lead the design from an internal standpoint at Saatchi, I also had my day job in operations. The design became my night job [laughs].

I became a little bit obsessed. I wanted a say in every little detail. We had four hour meetings just about fabrics! And colors! I jumped fully into the process, with our architect.

What were you envisioning, and how did you choose who to work with? How did you select the architect, who ended up being Studio Blitz, run by Melissa Hanley.

First I was working on Pinterest boards for six months [laughs] - collecting anything and everything that could be used as inspiration for us. Then we would meet with the real estate arm of Saatchi & Saatchi about the process and everyone involved. Then came time for visioning.

It’s funny because office design is so different than any other kind of architecture - the programming phase is so important. I even tried to bring in the architect who worked with us to build our home, but realized quickly that the skillset and typology mastery is just not the same. We spoke with three different architects who are all amazing in so many ways.

I didn’t know who we would end up with, and I didn’t plan to completely fall in love with Blitz, who we ended up selecting, and especially their chief architect Melissa.

Because we had such a fast timeline, we went with the architect that just simply got the vision, and quickly. We also felt that they would be strong throughout the process, especially since I knew that coordination with the general contractor and the publicist and things like this, would be tough. We needed an architect who could move fast and also be a good partner so that we could create a strong vision and a cohesive message. We also couldn’t build things that aren’t usable or that would bring massive maintenance issues. Architectural design needs to have practicality built into the vision. At the same time, it’s a very creative process and endeavor, so you do need to allow for ideas to flourish at the same time.

How did Blitz stand out in this regard for you and your team?

When talking to Blitz, and when we were doing visioning sessions and talking about creative industries and how we protect ideas, and how we have a physical space that allows for that, it became really clear that Melissa would be the one to take that forward. I kind of fell in love with her during our very first meeting.

Melissa as a person.

Yes, just her and how she is. Over the years, I’ve realized I’m good at identifying high performance employees, and have always done so through various recruitment processes. And with Melissa, my gut was telling me something, and I leaned into that.

Of course there was a bidding and a selection process, but I also knew that a partnership with her would get us to the right final vision.

Also, building something new, literally, takes a lot out of everyone, and I knew that whoever we collaborated with, needed to make the process more pleasant.

Right, someone you will enjoy talking to and working with on a daily basis.

Exactly. Life and work can be tough enough that you don’t want the people around you working towards the same vision, to make it any harder. I just also had a feeling that she got what we wanted as an agency and she could navigate all the players involved.

Also beyond great design, you have to know how to build. Being a producer in my work as well, I understand what it takes to follow through on an idea and bring it to life, and I have a huge respect for what that takes. And I knew Melissa, and her partner, and her team, could get us there - and on budget and on time.

It sounds like a lot of factors aligned with Blitz.

Yes, it was the whole combination of knowing that Melissa would work with us to do the best by us and our vision. And I knew I’d be highly involved in the project, especially during the concepting phase, and I wanted to work with a partner that would allow for that.

What was most important to you through the design process?

I didn’t want something that would just look good for five years; I wanted a space that would really stand the test of time. I also wanted to work with someone who understood the LA culture. LA can be a city that is very tough to fall in love with - it’s probably the most unique place I’ve ever lived, and I’ve lived in many places. It’s so full of challenges and cultures, so we really wanted the space to be a nod to LA, and a celebration of LA culture, and Blitz and Melissa brought that to the process and vision as well. We knew we needed a space that inspires people - the advertising industry is highly creative and competitive - so we needed a space that attracts top talent, and keeps them inspired and energized.

There is also an element of trust that is huge. Because you are taking a leap of faith, and quickly too, you have to trust your partners to jump with you, so that trust in your gut has to be there with the right partner.

“An architect that takes the time to understand you and your needs is hugely important, and it’s much easier said than done, to be honest.”

— Lali Koehler

Having gone through this process as a client, as well as your own home renovation, what advice do you have for architects?

Clients really want to feel that they are being heard. Architects can have their own brands, and their own style, but in the end, ultimately the final product - and this is for anyone in the creative industry - needs to indicate that your design partner is a very good listener. An architect that takes the time to understand you and your needs is hugely important, and it's much easier said than done, to be honest.

I think everyone can work on being a better listener. Finally, what advice do you have for those starting their careers, and would you have any additional advice for women?

My advice would be one hundred percent different for women. But first, what I tell everyone just starting out is that making decisions regarding changing companies, do so based on where you will get the most opportunity for growth. Make sure you look at opportunities for growth. That’s exactly what happened to me - I was lucky enough to transition between industries, but I was lucky to work with solving large problems since the very beginning. I was always exposed to finding solutions for problems at a very large scale. I was also exposed to management. I saw people really strong at their craft, but not in management, and learned a lot of what not to do. You need to be exposed to good management as early as possible so that you yourself learn to do it right.

For women, oh gosh. I have so much to say. I think we are in a big transition with this new generation, and thank God. Young women today, young people today, talk completely differently about all of this than the older generation. I had to learn to develop my voice and embrace who I am, and do so in a way that doesn’t mimic male behavior. That’s very important. Because so many things are changing with the new generations coming into the workforce, I think our youngsters today are in a much better place. There is so much celebration of our individuality, and that's very much embraced today. So, continue to develop your voice and embrace it. Also, find your mentors. I do everything I can in my position to help women succeed. My role now is to make other people succeed - I am only as successful as everyone on my team. So creating an environment for anyone and everyone to succeed is very important.