EPISODE #57 || Jerico Cabaysa, Managing Director on Gatorade at TBWA\Chiat\Day

Over the course of his career, Jerico Cabaysa went from wanting to be a sports agent to overseeing one of the biggest sports brands as Managing Director on Gatorade at TBWA\Chiat\Day. Hear about trying on every role at the agency before he found account management, working on brands that you care about, becoming a dad while working in advertising, and how being asked to be in comps shaped his outlook on his identity at work.

Heads up: We're in Week 2 of Intern Fieldnotes, Vol. 1! 13 pieces, released 1 per day, created in collaboration with summer interns from all over the industry. By sharing their work, agency culture, challenges, and learnings, interns help make the internship experience more accessible and beneficial to all.

Topics Discussed

• How going to a TBWA\Chiat\Day kegger introduced him to advertising, starting in accounts payable, and trying to figure out who he was while working in account management. 
• Consciously working on things he’s already interested in, and how to approach working on brands that aren’t as sexy. 
• What his role on Gatorade entails, and what’s contributed to the 10 year relationship with the brand.
• How being asked to be in comps shaped his outlook on his identity at work, having no one to reach out to who looked like him, and hiring people with traits that you can’t teach. 
• How the LA agency scene has evolved since he first started, how becoming a dad changed his approach to his career.
• Being yourself, slowing down, and focusing on what’s in front of you vs. the future. 

Mic Drops

“I think in the beginning, I was trying to figure out who I needed to be as an account person, and who I needed to be in advertising. I struggled […] even just being a newbie, having just graduated from school, you’re still figuring yourself out. So you don’t even know how to present yourself. […] I think in the very beginning I just didn’t feel comfortable. I was watching what people were doing, and trying to figure out if that’s what I should be.”

“Because of what this job is, the amount of time it takes, and what it takes out of you, the closer you are to caring about what you’re working on, the easier the job will be.”

"For every person that's opened the door for me, I've tried to open 10 doors. [...] You can't break the system from the outside. You have to break it from the inside."

Keep in Touch

• Jerico on

About Jerico

Beats. Rhymes. Life. 

Hoops. Father. Husband. 

Managing Director at Chiat\Day on Gatorade. 

Blessed to have worked on some of his favorite brands:

Playstation, Oakley, Adidas, Jordan brand, Sprite. 

I miss BK, but love being back in LA.