Robert Kesman on Robert Kesman:
“When I think of Robert Kesman, I think multi-hyphenate. Sporting a double-B.A. from the University of Notre Dame where he put up magna cum laude numbers (3.85 GPA), the young (30) creative journeyman has hit his stride as a pivotal cross-departmental, cross-functional branding force. Robert has written commercials for industry titans like Nike, General Mills, Wrigley-Mars, Spotify, Universal Studios, and Amazon. He also wrote the sales decks that led to those branded spots. He has written and produced podcasts and taught himself how to use audio equipment, such that he could tape said podcasts with talent. He has led company social teams – writing copy and editing videos. He’s worked in writers rooms and crafted multiple web-series. He EP’d a Snapchat show focused on Gen-Z TikTok culture which he quickly grew to 1.4 million subscribers. As a result, he is confident in his ability to give an hours long oral history of Addison Rae (amongst other new media icons). Currently, he is the living, breathing brand voice of Purple — fighting for market share in the notoriously ruthless mattress industry where only the savviest creatives thrive.”
"Jack of All Trades"
"Team Player"
"Good Sense of Humor"
"Wears Many Hats"
"Skilled Communicator"
"Can-do Attitude"
"Strong Work Ethic"
"Jack of All Trades" "Team Player" "Good Sense of Humor" "Wears Many Hats" "Skilled Communicator" "Can-do Attitude" "Strong Work Ethic"
When asked about his career successes thus far, Robert had the following to say:
“Getting to work at two start-ups early in my career was an immense blessing. I learned a lot, and I learned fast, cause [sic] I had to. At my first job, a digital production studio, I came on as the social media coordinator, but when they saw me slinging words like ‘leverage’ and ‘milieu,’ I quickly had brand pitch duty added to my task list. Soon enough I was scripting the branded videos and social partnerships we sold, where I’d be working alongside legal, c-suite, other writers, the sales team – all while going on set to help produce the content itself. I’m not the best at speaking to my strengths, which I think comes from a Catholic upbringing (humility-centric), but seeing as this is my portfolio, I’ll say that I have a unique combination of self-awareness, intelligence, empathy, and adaptability that allows me to learn and execute at a high degree, under tight timelines, regardless of the creative project at hand.”
When asked to succinctly describe himself, Robert replied:
“Engaging conversationalist. My ability to operate as a personality hire often gets overlooked due to my consistent, compelling work output.”
When asked to describe himself in the way he’d describe himself to someone not involved with employment, Robert said:
“I saw a tweet recently that said something like, ‘We spend our lives chasing success and status when the real purpose of life is to have your friends in walking distance.’ That’s kinda what I’m about. I’ve got a big neighborhood crew. We do Dungeons & Dragons night, trivia night, film club, book club, brewery club, fantasy football, and so on. We go to a lot of concerts. Lotta karaoke. Lotta themed parties. What really lights me up is just talking with people I adore. In my solitary time, I’m an avid reader of literary + fantasy fiction and a large consumer of music. Per Spotify metrics I do so during one-third of my waking hours.”
Favorite book, favorite artist:
Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders. MJ Lenderman.