Celebrating Diversity: Emily Stutzman and Ben Hennes Of Happylucky On How To Build Inclusive Communities
An Interview With Vanessa Ogle
Reflect inclusion in every detail/partner — from the talent to the support staff to the snacks in the office.
In a world where diversity is often acknowledged but not always celebrated, we are taking a step forward to highlight the importance of inclusivity in building strong, vibrant communities. This series aims to explore the various facets of diversity — be it racial, cultural, gender-based, or within the differently-abled community — and understand how embracing these differences strengthens our social fabric. As part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Emily Stutzman & Ben Hennes.
EMILY STUTZMAN [she/her], CEO & Co-Owner, Happylucky
Emily Stutzman is CEO of the brand design agency Happylucky, and co-founder of Reco, the dating app designed to foster meaningful relationships and build lasting connections. Emily believes in the power of community and human connection. With over 15 years of experience in advertising, she has worked with brands like adidas, Stella McCartney, Chewy and Zappos. Emily is also a member of the Chief Women’s Network, which supports women executive leaders. In her personal time, she enjoys spending time with her four cats, tiny dog, and a house full of plants.
BEN HENNES [he/him], CCO & Co-Owner, Happylucky
Ben Hennes is the CCO and co-owner, along with business partner Emily Stutzman, of Happylucky. With an education in Graphic Design, Ben has spent the last 17 years as a designer, environmental designer, art director, creative director, and executive creative director, building and leading collaborative teams to create strategy-driven work that is not just seen and heard, but felt. Queer-identifying, much of Ben’s work is centered around inclusion of voices from the fringe — queers, punks, underdogs and the underrepresented — as critical to creating work that shifts culture in a positive direction. Ben leads teams to focus their work on creating collaboration between a brand’s purpose and their consumers, through work that drives emotional impact, and creates collective effervescence through IRL connection and shared experience.
As the creative leader of Happylucky, Ben has built and led multi-disciplinary teams across three offices specializing in brand strategy, global campaigns, retail and environments, branded experiences, events and community building. He has delivered work for global brands adidas, Sorel, Reebok, Savage X Fenty, AllBirds, Zappos, Tillamook, Columbia, and more. He also contributes his leadership experience and talent by working with non-profit and community impact partners like Basic Rights Oregon, Taste for Equity, 1000 Friends of Oregon, Oregon Voting, Vote in Jail and more. In his downtime, Ben can be found daydreaming in the forests of the Pacific Northwest; being way too competitive on a tennis court with his partner, Sam; getting lost on a dance floor; or engaging in endless banter over an IPA.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive into our discussion about celebrating diversity, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?
Emily: In middle school, I created a mock campaign to prove the Loch Ness monster was real — it worked, everyone at my school believed me. I wrote news stories, I doctored photos, I created a sense of wonder, but when my parents found out what I’d done, my mom said, “My goodness Emily — that’s naughty but maybe you should be in advertising.”
While the path I took to get here had some detours, politics and journalism were two of them, I was eventually led back to advertising! I love creativity and believe the world needs more of it — I’m happy to be in a job where supporting and empowering creativity is my daily duty.
Ben: Growing up as a creative country kid in Montana, I was always interested in new endeavors, making and creating, while pursuing a wide variety of activities from drama, to woodworking and quilting — if you can name it, I was doing it! As I entered high school, that transitioned to sculpture, drafting, refurbishing cars, and photography. When I left for college, I thought I wanted to be a mechanical engineer (thinking that was my path to designing cars), but math and physics quickly turned me off and I discovered the Graphic Design Program. It instantly felt like the perfect fit of creativity and problem solving. Post-college, I landed a job that introduced me to the world of environmental design, and it grew from there.
Can you share an interesting or hopeful story where spending time with someone who did not look like you or who was different from you taught you something that has been useful to you?
Emily: I grew up with the 80’s ‘see no color’ mentality and when I met one of my best friends — who is Ethiopian — in college, we didn’t acknowledge that he was not white. We just hung out constantly and never brought up the subject of race. When I was about 21, he shared a story about getting pulled over in high school in Atlanta and described how scared he was even though he hadn’t done anything wrong. At the time, it didn’t register to me why he would be afraid if he couldn’t be implicated in anything. His response was: “Emily — of course you don’t understand. You’re white, you’ve never had to deal with what I’ve had to deal with as a Black man in the south. I’m automatically guilty just because of my skin color.” This statement opened up a whole new world of understanding to me. I had been taught to believe that we all had the same opportunities and our worlds were what we made them, but I had been taught wrong. My friend’s insight opened my eyes to the realities I’d been blinded from seeing. I’m so grateful for this moment.
Ben: When I was in grade school there was a kid that moved in down the road and started riding my bus to school. He had down syndrome — something I had never been exposed to at that point. At first, I was taken aback by some of his behavior — his lack of personal boundaries, his sometimes loud and disruptive behavior. I didn’t know what to make of him. But as I got to know him, I realized that he had an absolute heart of gold and was one of the most loyal people you could ever meet. As I became his friend, I noticed how much people othered him — just as I had. I developed so much empathy being around him. I also learned that by letting people feel seen, feel valued, and feel included opens up the ability for them to share their superpowers.
You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Emily:
- Resilience — Leadership is not for the faint of heart. The challenges I’ve faced could make a person want to give up. The only way through these hard times is through — and you have to stay strong and be brave to get to the other side. In 2020 the phone stopped ringing, a lot of businesses had the same experience and didn’t make it. We were looking at our runway, and things weren’t looking good. We were having meetings about closing Happylucky. None of us wanted that to happen. So, we kept fighting, we were resourceful and creative, we took risks. I listened for opportunities in every sentence and found connections and solutions to get us through the rough spot.
- Resourcefulness — I’m surprised at how much I’ve been able to accomplish by keeping my eyes open, looking around to identify who can do the job or what I can leverage to make magic happen. For instance, during Covid, I overheard a friend say that the large global sportswear brand she worked for needed a space to develop their footwear. At the time, we had a huge empty building so I offered it. She talked to her boss who immediately said yes! It wasn’t the direct answer to our new business needs, but it did plug a hole (monthly building expenses) and introduced us to a whole new group of people with whom to do business.
- Connectivity — It’s all in who you know, but knowing people takes effort and time. I believe in the power of networks and community — and if you invest in people, they will invest back in you. People don’t remember what you said or what you did, but they remember how you made them feel (Maya Angelou said this first, but I repeat it often) and I’ve seen this be true in many of my business relationships. Many reach out following years of zero interaction and say they either remembered a great time we had on a photoshoot or expressed gratitude for the special thing I was able to do for them that made their life a little easier or sweeter that day. And oftentimes, these renewed connections are tied to a new opportunity.
- And here’s a fourth and equally important one: intuition/trust your gut. My friend and Happylucky’s founder/previous owner taught Ben and I to ‘trust our guts’ — which can be counter intuitive, we’re taught to think think think until we have the solution to a problem. I’ve had to learn to listen to my body/intuition instead of trying to think my way out of a problem — likely a skill I’ll be working on sharpening my whole life.
Ben:
- Egoless Collaboration — Being able to approach problems, teams, clients, and consumers without ego but with the humility and vulnerability to say “well sh*t, I don’t really know how to do this — but we’re going to figure it out together” does a few things for you. 1) It creates space for others to lead, to share, and for you to learn from new and diverse perspectives. 2) It creates trust. People know you’re full of sh*t if you act like you know everything — so showing the authenticity of not knowing lets them see your humanity. When Emily and I took over ownership of Happylucky, we’d never owned or ran a business before. We could have led with puffy chests and said “this is the way it’s going to be” and we probably would have lost a lot of talented people. But instead, we invited them in and doubled down on our commitment to make this an agency built on radical inclusion and egoless collaboration — and we didn’t see any attrition.
- Persistence & Hard Work (balanced with living hard) — I come from a farming family. It sometimes feels like my parents never sit down. I grew up knowing that I had responsibilities and that everything I wanted to have or do, I needed to earn. Our work can be challenging, sometimes ideas come easy, sometimes the teams click — but sometimes they don’t. And the only thing that is consistent is change. You have to be willing to roll with the punches, to stay nimble and pivot as needed. During the pandemic, when all of our event and experiential work came to a halt, we lost a big part of our team and had to do more with less. We not only had a much smaller team, but we had to figure out how to shift our work and connect with clients and audiences in new ways.
- Queer Expansive Creativity — I believe that binaries are the enemy of creativity. I believe that dominant culture is the enemy of expansive possibility and progress. Both teach us that there is a right or a wrong, that there is division between what is and what is possible. But in reality, there is infinite possibility when we choose to ignore what has been in order to imagine what might be. When we choose to define ourselves and our identity beyond the lens of dominant culture, it requires us to examine our identity with greater depth, it asks us to look more broadly for lessons on what can be.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. Can you share a personal story that highlights the impact of diversity and inclusivity in your life or career?
Emily: In 2017, a client we had at the time shared with us that adidas should be doing a Pride Campaign and thought we should push to launch one. Since the brand had not allocated money for the project, she worked internally to shave off dollars from several scopes until we had a manageable budget for the campaign. Because it was an ‘economy’ budget, we dug deep into our personal networks to find queer creators in the Portland LGBTQ+ community, and we told their stories. It was a very beautiful and authentic moment for the brand, it felt real. I still tear up when I watch the reel from that campaign. As a result, we started to get seen as an agency who understood complex DEI challenges in marketing and advertising, an agency driven by purpose. The work that we are now sought out for are projects that are more culturally meaningful, because clients and brands know we could understand how to tell the stories in an authentic way. Without our client’s bravery, resourcefulness, and determination, we would never have gotten the opportunity to tell so many beautiful and meaningful stories over the years.
Ben: When I started my career at Happylucky, I was in the closet. I was lost in a spiral after an unsuccessful marriage and found myself again in an unhappy relationship, just kind of going through the motions of life. Then I met our founder and my mentor Toni Smith. Toni was outspoken about Happylucky being a place for the “queers, punks, and underdogs;” it was a place of radical inclusion where people were celebrated for being “loveable weirdos.” It was this supportive community that gave me the space and the safety to further explore my identity, to understand the power of being myself. It changed my life — and really shaped my philosophy as a leader and the kind of culture we now strive to create both within our agency and within all of the work that we do.
How do you approach and manage the challenges that arise when working towards creating more inclusive communities?
Emily: I lead with an open heart, knowing there is so much I can never understand as I haven’t lived every experience. During our most recent growth period, we invested heavily in creating a more inclusive community here at Happylucky — with that investment came a lot of challenges I didn’t expect. There were misunderstandings, moments of tension and mistakes from every person who worked here. We tried to manage through these growing pains with empathy and understanding, leaning into our agency values for direction (FRILPCH — Focus Respect Integrity Loyalty Persistence Creativity & Heart). We encouraged and facilitated people to find common ground and to collaboratively build up from that common ground. We made a lot of mistakes ourselves — and we acknowledged them.
Ben: Fear Less. Love More. I feel that so much of the miscommunication that arises when we build more inclusive communities can be caused by fear: fear of the unknown, fear of the other, fear of getting something wrong. If we can lean into love, start there and understand that 1) everyone is coming to the situation with shared intentions and values, 2) that we deeply value the contributions of all points of view, and 3) that we are creating space to call each other in versus pushing each other out. A willingness to try new things allows us to learn from one another while embracing the radical candor to help each other grow when we fail; it gives us the freedom to show up authentically no matter where we are on our individual paths.
What innovative strategies or initiatives have you implemented or observed that effectively promote the importance of diversity and inclusivity?
Emily & Ben: There are many, and we don’t pretend to even know the best ones, but can share a story that illustrates one way we approach them. Last June, there were two actions by our primary client: The first, a very deeply hurtful one to the Black community that we had been both building within our agency and had done a lot of client work with to build and support said community. The second, a fearful pause in their activation efforts around Pride in response to some hateful comments and the backlash some brands were feeling from the religious right as a result of their Pride Campaigns. In response, we gathered as an entire agency to discuss, to vent, to cry, to feel pain, to direct anger, and then co-drafted a response to our client encouraging them to stand in steadfast support of these diverse communities. Ultimately, it was a moment to fear less! It could have lost us a very important client but it showed our team the importance of learning from each other’s perspectives and that we would always create space for their fears and their frustrations, but mostly, that we would live up to our values — even if it cost us.
In your opinion, what are the key elements that make a community truly inclusive, and how can these be fostered on a larger scale?
Emily: It’s all too common that a group claiming to be inclusive actually excludes people who don’t think like them. If a community is truly inclusive, there will be ways of thinking that not everyone will agree with, and that is OK. It is important to hear both sides of the story and to know how people think outside of your bubble. To be truly inclusive, groups must welcome tension and diversity of thought. It will not always feel good.
Ben: Truly inclusive communities support and celebrate the lived experiences, cultures, talents, voices, and livelihoods of all of their members — even in the face of challenges, fear, and hardship. This means financial commitments, this means putting oneself in harm’s way, this means standing up for what’s right, and it means approaching one another with openness and willingness to try new things and learn from one another. You scale those through shared values and commitments to one another. But you also scale them by understanding you can’t be everything to everyone and no one is asking you to show up in every moment. Understand the areas you have the most authentic alignment to effect and focus there.
Based on your experience and research, can you please share “5 Ways We Can Build Inclusive Communities”?
Emily & Ben:
1 . Celebrate Unique Perspectives
2 . Value Lived Experience
3 . Approach Challenges with Creative Expansiveness
4 . Always Be Listening
5 . Reflect inclusion in every detail/partner — from the talent to the support staff to the snacks in the office.
How do you measure the impact and success of diversity and inclusion efforts, and what changes have you seen as a result of these initiatives?
Emily: A moment in time can seem very impactful, but true impact and success can only be seen over an expanse of time. This cannot be measured, this is not a KPI — DEI is a continual investment that must be made with no immediate metric of success. If we take steps backwards, that is an indicator we need to work harder; otherwise, we must always be working on inclusion efforts with constant, open hearts ready to learn.
Ben: We see the impact and success of our efforts when they are fed back to us. When we receive a client brief asking for an approach rooted in “radical inclusion.” When we interview prospective employees that are coming to us for our inclusive and heart-led culture. When consumers respond to our brand experiences with terms like “heart-led.” This is when I know our approach is working and our message is resonating.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
Emily: I believe in starting movements in your corner of the world — focus on the area you can directly affect versus trying to change the whole world — that’s too overwhelming! My movement would be to encourage people to be together more in community. We are becoming more isolated and lonely and we need to create opportunities to regularly gather, share each other’s burdens, explore and grow together. I dream of a world that has more intentional diverse and multi-generational communities. A world where our phones are not our best friends. A world where we experience collective effervescence in community.
Ben: Queer Expansiveness — So that more people in more sectors can witness the value of cultures that have existed on the fringes of society and their ability to create inclusive, expansive solutions vital to our progress.
How can our readers further follow you online?
Emily: @emilyjoystutzman (insta) or www.linkedin.com/in/emilyjoystutzman
Ben: linkedin.com/in/ben-hennes-53977b1b
Thank you for the time you spent sharing these fantastic insights. We wish you continued success in your great work!
About The Interviewer: Vanessa Ogle is an entrepreneur, inventor, writer, and singer/songwriter. She is best known as the founder of Enseo which she and her team grew into one of the largest out-of-home media and connected networks in the world, serving more than 100,000,000 people annually. Vanessa’s talent in building world-class leadership teams focused on diversity, a culture of service, and innovation through inclusion resulted in amazing partnerships and customer relationships. She collaborated with the world’s leading technology and content companies such as Netflix, Amazon, HBO, and Dish Networks to bring innovative solutions to the hospitality industry. Enseo has also held an exclusive contract to provide movies to the entire U.S. armed forces for almost 15 years. Vanessa and her team’s relentless innovation resulted in120+ U.S. Patents. Her favorite product is the MadeSafe solution for hotel workers as well as students and children in their K-12 classrooms. Accolades include: #15 on FAST 100, 50 Fastest Growing Women-Owned 2018–2020, Entrepreneur 360 Best Companies 2018–2020, not to mention the Inc. 500 and then another six times on the Inc. 5000. Vanessa was personally honored with Inc. 100 Female Founder’s Award, Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and Enterprising Women of the Year. Vanessa now spends her time enjoying her children, sharing stories to inspire and give hope through articles and speaking engagements. entrepreneurs-to-be with her articles including her LinkedIN newsletter Unplugged. In her spare time, she writes music with her husband Paul as the band HigherHill, teaches surfing clinics, and trains dogs.
Please connect with Vanessa here on linkedin and subscribe to her newsletter Unplugged as well as follow her on Substack.
Celebrating Diversity: Emily Stutzman and Ben Hennes Of Happylucky On How To Build Inclusive… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.