Meet the Team

By Day One Agency

Today marks the start of the first-official Day One Agency x Hope & Glory exchange program! Over the next two weeks, one member from each of the agency teams, will shadow their peer in the other city, learning about each other’s role, working together, and experiencing unique agency cultures. The program will culminate in a side-project where the selected individuals will report back to each agency on a to-be-selected global communications topic.

We’re excited to introduce our inaugural participants, D1A Senior Digital Strategist, Aly Comingore, and from Hope & Glory, Account Director, Mia Douglas! Aly and Mia were selected following a self-nomination process and submission, which was then reviewed by each agency’s heads.

In true D1A form, we’re excited to introduce both Mia and Aly to our community! Get to know this dynamic team below…

Meet the Team: Mia Douglas

From across the pond, we’re excited to welcome Mia to both our NYC and LA offices over the next two weeks!

About Mia

Mia joined Hope&Glory just over a year ago, following a stint in-house at casual gaming company King and after five years working with consumer tech, retail and luxury hospitality clients at Brand2Life. She loves getting stuck in with both big name and challenger brands and has worked with the likes of John Lewis, Moonpig, Dell, iCracked and Ascot racecourse. Her experience ranges from developing and executing PR and influencer strategies to event coordination and content creation. She gets a kick out of jumping on reactive PR opportunities to get her clients in the headlines and loves tapping into consumer trends to tell a brand story.

In her role as Account Director, she currently manages press office and campaign activity for some of the agency’s biggest brands including Argos and American Airlines as well as working with JustGiving, Anki and Weber.

Mia is from Kent, just south of London. She currently lives in South East London with her husband Oli. She studied History and Spanish at Newcastle University. Mia is a foodie and a travel fanatic and is always planning her next trip (usually to somewhere with amazing food).

She is particularly excited to join Day One because she can’t wait to learn about the media landscape in the US, to explore what the next big trends are (for retail and beyond) and because the experience will provide a new and stimulating challenge.

Why did you apply for the exchange program?

This year I set myself the challenge of putting outside of my comfort zone and trying new things. The exchange programme seemed like the perfect way to embrace that and I’m so happy I applied. I also love to travel and am keen to learn how things are done on the other side of the pond.

What are you most excited to learn while at D1A?

The biggest food/ design/ cultural/ retail trends coming out of the US and the secret to D1A’s amazing award-winning client work.

What are you most excited to see or do in NYC and LA?

EVERYTHING! But a few things in particular…

• NYC — The Guggenheim, MoMa, Brooklyn museum, go to a basketball game, eat a Ruben, go shopping on Fifth Avenue and Chelsea market, have cocktails at the top of the Standard

• LA — Venice Beach, Santa Monica Pier, go celebrity spotting, eat LOADS of Mexican food, hike in the Hollywood hills

What do you hope to gain from this experience?

I hope to learn more about the US media landscape as well as how D1a engages with media and influencers. I’d love to gain an understanding of what has made D1’s campaigns so successful and the impact that they had. I also really want to identify the big cultural trends coming out of the US (as we tend to copy a lot of them back home after you guys). I want to discover the next cronut or charcoal moisturiser!

I also hope to make new friends and come back to H&G feeling inspired and with a lot of insights that will benefit the agency and our clients. On the flipside, I hope to provide useful insights and ideas to the D1A team!

Day One Firsts

First job: Working in a burger van — it took weeks to get the smell of onions out of my hair!

First car: Percy the pistachio-colour VW Polo. I inherited him from my Grandma and he was awesome

First album you ever bought: Spice Girls!

First childhood fear: Spiders

First celebrity crush: Justin Timberlake I think

First phone: A big old Nokia

Fun Facts

Currently reading: Michelle Obama’s autobiography

Favorite website(s) to get lost on: Pinterest — I love to get inspired for my next home renovation project

Favorite TV show: Queer Eye (I’m obsessed)

Guilty pleasure: Terrible, cheesy rom coms

Spirit animal: Meerkat

Meet the Team: Aly Comingore

Her pup, Potato, is the unofficial D1A West mascot…

Tell us a little about yourself! Where are you from, what’s your background, what do you like to do in your spare time?

I’m a lifelong California resident — I grew up in the San Fernando Valley, went to school in Santa Barbara, and now live and work in Los Angeles. Post college, I worked in journalism — first as an entertainment editor at an alt-weekly, then on the branded content side with Vice and Live Nation. Before joining Day One, I freelanced for brands and publications like Urban Outfitters, Nylon, Interview Magazine, Verizon, and the New York Times. I joined Day One as a digital strategist in 2017 and have since worked across both Chipotle and Disney accounts. Outside of D1A, I love cooking, flea marketing, hiking, art gallery hopping, tending to my ever-growing plant collection, and hanging with my four-legged sometimes-work companion, always-life companion, Potato.

Why did you apply for the exchange program?

A big chunk of my 2019 to-dos involved challenging myself professionally, and this seemed like the ultimate challenge — and a great opportunity to do creative work that wasn’t directly client-based. I also visited Europe for the first time last year and have been scheming on how to get back ever since.

What are you most excited to learn while at Hope & Glory?

So much! I’m excited to dive deeper into the influencer world across the pond. I’m excited to learn more about the fantastic work Hope & Glory is doing in the retail space. I’m excited to flex my design nerdom on all things IKEA.
What are you most excited to see or do in London?

I’m excited to check out the smaller, more niche shops. Beyond that? Museums! Restaurants! All the insane flower shops!!

What do you hope to gain from this experience?

I hope to gain a deeper understanding of global retail culture, for sure. Also a look at how other agencies operate, organize, and present work.

Day One Firsts

First job: Oh man — I spent the summer of my junior year of high school working at Six Flags Magic Mountain.

First word: “Hi!”

First album you ever bought: No Doubt’s Tragic Kingdom

First celebrity crush: Uncle Jesse from Full House. That hair…

Fun Facts

I grew up horseback riding on a competition rodeo drill team; one of my proudest (and most nerve-wracking) life experiences was interviewing Dolly Parton in Nashville. We hugged. I died. It was perfect.

Favorite website(s) to get lost on: Bon Appétit, Bandcamp, and Etsy’s vintage furniture listings.

Favorite TV show: The X-Files and Twin Peaks, forever and always.