Dino Myers-Lamptey is Founder of The Barber Shop. He has a media industry career spanning over 17 years, including stints at MullenLowe, the7stars, Rocket, M&B, and Mediacom. He sits on the IPA Council and the UK Effies Committee. He is a NED for the Brixton Finishing School and a founding member of MeFA (Media For All).
Who is your media hero?
Ally Owen, Founder of The Brixton Finishing School.
What has she done to win hero status in your eyes?
Leaving the industry, to create something with the purpose of improving the industry, is an incredibly brave move.
Making a success of it, and changing the lives of many and the minds of those who thought that being disadvantaged was a permanent disadvantage, is the act of a hero.
How has her heroism helped drive media?
Media has always been an industry where talent, resilience and personality allowed anyone from anywhere to succeed. However the evidence has shown that despite many leaders coming from non-traditional backgrounds, more of those same kinds of people were failing to get in, as the focus became more about graduates with degrees from certain places.
With media moving so fast, and becoming more global, Ali’s beliefs and vision have proven to be ahead of their time, and those who have jumped on board as sponsors and supporters will be realising the benefits of talent who just needed the opportunity.
What the biggest challenges in media we need another hero to solve?
Increasing the attention on advertising across the web, by creating formats people are happy to spend time with and a value exchange that rewards this time appropriately.
What is your most heroic personal achievement so far in media?
Launching my own company, The Barber Shop.
Every heroic achievement before that went into the creation of the proposition, although we haven’t yet started wearing any capes.
