What 250+ Creators at Cannes Lions Taught Me About Human Connection in the Age of AI
I Just Got Back from Cannes Lions and I'm In My Feels
I'm going to be honest with you. I didn't expect to come back from Cannes Lions feeling this much. But first . . .
“What is Cannes Lions?”
Cannes Lions is basically the Oscars of advertising and creativity — but make it the French Riviera.
It's where the world's biggest brands, creators, and marketers fly to Cannes, France every June to celebrate the best campaigns, content, and ideas of the year. Think panels by day, parties by night, and more collabs happening on yachts than in boardrooms.
If you're a creator, it's the room where brand deals are born, industry moves are made, and your next big opportunity is one conversation away.
I went to build. And build I did —a 250+ creator community, on the ground, in real time. Welcome parties. Autotune karaoke (yes, really). A WhatsApp group that buzzed like a hotline blinging at all hours. Real people. Real energy. Real connection.
And somewhere in the middle of all of it, something hit me.
In the Age of AI, Creators Are Craving Something Real
We are living in the era of AI everything. Every brand has a strategy. Every platform has a tool. Every conversation circles back to what's automated, what's generated, what's optimized.
And yet the 250+ creators I had on the ground in Cannes? They weren't running from it. But they were hungry for something it can't give them.
Human touch points.
The kind you can only get when you're in a room together. When you hug someone you've only ever seen on a screen. When you laugh until your face hurts at karaoke and you don't even care how you sound. When a WhatsApp notification makes you smile because it's a real person on the other end.
This community didn't just form because we planned it. It formed because people needed it. And that reminder? Powerful.
But Here's the Part That Really Got Me
I wasn't just there as a community builder.
I was there as a creator.
I had the privilege of attending the Clarins event. I got to meet my management team from G&B. And I was in rooms with people who inspire me, including meeting Keke Palmer, which was a full-circle, pinch-me, is this my life? kind of moment.
These weren't just networking moments. They were genuine connections. The kind that remind you why you started. The kind that show you how far you've come.
And standing in those rooms, I felt it: growth.
You Don't Have to Choose
Here's what I really want you to hear, especially if you're sitting somewhere right now, wondering if you have to pick between your 9-to-5 and your creative life.
You don't.
I am literal proof of that. For 10 years, I have been doing both. A full-time job and showing up as a creator. Corporate and community. Strategy and passion.
Cannes was my reminder that this duality isn't a compromise. It's a superpower.
The skills I've built in boardrooms make me a better creator. The creativity I've poured into content makes me a better professional. They feed each other. They always have.
The Takeaway
Build community in real life when you can. People are craving it more than they'll say out loud.
Show up as yourself fully, even when you're in professional spaces. Especially then.
And please, please stop waiting for permission to do both things at once.
The world doesn't need you to choose. It needs all of you.
Still riding the Cannes high and feeling every bit of it. If this resonated, share it with someone who needs the reminder today.
