Mia Pearson retires from agency life after 30-year career

• October 30, 2020
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It is often said that if you want to achieve great things, surround yourself with those with similar ambitions. Human nature is such that we are often influenced by the drive, creativity and values of those we seek out in friends, colleagues and teams. No truer approach could categorize the teams at North Strategic and Notch Video, a part of the Publicis Groupe Canada. From the most senior leads to our most junior talent, we strive to teach, mentor and grow everyday – while ensuring to have a little fun along the way. No one has set this example better than our CEO Mia Pearson. Today, we are happy to share on behalf of the entire team, from Paris to Toronto, Calgary to Montreal, that after 30 years in the agency world Mia Pearson will be retiring at the end of the year.

A serial entrepreneur with a reputation for being an innovator, disruptor, corporate strategist, Mia started her first PR firm at age 29. After its successful sale, she co-founded North Strategic in 2011 and Notch Video in 2012, and has helped redraw the map for the Canadian public relations and social media industry. In 2015, Mia was inducted into the Hall of Fame of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women and named RBC’s Female Entrepreneur of the Year.

Since becoming CEO of MSL Canada in 2016, Mia has transformed the agency with her legendary focus of building high performance teams and great agency cultures, winning several Agency of the Year honours. Along with her team, the commitment has helped to deliver award winning results for some of the industry’s most iconic brands.

With decades of collective experience working together, agency co-founder Justin Creally will take over the reigns as CEO, along with newly appointed Managing Directors Jessica Savage (North) and Sarah Stewart-Browne (North.) The team will continue to act as trusted advisors to C-level executives as they navigate brand and reputational risks along with brand building campaigns.   As CEO, Justin will also lead agency collaborations with Notch Video, working closely with Managing Director, Ian Buck and Vice President Yotam Dor.

While she won’t be running companies, retirement for Mia will be far from a stand-still. Whether carving on a snowboard, volunteering with the charities she cares so much about or continuing to mentor the many people she’s supported throughout her career, she’s opening the next chapter in life. And no doubt she will be travelling (when things open up) and of course, chronicling it all on IG @MiaPearson.

If you have had the pleasure of being a colleague or a client of Mia, you know that no one goes all-in quite as much as Mia does. Others marvel at the pace and commitment level she has maintained over her 30-year career. We wish Mia all the best in her retirement, no one deserves it more!