Digitas' Carren O’Keefe on Learning to Fail and Reconnecting

“For me, the most inspiring thing is life itself,” says Carren O'Keefe, chief creative officer of Digitas UK. “The biggest inspirations are small moments that completely reframe how you see things.”

From pushing through failure under a barbell to finding stillness through yoga, and questioning what it means to be human in an AI world, she tells us that these are the moments that have shaped how she thinks, leads and creates.

Learning to fail spectacularly

"One of my most defining moments didn’t happen in a meeting room. It happened under a barbell while attempting a 275-pound squat. I failed, and not gracefully. I didn’t even have a fighting chance. I instantly hit the floor. It was one of those annoying, just enlightening moments. After pulling the bar off me, my coach congratulated me on my record-breaking failure. He said ‘wouldn’t you rather fail at something spectacular than succeed at something safe?'.

"That idea has stuck. It reshaped how I approach creative work, particularly in high stakes environments. Playing it safe might get something over the line, but it rarely produces anything remarkable. Instead, I lean into the uncomfortable edge of an idea, where it might not work.

"That moment changed how I think about risk. You realise the worst thing isn’t failing, it’s never really pushing yourself in the first place. ‘Fail at something spectacular over succeed at something safe’ became my creative mantra.

Realising how big the world is

"Before my career fully took off, I moved from a small hometown in the US to São Paulo to intern at Ogilvy. The scale of the city hit immediately. I remember standing on the 18th floor looking out over the city and I couldn’t see the end of it. It unlocked this sense of awe in me and completely shifted my sense of what was possible. That experience sparked something deeper than ambition. It created a lasting curiosity about the world and a desire to keep seeking out new perspectives.

"Since then, travel has become a consistent source of creative energy. Not in a surface level way, but as a way of challenging assumptions and broadening how she sees people, culture and ideas. It makes you realise how small your own context is. And how many different ways there are to live and think.

"That openness feeds directly into my work, helps me bring a wider lens to briefs, brands, and audiences.

Reconnecting with being human

"Another shift happened recently, this time in response to the world we’re all working in now. After a trip to Bali, I returned to my yoga teacher training with a renewed sense of purpose, exploring ideas around play, presence and human connection. It’s separate to the day job, it’s a reaction to it.

"I’ve always believed in the power of opposites. I’m really passionate about the potential of AI, but I believe what makes us innately human is becoming increasingly important. I want to stay connected to that and help others do the same. And it makes you think more about what the role of humans actually is in this increasingly machine-driven world.

"That question has become an important creative anchor. Rather than competing with technology, I am more interested in what people uniquely bring; instinct, empathy, judgement, and the ability to connect in ways machines can’t. There’s something important about staying close to that. Otherwise you lose the thing that makes the work feel real. That perspective now shapes how I think about teams, ideas, and the kind of work I want to put into the world."