Agalia Tan

People are starving. To run in the dark across grassy fields holding sizzling sparklers up to the stars, dive into the deep cold blue sea, curl up on the couch with a good book, a big mug of tea, and a nest of blankets near a crackling fireplace. Return to the pure presence of childhood. Experiencing for the sake of experiencing. Unaccountable to s... See more

Not everything I’ve produced is so obviously wrong—a lot of it is wrong in subtler ways. Even writing I produced a year ago, I’m really not sure about. The rate of learning in my life is high, and there are axioms I took for granted quite recently which I now feel shifting. Looking back on writing I did about my abundant happiness, I can see that t... See more

It occurs to me, much later than it occurred to the archivists, that we have never possessed such a complete and damning record of our past interactions. I can tell you every college scholarship I never got. Every sale at The Gap for the past 18 years. Every flight I’ve ever taken, anywhere in the world. Most grocery lists, news alerts, heartbreaks... See more

Many hours are spent debating the following:

Positioning, Company vision, Company mission statement, Core belief, Brand truth, Brand archetype, Brand map, Brand strategy, Tone of voice, Manifesto to demonstrate the tone of voice, Brand attributes, User personas, Key insights....

Even when agreement is reached on any of the above, the problem with tr... See more

We are in a transitional phase of digital culture, and thus more in need than ever of friendly faces, personable human guides (not unlike a “stalker” in the Zone), to help us navigate this treacherous ground. Such guides go by many names—call them influencers, or content creators, or just “this one guy I follow.” Guided by their own cultivated sens... See more