Founder & CD at White Bear 🐻‍❄️ | Top 22 Female Founder 2022 ⚡️| Small Agency of the year 2022 🥇| CP Top 5 Agencies in UK ✏️ | Speaker and Host 🎤 | 16x Award winner 2022 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆

Kelly Mackenzie is a two-time founder, creative director, and unapologetic brand obsessive. She leads White Bear, the award-winning creative agency with studios in London, Dublin, and South America, recognised as Agency of the Year 2022 and winner of multiple DBA, Transform, Pent, Mobius, IDI, Creativepool, and Red Dot awards for work with brands like Red Bull, Netflix, Bold Bean, Tom Parker Creamery, and The Kerry Group.

She’s also the founder of People Like Me – a growing community for women in marketing to make real, meaningful connections in person, cutting through the algorithm and digital noise to create friendships, share challenges, and help each other shine.

Named one of Startup Magazine’s Top 22 Women of 2022 and a Creativepool Leader of 2023, Kelly is passionate about design thinking, education, and championing women in leadership. She has lectured at IADT and NUA, served on the board of The Big Idea, and mentored start-ups with Bethnal Green Ventures, Enterprise Nation, and SeedLegals.

Her philosophy? Build unforgettable brands, disrupt industries, and make people feel something – and have the craic while doing it.

Learn more at 
http://www.whitebearstudio.com
http://www.peoplelikeme.io


Subscribe to our newsletter at: https://mailchi.mp/whitebearstudio/newsletter
Or contact me directly at kelly@whitebearstudio.com

Kelly Mackenzie 🐻‍❄️

Gellan Watt FRSA

Chair/CEO/NED/Advisor | Top 10 Agency Founder (Exit) | Award-Winning Strategy + Creative | High Growth | Troubleshooter | M&A

Ideas change the world.
Mine help people sell more. 
And build better businesses.

For years I’ve created award-winning work that works for brands worldwide: Apple, Amazon, ASDA, Barbour, Beckham, BMW, CAT, Jaja, John Lewis, Marshall, Mizuno, Pfizer, Pinterest, uSwitch, Superdrug, Westfield, Wyke Farms, and many more.

Not just ads, brands, and content.
But products. Services. Experiences.
Wherever - and however - a brand shows up.

My big idea for me was starting an agency in 2003.

It became:
Top 10 UK Creative Agency
Rated Elite by The Drum
UK Agency of the Year

And repeatedly named one of the UK’s Most Recommended and Most Effective agencies (RAR).

We were asked to become the UK shop for AMIN Worldwide. I merged  I took the role of MD and Chief Creative Officer. We grew fast — no investment — selling in 2016 at c. £60m revenue. 

Independent spirit. Push every brief. Challenge perception. Love the work.

Since then: brand-side leadership (Jaja, lastminute.com Group), advising, investing and building tech and consumer brands.
I’m proud Creative Chair of the Alliance of Independent Agencies.

In 2025, I co-founded Common Thread Group — acquiring five agencies and growing fast. AI-enabled. Talent-led. Value-focused.

I still NED, advise, and run transformations and turnarounds (I love them) in the UK and USA — performance, growth, positioning, narrative, models, leadership, pricing.

PLC boards. M&A. Multiple exits.
2× MBA. Chartered Designer. RSA Fellow. Eternal optimist. Rogue thinker. Awards judge. Keynote speaker. 

In recovery. My greatest achievement.

100+ creative, business and industry awards.

taplio

The Battle

Kelly Mackenzie 🐻‍❄️

Gellan Watt FRSA

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