I'm a millennial advertising CEO and my Gen Z employees have taught me to lead with emotion first

• I've worked as the CEO of my own advertising company since 2020, and my Gen Z employees have taught me a lot.
• Spending extra time to teach my younger employees has paid off with a strong office culture and happy clients.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Elle De Freitas, a 31-year-old advertising executive based in Austin, Texas. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I started Wonderkind three years ago in February 2020. It was my first time working in advertising after spending most of my career in sales and consulting.

We started as a a team of about 30 twentysomething women working out of a house filming content for food and beverage brands. Then, our work began to spread on social media and by word of mouth, and we blew up. Today, we service over 200 consumer brands in design, photography, and social media.

When we first started, Wonderkind was made up of the exact target audience of a lot of brands — Gen Z and millennials. Normally at advertising agencies the people are a little bit older and it's a bit more stuffy. But, we were just young girls on these calls with brands, and they were happy to work with that energetic youthful mindset.

It was unique for brands, and still is, to be working with a really young team.

Creating a fun environment

Wonderkind is a really special and unique environment. As an all-women team that's pretty close to the same age, there's a lot of making friends and motivating each other.

When I was hiring my team, I was looking for people that understood the online platforms that we work on. I wanted employees who used those platforms everyday because I didn't want to teach someone how to use TikTok.

I was looking for people who were up-to-date on the services we provide, and that happened to be millennials and Gen Z. I wanted to create a place where people wanted to be at and where they can learn more than just the job.

Patience pays off

It's been challenging for me at times to teach someone who has never been in the working world how to act. I've had to give lessons on how to treat a client if a phone call isn't going well and the importance of following certain processes.

However, I can't say enough about how beneficial this business structure has been for us in the long-run.

At this age, women in Gen Z come to work dealing with self-esteem issues, and it's their first time being on their own since high school or college. While they're here, they end up gaining confidence because they're doing meaningful work with the CEO sitting right alongside them.

I spend a lot of time teaching my Gen Z employees one-on-one, but I would never change that because of the results. The clients are getting the best service because they're interacting with happy, ready-to-work, very curious people.

Gen Z is a learning crowd

Less job loyalty is definitely a thing with younger employees. I've had Gen Z employees leave much earlier than I wanted, but I try to combat that by checking in frequently with my employees.

For the Gen Zers who stand out as stars, I ask them what they want to be doing at this job, and I make that a priority. Oftentimes, they want to learn and grow on the job, so I try to make that happen.

If they say they want to learn more about making YouTube videos, I'll fund the project and give them the chance to learn, even if YouTube isn't a platform we use as a company. I want to make it fun and keep them motivated by supporting their dreams.

Understanding it's ok to be 'soft'

The millennials I manage are happy to get straight to the point with no fluff. Gen Z, on the other hand, requires me to be much more soft. I tend to lead with emotion rather than the cold hard facts.

I try to let my Gen Z employees know what they did a good job on and what they can improve on for the next time. I don't have to do that with millennials because they'd prefer we get to the bottom line.

I encourage bosses who are struggling to manage Gen Zers to try to show more empathy to each individual and be more solution-oriented. If the best way to get through to a Gen Z employee is being delicate and soft, I don't care what I have to say or do to get the best solution for the client, the team, and the employee.