Soapbox Spotlight - Emmanuelle Leboeuf

Meet Emmanuelle Leb?uf , Creative Director and inspiring member of Soapbox Women & Soapbox Women of Color! ?? Emmanuelle recently led an incredible Pride spot for Paramount+, turning months of planning into a celebrated, positive shoot. She's passionate about amplifying voices and supporting women and gender non-conforming people in the industry. Her secret to balancing personal and professional life? Her adorable?dog!????

What is the best piece of advice you've received and from whom??The best piece of advice I ever received was from the head of development at Comedy Central as a 20-year-old intern. He told us “The biggest mistake I see people in your position make is you only try to learn from or speak to people in my position. I can’t help you, not because I don’t want to, but because it’s been a while since I was in your shoes. The industry has changed. It’s the people around you who are also trying to figure it out right now who have the advice and skills to help you.” For the record, this executive ended up helping a ton of folks I know so he was selling himself short, but I think his advice still rings true. You shouldn’t overlook the coordinators, assistants, interns, junior managers as they are the people who are climbing that ladder too, and who can pay it forward just as much as someone in a C-suite.?

What's a recent win of yours that you are proud of? (Don't be shy!)?Our recent Pride spot for Paramount + felt like a really big win. It was one of those shoots that we had been planning for months but weren’t hearing back about. I kept pushing because I know how important these types of pro-social spots can be. In the end, we had one of the most positive and fun shoots I’ve ever participated in. So much so, that talent actually texted their reps to send us thank you notes because it was such a great experience. The spot came out great, on a tight budget and deadline, and I’m so proud to have been the CD on it.

How do you balance your personal and professional life? Is there something you've incorporated into your routine that helps keep you grounded??My dog helps me balance work and personal life! Especially with WFH I can see how easily you could get sucked into spending every single second of the day at your laptop. But with someone dependent on you to get outside and take a break from the computer, it’s really helped me a ton. My regular meetings and my dog’s schedule are my daily anchor.

How do you approach networking, and how has it contributed to your success? Can you share tips for effective networking and relationship building??I like to approach networking like it's not networking at all. We're all in this business because we like making fun/interesting creative. So naturally at these types of events, you're going to be around people who have many things in common. That relationship-building eventually impacts the work. It makes a world of difference when you're dealing with a stressful project and can do it with someone who you honestly view as a person! Especially in the WFH model when people are tiny little zoom screens. So yes networking stopped being about career advancement for me a long time ago, and became genuinely about wanting to work with people who I could call friends.

What are some ways we can support women and gender non-conforming people in our industry??Be that person in the room to say someone's name out loud and put them forward. It seems so simple but it doesn't happen nearly enough. Be the friend and ally you'd want helping you.