Cat Samarista
Associate Creative Director / Copywriter / Social Strategist
Los Angeles, CA
Q What do you do?
“I’m an associate creative director/copywriter! Basically, I think strategically, come up with words, and solve problems.”
My experience at some of the top, well-known brands and ad agencies has given me a really unique skill set. Although my title as copywriter has stayed consistent, each role I’ve had has been different. I started out agency-side, working on print and social media, then expanded to websites, emails, radio ads, and product shoots. After my stints at Apple, Hulu, and other shops, I’ve done global brand work, editorial and influencer social campaigns, AR, brand-level and social tone of voice, and lots more.
Currently, I’m very happily employed at an ad agency that is culture-forward, which I think is really important for brands to understand now more than ever. But in freelancing, I’m focused on building more verbal identities/brand tone of voice or guidelines because I love creating personalities! It’s so much fun to make a brand feel like a person, and not in a “fellow kids” kind of way.
Some of my 5-9 freelance projects have included brand identity work for a direct-to-consumer hotel goods company, upscale housewares, and a boutique gym concept. I’ve also done freelance social, doing anything from writing captions to already made-assets or cutting them myself.
So, if you need a manifesto, brand guidelines, TV script, social anything, website copy, email copy, captions, or a social campaign, you name it — I’m down!
Q What steps did you take to get to where you are now?
I have an advertising/public relations degree, but most of my learning came from real-world experience. I started interning in my sophomore year and racked up probably 5-6 internships before I even graduated. From there, I had an internship at SapientNitro (now Razorfish) in Miami, a freelance-turned-full-time copywriter role at POSSIBLE (now WundermanThompson), then explored being brand-side (Apple, Hulu).
As you can see, I’ve been to a couple of places! (And advertising has a way of gobbling up shops!) To round it out, I’ve also been at: Laundry Service, 160over90, The Wonderful Company, and Cashmere Agency (present-day). I’m so thankful for my experiences, because I’ve been able to get a more holistic view of projects and how I can make more of an impact.
Q How do you stand out in your field?
In my field specifically, being a female Filipino-American copywriter, my perspective is innately centered in diversity, equity, and inclusion. With that, I not only think of a brand’s point-of-view, but what the average person who doesn’t care about said brand would think. Along with my experience across multiple industries — tech, entertainment, food and bev, even auto — my skills can flex to any client.
I think, too often, people think about sounding “millennial” or “Gen Z”, which is fine in some cases, but it all depends on the client. Because I care more about being authentic to an audience, I extract myself out of the equation and think about how to tailor messages to them.
Q What are you working on right now?
Currently, I’m working on 2 clients under my agency’s vast portfolio on stuff I’m really excited about (and probably can’t divulge too much from, but keep an eye out for a portfolio update!). Personally, I’m building out my freelance clients (which is why you’re reading this now :) ), constantly refining my apartment style decor, hitting thrift stores, devouring books, taking dance classes, and touching grass.
Q What’s your style?
My personal style is clever and concise. I think that’s why I (and so many other people) like Apple —it’s to-the-point, no fluff, and super smart. So my Sound Off/Sound On project for the @apple Instagram is a great creative example of this: musicians giving their thoughts on how colors relate to their music.
My perspective on good copy is based on one thing: does it actually talk to the audience it’s trying to communicate with, or is it for everyone else? In advertising, I think we’re all collectively worried about what the suits think of work and if that’s trackable, when really we should just be concerned with the actual audience. It sounds simple, but you’d be surprised at how many decisions are made by people who don’t have the target in mind!
Q Out of all your slashies, which one do you wish you could do more often?
One of my favorite quotes is by Stephen King: “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have time to write.” Which blew my mind at first, but it makes sense: how are you supposed to be effective if you’re not absorbing and critiquing your craft? That’s like being a musician and not listening to music.
I’d love to do more content creation, for myself or for brands (and I’m semi-decorating my apartment with that idea in mind). And doing more immersive/activation would just be the cherry on top.
Q What is frustrating you right now?
Honestly, not having a car. My car is in the shop right now so I am the definition of Weekend Warrior, renting one for hours at a time for a glimpse of sweet, sweet freedom. Hopefully by the time this is up I will have some wheels!
Q If you could hire someone for $20/hour, what would you have them do to make your day easier?
Either clean my apartment and put away my clothes (I have an eternal amount of clothes that need to be put away) OR curate a list of things that would fit me or my tastes (e.g. housewares, clothes, kitchen equipment, etc.). I love shopping as much as the next person, but I would really love to revamp my wardrobe a bit quicker.
Q What do you wish you could have told yourself, when, and why?
I would tell fresh out of college me, at 23, that there is always time, and I’m doing the right thing. (I also tell myself this now.) Starting out, I felt so behind, like I didn’t know anything, like my degree was worthless, that I wouldn’t make it. Fast forward to now, I wish I would’ve known that as long as I truly do work hard and be nice to people, and soak everything up, that things will work out as they should. And a rejection from a job is a redirection/they might even end up hitting me up for a role one day!
Q If you could talk to an expert to gain more insight on something, what would it be about?
Dani Dazey is absolutely who I’d want to talk to — she started her own slow fashion clothing brand, then expanded into interior design and owns two homes, one of which she rents out in Palm Springs (helloooooooo!), and she just designed the Trixie Motel. It’s been so cool to watch her grow and become this colorful, vivacious mogul, and it would be even cooler to talk to her about how she did it.
Q What kind of opportunities/projects are you looking for?
Please hit me up if you need anything around brand guidelines/tone of voice — that means brand mission, statement, manifesto, how your brand shows up in different mediums, particularly social, etc. I’m also avail for one-off projects like cranking out headlines and emails, and more campaign-focused social.
Q Describe your ideal job/client/collaboration.
My ideal workflow would be 10-15 hours a week (including the weekends, which is when most of my extra work gets done); I’d get kicked off/briefed on a project, work on it in a way that my 9-5 allows aka after work hours, then meet/present if necessary. Basically a more asynchronous way of working, not needing to do a ton of real-time collaboration would work best with my schedule.
Q What is your rate?
For my freelance projects, it truly depends on what the project is: am I creating a brand from scratch or coming up with 30 social captions? For more quick turnaround projects, my hourly rate is $95-105/hour. For more comprehensive brand guidelines and/or copywriting, I’d have to assess it an a case by case basis. Please feel free to email me at catsamarista@gmail.com for more info!
Q How should someone approach you about working together?
Just shoot me an email at catsamarista@gmail.com. :) Gimme some quick details and timeline, and then we should figure out a time to chat from there.
Q Who is a creative you admire?
My first art director / friend for life Claire Zimmerman ! She is so incredible at her job and as a person, she has such an inimitable spirit and fire for her work, and she deserves everything good coming her way always and forever. She’s worked at some of the biggest and indie/coolest shops and across Nike and more, if she’s free for a collab I would 1000% recommend her.
Q Oh! and… how do you stay creative?
Take a walk and breathe outside.
This member profile was originally published in August 2022.