About Me

Hi, I’m Fernando. I’m a Creative Director focused on developing brands, building multidisciplinary creative teams, and translating business strategy into brand experiences that connect with people.

I currently lead creative at Avenue Living, where I built the organization’s first in-house creative department, an 11-person multidisciplinary team spanning design and multimedia, supporting a $9.8B real estate investment platform. I partner with executive and senior leadership on strategy across a growing portfolio of brands, campaigns, commercial and digital work.

Building and leading teams has become a big part of what I love about the job. I believe in transparency and collaboration, and that we manage projects but lead people. For me, that means being clear about where we’re going and why, trusting people in their areas of expertise, and giving them room to challenge ideas, including mine.

Before Avenue Living, I worked across agency, consulting and in-house roles with organizations including the University of Calgary, TELUS, Suncor Energy and Mayfair Diagnostics.

I also co-founded Pride in Business in 2011 and continue to help lead the organization today. What started as a local professional networking group has grown into a year-round organization producing four to five events annually, with our largest bringing together around 400 people. We also provide post-secondary students with credited work experience, giving them the opportunity to build real-world experience as part of the organization.

My approach is pretty simple: understand the business, understand the people you’re trying to reach, and create work that connects the two.

Email me at fernando@fernandovargas.ca