Anique Mautner on Strategy, Storytelling, and Ikigai at MiresBall

Anique Mautner, marketing and strategy director at San Diego–based design agency MiresBall, discusses her unconventional upbringing in a doomsday religious group where she learned to read from the King James Bible. She credits this immersion with developing her ability to parse complex texts, which later became the foundation of her education and career. After earning a master's degree, she worked in communications, coaching speakers for TEDx, before transitioning to agency work at MiresBall five years ago. Her work involves brand strategy, copywriting, and facilitating workshops for clients including Lofta (sleep monitor manufacturer), San Diego Foundation, and Atria Wealth Solutions. Mautner applies the Japanese concept of ikigai—the intersection of what you love, what you're good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for—to guide her career decisions and client work. She believes technology should keep human experience central, citing Lofta as an example. She admires Grandma Stand, a grassroots initiative in Central Park where volunteer grandmothers offer advice, and would like to create ads for TED. Her advice to creatives: develop strategic thinking to understand the business, audience, and purpose behind the work.