Brantley Aufill > Publicis, New York
Just the facts: Age - 31; Hometown - Dallas, Texas; Education - Bachelor of Drama from Ithaca College; Employ - associate producer at Publicis in 2003, upped to producer in '07.

Life Experience: One life lesson that Brantley Aufill learned upon graduating from theater school was that sometimes you end up hating the things you thought you'd love and loving the things you never thought you'd like. In other words, he never thought he'd wind up in advertising. "After school I fell into stage managing Off Broadway and enjoyed it because I was around theater in New York," he says. "I started doing it more and realized the stage manager does everything to run the show except direct it. I started getting frustrated that I couldn't really pipe up and help out creatively."

Previous Experience: He started temping in various media companies throughout New York, including Miramax, Sony Pictures Classics, Playboy and Y&R. During the post-9/11 recession, temp jobs dried up, but Aufill was offered a PA gig at D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles. When Publicis snapped up the agency in 2002, he stayed on and last year worked his way up to producer. "I'm back on track as far as where I thought I'd be headed when I graduated from college," he says.

Best Work: In the past year he's produced nine spots, the biggest of which was a wintry visual spot for Vicks called "Shields", shot by director Phil Brown in New Zealand. He also had to call his acting and improv skills into play for an online, reality show-style campaign called "The Next Maytag Repairman", in which he traveled across America interviewing actors hoping to become the appliance-maker's new mascot. "I'll travel anywhere," he says. "I wouldn't mind shooting a day in Fargo just to say I've been there."

Publicis, New York http://www.publicisny.com