Tend the Garden You Can Reach with Rick Milenthal, CEO, The Shipyard

What We Cover

The Shipyard & Engineering Brand Love Rick introduces The Shipyard — a leading independent agency working across advertising, PR, and digital — and unpacks their guiding theme: engineering brand love. He makes the case that technology should serve feeling, not replace it, and that the most enduring brands are "designed with feelings and fueled by feelings."

The Mental Health Mission — Mission SOAR After his business partner lost a 17-year-old son to suicide, Rick and his team committed the agency's creative resources to mental health advocacy. That mission led to a landmark partnership with Ohio State University on Mission SOAR (State of Ohio Adversity and Resilience) — a longitudinal study following thousands of families, modeled on the famous Framingham Heart Study. Rick explains why this kind of long-term research is the key to unlocking insurance coverage and better outcomes for mental health treatment. Building a Safe Culture Inside the Agency Rick describes how The Shipyard created a workplace where employees can openly discuss mental health challenges — and why this has become the company's single highest non-financial retention driver. He's candid about the particular mental health pressures of creative work, where "it's personal by definition."

The Leadership Transformation Once "damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead" in his 30s and 40s, Rick reflects on what changed him — starting at home, not in the boardroom. He shares a counterintuitive truth: leaning into vulnerability and human-centered leadership didn't slow his business down. It accelerated growth, improved client relationships, and deepened everything at home too.

AI, Advertising & the Future of Creativity Rick pushes back on doom narratives about AI's impact on advertising. The industry itself is growing — AI platforms will be ad-supported just like Google and social media. His take: you won't be replaced by AI; you'll be replaced by someone who knows how to use it. And he's optimistic that the current wave of technological expansion will ultimately fuel a new era of creativity, not suppress it. Truth-Telling as Leadership Practice Rick's parting wisdom is simple and direct: tell the truth. Not as a platitude, but as a daily discipline — in business, in relationships, with yourself. Rumor and spin, he argues, are always more damaging than an honest conversation.