Sarah Sherman

SARAH SHERMAN

About

I’m a multidisciplinary creative and strategy leader with 15+ years working across the full storytelling spectrum — from foundational brand positioning through creative campaigns and content. I come from film, editorial, advertising, and New York City.

Right now, I lead strategy at SpecialGuest, a global creative agency. My work spans Ray-Ban Meta’s AI glasses launch, ChatGPT’s first consumer campaign, Bumble’s first integrated global campaign, and breakthrough creative platforms for Lyft and Zocdoc (among many other projects).

Before SpecialGuest, I helped build The Atlantic’s brand studio into an award-winning creative group recognized by Fast Company, AdAge, and Vimeo. I’ve also worked on long-form documentary projects in many different capacities, including on Emmy-nominated and Peabody-winning films.

A few quick hits: I’ve remotely directed Jeffrey Wright recording VO from his home studio in Hawaii, pitched to Sam Altman across a giant conference table, and creative-directed 100-person shoots. And my agency was recently nominated for our first Grammy.

Select Work

Bumble, Finally
HPE, Longform
Ray-Ban Meta, Live All In
Lyft, Check Lyft
Zocdoc, Ready to be Seen
Foundation, Brand & Content
Vurvey Labs, Rebrand
Cove, Brand & Content
Lizzo x Meta
Dogchurch
Bumble, Voices

Clients

Zocdoc, Ray-Ban, Meta, Google, OpenAI, Lyft, Google, Oatly, Bumble, Jaguar, Porsche, Playboy, The New York Times, TikTok, IBM, Foundation, Instagram, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, CNN, Dyson, Kohler, Boeing, AT&T, VMware, Cove, Marriott, Cathay Pacific Airlines, Vurvey, Sunbit

Some Awards

Cannes Lion Silver Lion (2025), NY Addy's Silver 2025 (x3), NY Addy's Social Silver 2025, Cannes Social Shortlisted 2025 (x2), Indie Agency Top 40 Independent Agency 2024 (SpecialGuest), Webby Nominee 2025, Shorty Finalist 2024,Small Agency of the Year (SpecialGuest), AdAge Silver Addy (Shortlisted), Shorty Awards, Vimeo Staff Pick (Moral Code), Folio Class of Top Women in Media in the Up & Comers, 100 Significant Women in Native Advertising, OMMA finalist, Emmy nomination: Investigative Journalism, Webby nomination: Best Branded, OMMA Finalist, Folio Awards

Films & Shows

Fault Lines (Big Sky Film Festival Official Selection, Apple TV, Amazon Prime), American Pathogen (narrated by Jeffrey Wright), Chicagoland (CNN), Freeway (Al Jazeera America), Letters From Baghdad (Amazon Prime), (Dis)honesty (Amazon Prime, PBS), Gainesville (CMT)

Coaching

“Coaching” is a silly word, but I sometimes do work that a lot of people would describe as coaching.

What I offer: (1) Counseling through work challenges and transitional moments, e.g., managing tough relationships with colleagues, navigating negotiations, advocating for role growth or change. (2) Developing and refining the story you tell about your work experience and aspirations.

Who I support: I am field-agnostic, but I have a particular edge with people coming from media, creative industries, advertising, etc. I have the most experience with early and mid-career women.

Substack

BUMBLE, FINALLY

After an IPO and a year of pandemic isolation, Bumble wanted to position itself as the app to unlock users’ summer of love. To do that, we focused on the little things single people missed the most—holding hands, making out, dancing close—and built a visceral brand campaign around an original remix of CeCe Peniston's iconic track “Finally.” The work stretched across OOH, CTV, social, and events, and was localized in five languages.

I led creative strategy for the winning Bumble AOR pitch and developed the “Finally” campaign concept. I then CD-ed the campaign through delivery.

Agency: SpecialGuest

Use <arrows> to view more work.

HPE, LONGFORM

HPE asked The Atlantic’s brand studio to help them tell the story of their most transformative innovations. My team created a 7-minute documentary about exascale computing. The film, “Eighteen Zeros,” was so well-received that HPE asked us to make another one, this time focused on the key ethical questions surrounding the development of AI (this was back in 2019). “Moral Code,” featuring Tim Urban of Wait But Why, generated over 1M organic views on YouTube and was selected as a Vimeo Staff Pick.

I CD-ed both films, leading research, story development, and casting, and worked closely with the directors on the shoots and in the edit.

Agency: Atlantic Re:think

RAY-BAN META, LIVE ALL IN

In 2023, SpecialGuest partnered with Meta and Ray-Ban to launch the world’s first AI glasses category, turning a new kind of product into a lifestyle object people actually wanted to wear.

I developed the strategic foundation for “Live All In,” a vibrant creative platform spanning OOH, OLV, and celebrity partnerships, with translations in multiple languages across global markets.

Creator content was also a huge layer of the campaign. We worked with 59 creators across sports, fashion, tech, and art, who posted nearly 100 pieces of content that earned 157M+ views. The result: over 7M+ units sold. The full case study for that can be found here.

Agency: SpecialGuest

LYFT, CHECK LYFT

Lyft was losing market share among young adults, a cohort known for comparison-shopping between apps. Rather than fight this behavior (or out-discount the competition), we leaned into it with a confident, copy-driven campaign that let Lyft’s value prop speak for itself. The resulting Check Lyft campaign became — and still is — the brand’s broader creative platform. And Fast Company had some nice things to say: Lyft’s clever new campaign is a billboard-sized push notification

The campaign also featured creator-led creative from Taryn Delanie Smith and Kareem Rahma from Subway Takes.

I oversaw the strategy and creative teams from insight through execution.

Agency: SpecialGuest

ZOCDOC, READY TO BE SEEN

To state the depressingly obvious: Americans struggle to get good healthcare. On average, people wait 31 days to be seen by a primary care physician, but when they find a doctor they connect with, patients return again and again. Fixing the problem is as much about getting seen as it is about feeling seen.

Building from that insight, my team developed Ready to Be Seen, a brand platform and creative campaign that spanned video, OOH, audio, and paid social. The new plain language search UI became our central character, acting as a functional representation of patients’ inner monologues and demonstrating how Zocdoc sees patients as their whole selves.

Agency: SpecialGuest

FOUNDATION, BRAND & CONTENT

Foundation, an a16z-backed start-up, defined the crypto-creator economy as the premier NFT marketplace, attracting artists, collectors, and blockchain enthusiasts alike. They were behind several major sales, including Nyan Cat, and Kevin Roose’s New York Times column.

I worked closely with the founder to develop the foundational brand narrative, key messaging, editorial content, investor materials, and more. This meant going deep on blockchain, crypto, Ethereum, smart wallets, and other hyper-technical concepts, translating them for different audiences and broader resonance in culture.

VURVEY LABS, REBRAND

Vurvey started as a video survey tool that analyzed behavioral patterns for customer research. As the technology evolved to model consumer personas, simulate feedback, and power agentic workflows, the brand needed to evolve with it.

My team positioned Vurvey’s AI in a category of its own. Not an LLM that sounds like us; an intelligence that starts with us. Our brand identity and web design set Vurvey apart from competitors by communicating not only the features of the platform, but also Vurvey’s vision for frontier intelligence.

Agency: SpecialGuest

COVE, BRAND & CONTENT

Cove was the world’s first biodegradable water bottle, made of PHA, a plastic alternative that can be found in almost all life on earth—plants, soil, and our own bodies.

I worked closely with the CEO and a small team on the foundational brand identity and all things creative marketing for Cove. While the brand evolved after my time, it stayed true to the core tenets of the voice, visuals, and brand narrative I developed. Cove launched on December 1st, 2022 in Erewhon markets in LA.

Bloomberg
Fast Company
LA Times

LIZZO X META

Beat Saber is a popular VR game where players slash through blocks that represent the beats of their favorite songs. We needed to get the attention of Lizzo’s fanbase for her music pack launch, so we made something that Lizzo herself would be proud to share: a TikTok-style dance with an inclusive group of joyful performers.

We worked with Tanu Muino (VMA-winning music video director for Lil Nas X, Harry Styles, Cardi B) and choreographer Sean Bankhead. Lizzo didn’t have to post about the work, but she did — with the fire emoji.

Agency: SpecialGuest

DOGCHURCH, BRAND

Before membership-based dog parks and community spaces went mainstream, I developed the concept and brand for Dogchurch. It was designed to cater to hybrid/remote workers, parents, and members of the East Bay creative class.

Because of shifts in the Bay Area real estate landscape, I put the project on hold, but I am excited to come back to an evolved concept when the timing and location are right.

BUMBLE, VOICES

People aren’t typically energized by product and feature demos, but we love juicy tidbits from a friend’s dating life. So, we used real people’s experiences to create 20+ truly enjoyable product marketing videos. To do that, we sifted through hundreds of submissions from real Bumble users and identified the ones that balanced entertainment and charisma with clear feature communication. Then, we came up with smart ways to drive the story with the UI itself.

Agency: SpecialGuest