Dynamic Duos: ‘I speak to Clint more than my husband’
This week in Dynamic Duos, we hear from CX Lavender's CEO and senior partner, Clint Bauer, and ECD and partner, Ryan Stubna.
In Dynamic Duos, Mumbrella each week asks two colleagues with a professional and personal affiliation to share with readers the importance of workplace relationships in an increasingly hybridised world of work.
Clint Bauer:
When Ryan and I met in 2009, I thought in binary, and he thought in pixels. Our first project together was redeveloping the OPSM website for Luxottica, which should have been your typical tech versus creative showdown. Instead, it became the foundation for something neither of us saw coming.
From day one, Ryan brought this incredible energy, enthusiasm and willingness to push boundaries. That readiness to think outside the box was what we had in common. His creative brilliance and my tech brain somehow forged this unique and genuinely unexpected connection. But what really set him apart was how quickly he grasped that creativity wasn’t just about beautiful imagery, TVCs and clever copy. He got that the architecture connecting systems, the code rendering webpages, and the data engineering driving customer experiences were all creative acts too. Together we achieved things people said were impossible, like developing a virtual try-on experience way back in 2009 when everyone else said, “You’re mad, that’ll never work!”
That early win set the tone for everything that followed: constantly pushing each other to deliver compelling, creatively brilliant and tech-enabled experiences. Not for the awards (although Ryan certainly enjoys the spotlight), but to create genuinely authentic customer experiences that set our clients apart.
Fast forward 16 years and we’ve evolved from two professionals with wildly different backgrounds into partners in crime who steer our agency with a shared vision. Sure, we still have challenging conversations, but they’re built on deep friendship, trust and mutual respect that somehow makes the impossible happen for our clients every single day.
Ryan’s passion for creative excellence comes from this perfect storm of emotional intelligence, pure love for his craft, and an almost supernatural understanding of what makes customers tick. We tackle challenges from completely different angles but always meet in the middle, where his thinking enhances my solution and vice versa. We’ve learnt to actively listen, aren’t afraid to agree or disagree, and have developed this almost telepathic shorthand in meetings that cuts straight to the heart of things. The fact that neither of us has a massive ego makes all the difference.
What makes Ryan stand out in the creative world is how he’s embraced emerging technology while staying unashamedly creative at his core. He recognised the potential of our machine learning experiments for personalised communications back in 2021, well before ML or Gen AI became everyone’s favourite buzzwords. Yet, he’s always championed our human-first philosophy, no matter how rapidly technology evolves.
Ryan is fearless when it comes to creativity yet brilliantly grounded in tech and data. His impact extends far beyond client work, particularly through his passion for Australian Indigenous causes, constantly amazing and inspiring us all. He’s not just a business partner; he’s a fearless creative leader who shapes the heart and soul of our agency.
Ryan Stubna:
Clint and I met 16 years ago, when tech and creative were in separate parts of the building, both physically and philosophically. No one thought tech was a passing phase, but there wasn’t yet a full realisation that just around the corner, everything in our world, especially customer communications, would be anchored in it.
Clint and I couldn’t be more different. He’s the pragmatic tech guy with a spreadsheet for everything. I’m the creative with a moodboard for feelings. He sees in systems. I see in stories. But from day one, what bonded us was the shared question: how might we?
That curiosity, and a mutual addiction to finding better, smarter, more human ways to do things, created the foundation. And the banter. A lot of banter.
There’s always been a kind of start-up spirit between us. Trying things. Testing things. Celebrating wins with unfiltered glee. Learning fast when things inevitably didn’t go to plan. We’re obsessed (in a healthy way) with relevance. Not for the sake of novelty, but because we know customers deserve communications from brands that actually understand them.
Over the years, we’ve worked more closely to the point where I speak to Clint more than my husband. Honestly. The relationship is built on trust, candour and deep respect. And end-of-week debriefs that sometimes turn into half-hour therapy sessions.
We’ve shared every kind of moment: the wins, the wobbles, the major life shifts. I’ve known his family for years and watched his kids grow up to become young adults with the same integrity, drive and heart as their father. And when I decided to get married by Elvis in Vegas, Clint was one of the first to know. He was (understandably) more worried that me plus Vegas could equal untold chaos.
What I admire most is Clint’s ambition when it comes to leadership and tech. He was knee-deep in AI before anyone in the industry could spell it. But despite his futuristic brain, he never loses sight of the human at the centre. He knows creative matters. He knows customers matter. And he has always backed me, and our teams, in delivering work that actually connects.
We’re polar opposites in personality, which somehow works. I can be a little (okay, a lot) emotional. Clint is unshakably stoic. He’s decisive, direct and almost disturbingly calm. And yet, our approaches complement each other. It’s the tension that makes it work.
What keeps us going after all these years? Loyalty. To our craft. To our customers. And to each other. Together we’ve built something that’s more than just a working relationship. It’s a creative-technical alliance. A safe space for bold ideas. And, let’s face it, some very spirited debates.
Clint on Ryan:
Most memorable moment with Ryan: Picking one standout moment wouldn’t do Ryan justice, but there’s a recent night that never fails to make me smile. At the St George Foundation charity ball, Ryan got completely caught up in bidding on an African safari. The bids were flying thick and fast, and just when it seemed he’d secured the prize, Ryan enthusiastically outbid himself just to be absolutely sure (a glass or two of champagne may have been involved). Classic Ryan, and all for a brilliant cause supporting local charities that help children.
Best word to describe him: Passionate. But it’s not just enthusiasm, it’s this deep, unwavering commitment to excellence that infuses everything he touches. Whether he’s crafting a campaign, championing Indigenous causes, or passionately debating creative approaches at 6pm on a Friday, Ryan brings an intensity that lifts everyone around him. His passion isn’t for show; it’s genuine, contagious, and absolutely relentless. It’s why clients trust him, teams follow him, and why after 16 years, I’m still inspired by his determination to make every piece of work count.
Most annoying habit or endearing behaviour he has: Always pushing the boundaries, even after we’ve finalised everything. That compulsion to push it one more step to make it truly great. It’s maddening and brilliant in equal measure.
Ryan on Clint:
Most memorable moment with Clint: Watching him take a local loyalty program and scale it globally. The ambition, the precision, the outcome. It was massive. The kind of achievement that quietly reshapes a business. And something only Clint could have pulled off with that level of focus, calm and absolute conviction.
Best word to describe him: Principled. Clint has a clear sense of what’s right and he sticks to it. He’s not looking for applause or to be the biggest voice in the room (though being South African, he often is). He just gets on and does things properly. He’s loyal to his team, to the work and to what he believes in. And he brings that same steadiness to every decision. It’s the kind of integrity you can build a business on.
Most annoying habit or endearing behaviour he has: Clint thinks at the speed of an LLM. Honestly, it’s like watching someone sprint through problems while the rest of us are still tying our shoelaces. Brilliant, yes. But every now and then, it would be nice to have a little buffering time.
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Lauren McNamara is the associate editor at Mumbrella, covering the agency beat. She joined in November 2022 as editorial assistant, after completing a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at UTS.
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