Daily Inspiration: Meet Jamie (Jay) Neale

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jamie (Jay) Neale.

Hi Jamie (Jay), thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I like to do a lot of things. As a director, writer, movement coach, and creative. it’s sometimes tricky to understand your identity because you love creating and making as equally as you love business and building teams, but society often demands you to “pick one.” So what do you do? In my own mind, everything connects. An incredible book I read recently is called “Connect The Dots,’ which explains that everything in your life – skills, people, and mistakes – all connect down the road, and only when you look back can you see that the unique way you visualize. My first leap into the arts started with my mother encouraging me and my sister to create and play. We were given a lot of opportunities in local productions in our hometown, this is where I started to learn what it means to be in the arts. Over the years, I attended different arts organizations to craft my passion to where I am now. I give an enormous amount of credit to Rambert which is where my formative years started.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Of course, no one has ever said the arts was an easy ride. A reminder of the end goal is very important in moments of doubt. I have used many types of motivation and self-awareness tools to keep me on track. A thing of beauty is the universe, when you need that little bum to get you to the next space, it delivers.

I highly recommend everyone to seek out mentorship and communities that are like-minded to support when you need it. I have had a lot of success in my career by being in the right place right time. Many of life’s questions we often ponder are, when is the right time? Know one ever knows; it just happens.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
As a director, writer, movement coach & consultant, I am constantly exploring the best stories to tell that inspire me. My career has spanned many different environments and industries which allows me to have a unique voice in the space.

The project I am most proud of is working for Nike. Every campaign/project is rooted in a cultural/social story that millions/billions can connect to. If you can create work that ultimately changes the way people perceive their life, I believe that is a good result. One of the projects with Nike was the Colin Kaepernick campaign a few years back which hit media around the world with such a defining voice and tone, another that springs to mind was the US Open women’s tennis tournament working with 12 of the leading female tennis stars.

A final memory that I am most proud to be part of and didn’t expect was the Emmy nomination in 2019 for a TV Show that I was part of called “My Dinner With Herve”. It was nominated in the category for Outstanding Television Movie. A very surreal moment.

How do you define success?
Here and now, my answer would be: am I creating work that really speaks to who I am? Over the years, I have had many successes with big global campaigns and award nominations/wins, but it might not have been my truest voice. I am very grateful for all of them, however these days I am sitting more into my own, and my definition of success now is: can I produce and create work with an authentic voice that I can stand proud next to and which gives others a voice.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jamie-neale.com
• Instagram: @jamienealejn
• Twitter: jamieneale4