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WORK TITLE: Pressure Makes Diamonds
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.valeriegravesbook.com/
CITY: New York
STATE: NY
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/valerie-graves-9593793/ * http://www.akashicbooks.com/catalog/pressure-makes-diamonds/ * http://www.tnj.com/career/people-move/valerie-graves-career-advertising * http://www.blackenterprise.com/career/valerie-graves-becoming-woman-pretended/
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Female.
EDUCATION:Studied at Wayne State University and New York University.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Advertising executive. Worked as a copywriter with BBDO, Kenyon & Eckhardt, and JWT; UniWorld, chief creative officer; Vigilante/Leo Burnett, chief creative officer, Motown Records, senior vice president of creative services; Valerie Graves Creative, founder and president, 1999—. Has has held a number of executive positions in advertising firms; Stanford University John S. Knight Fellow; has also worked for Bill Clinton’s first presidential campaign run. Member of board of directors for New Federal Theatre; member of Creative Review Committee for Partnership for Drug-Free Kids; member of Campaigns Review Committee for Ad Council.
AWARDS:Named among the “Best and Brightest” in the industry, Advertising Age; silver winner, Summit International Awards, 2015, for public service advertising; Public Service Advertising Merit Award, Accolade Global Film Competition, 2015.
WRITINGS
Contributor to Dallas Weekly, Thrive, and commpro.biz.
SIDELIGHTS
Valerie Graves is an advertising executive. She is the creator of numerous, award-winning advertising campaigns and was even named among the “Best and Brightest” in the industry by Advertising Age magazine. Graves has held a number of executive positions in advertising firms and also worked for the national ad team for Bill Clinton’s first presidential campaign run.
In an interview on the Network Journal Web site, Graves talked about her experience in the advertising industry and her thoughts on the diversity problem it faces. Graves admitted that “without a doubt, there’s still a great challenge when it comes to diversity for the advertising industry as a whole. The participation of minorities in professional jobs is somewhere around six percent. That’s not a very good number. Back in the days when I came into the field, it was abysmally lower.” Graves also shared: “I’ve worked, for years, at general market agencies where I wouldn’t work with another African American person at all. The first job I had, I was one of two females. We were writing car advertising on a Pontiac account and I was in a group with twenty-two men and one woman. And that was more the norm back then. Things have gotten better. But there’s a long way to go.”
Graves published the memoir Pressure Makes Diamonds: Becoming the Woman I Pretended to Be in 2016. In this personal account, Graves talks about her experience in the advertising industry and outlines many of her campaigns with Fortune 500 companies, including those with Pepsi, Burger King, and AT&T. She discusses her humble beginnings in the industry and her isolated position as a black woman in an industry dominated by white men. Graves details her pregnancy as a fifteen-year-old girl but also her progress in her career, going on to become a highly successful copywriter and advertising executive. She is open and forthcoming about her own shortcomings but balances this with the significant challenges she faced in her career and life in general.
Booklist contributor Valerie Hawkins said that “Graves’ well-told tale … of courage and success both personally … and professionally is moving and inspiring.” In a review in Library Journal, Rebecca Brody observed that the memoir is “written in a highly polished yet informal style.” A Kirkus Reviews contributor stated: “Optimistic and galvanizing, Graves’ message of hope and hard work is timely and applicable.” Writing on the Foreword Reviews Web site, Kaavonia Hinton pointed out that “vivid details and thoughtful reflective statements draw out Graves’s unique experiences.” Hinton suggested that “anyone who enjoys reading about those who travel difficult paths in life will find Pressure Makes Diamonds to be inspirational.”
BIOCRIT
BOOKS
Graves, Valerie, Pressure Makes Diamonds: Becoming the Woman I Pretended to Be, Akashic Books (New York, NY), 2016.
PERIODICALS
Booklist, November 1, 2016, Valerie Hawkins, review of Pressure Makes Diamonds: Becoming the Woman I Pretended to Be, p. 6.
Kirkus Reviews, September 15, 2016, review of Pressure Makes Diamonds.
Library Journal, October 15, 2016, Rebecca Brody, review of Pressure Makes Diamonds, p. 94.
ONLINE
Black Enterprise, http://www.blackenterprise.com/ (January 1, 2017), Carolyn M. Brown, author interview.
Foreword Reviews, https://www.forewordreviews.com/ (November 28, 2016), Kaavonia Hinton, review of Pressure Makes Diamonds.
Network Journal, http://www.tnj.com/ (March 23, 2015), Sergie Willoughby, author interview.
Valerie Graves Website, http://www.valeriegravesbook.com (July 13, 2017).*
Valerie Graves Talks Becoming The Woman I Pretended To Be
Author recounts being a teenage mother who escaped Detroit's projects to become one of the nation's top advertising executives
by Carolyn M. Brown Posted: January 1, 2017
A- A A+
Valerie Graves
Valerie Graves spent decades creating award-winning advertising campaigns from using hip-hop artist Ludacris to sell Pontiac cars to featuring Steve Harvey in Burger King advertisements. Graves has earned a reputation as a leading creative woman and advertising executive in the Mad Men world of advertising. In fact, she was named one of the Best and Brightest in the industry by Adverting Age magazine.
In her first book, Pressure Makes Diamonds: Becoming The Woman I Pretended To Be (Open Lens, 2016), Graves paints the picture of how she was a determined woman who faked it till she made it—and made it big. The inspirational memoir recounts her story as an African American teenage mother who fights her way out of the projects into working in advertising in Detroit during the 1970s.
Fake It Til You Make It
Graves was surprised to become a teenage mother, but still determined to make a better life for herself, she worked and went to college. She eventually ended up as a copy editor, a chief creative officer at an ad agency, and vice president at Motown, where she developed products for top brands like Clairol and Coors. Then in New York, she used her uniqueness to become one of the top ad writers on Madison Avenue and beyond.
In the book, she jests about her arrival on the New York advertising scene and how white colleagues assumed she was the daughter or niece of Black Enterprise founder and publisher Earl G. Graves Sr., a Brooklyn, New York native. She never allowed anyone to linger upon that impression, although she might have benefited from it. “No I would reply, I’m one of the Michigan Graves,” she writes.
Graves’s memoir shares her own perspectives of black culture—based on internalized racism and colorism. She also draws on her experiences and points of view related to black culture when she creates ads aimed at black consumers. She describes her one in a lifetime experience of being selected for the national ad team for Bill Clinton’s first presidential campaign run.
Total Market vs. Multicultural Agencies
Graves served as senior vice president and chief creative officer at UniWorld Group Inc. She provided overall direction of the agencies’ creative product for Fortune 500 corporations including General Motors, Ford Motor Co., Bank of America, AT&T, Gatorade, Pepsi, and many other blue-chip brands.
Founded in 1969, UWG is one of the longest standing black-owned agencies (No. 6 on the BE Advertising Agencies list with $21 million in revenues for 2015). Known as one of the “founding fathers of multicultural advertising and marketing,” Byron Lewis built UWG out of necessity and ended up changing an entire industry in the process.
As America becomes more multicultural, Graves notes how many corporations have begun taking a total market approach when trying to reach consumers, rather than looking to multicultural, black-owned ad agencies.
Valerie Graves' Career in Advertising
By: SERGIE WILLOUGHBY
Monday, March 23, 2015 People On The Move
Valerie GravesJust three months into the New Year, award-winning advertising veteran Valerie Graves is off to a great start. In February, she, along with her fellow board members at the Advertising Club of New York, rang the opening NASDAQ bell!
More good news from the former 14-year lead creative executive at UniWorld Group (founded by Byron Lewis) is that a PSA she wrote called ‘Statistic’ was recently picked up and produced by the NAACP in Massachusetts and a former colleague of hers from Vigilante, where she served as chief creative officer.
“The PSA spreads the news about how many of our young Black men are going to college, are not teen fathers, have jobs, don’t drop out of high school and so on and so forth,” she says.
Graves, whose work with Fortune 500 corporations earned her ADCOLOR’s first legend award, has even written a memoir due out later this year. And her career highlights are expansive: at MotownRecords, she was the senior vice president of corporate creative services; at Nelson Communications, Inc., she created a multimedia program for World AIDS Day ’99 featuring former Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders; and she has won a ton of awards and honors including Advertising Age’s 100 Best and Brightest; Ebony magazine’s Outstanding Women in Marketing & Communications award; and the Association of National Advertisers Multicultural Excellence Awards.
With more than 30 years of experience, much of her focus has been on correcting the cultural images of African Americans in advertising. “When I got my first job in advertising, I found my profession. When I moved to multicultural advertising, I found my calling,” she says. “Nothing gives me more pleasure than accurately depicting the majesty of Black people.”
Here, we caught up with Graves to talk about her experiences.
TNJ.com: How were you contacted to ring the opening bell at NASDAQ?
Valerie Graves: I'm a part of the steering committee at the Advertising Club of New York’s big diversity initiative called, I’M PART – as in ‘I’m a part of the industry.’ It's an acronym. The Club contacted me and said they were going to be ringing the bell and asked if I would like to be a part of it. And as a result of doing the bell ringing, some of our pictures were posted over Times Square. So, I was there with the board of directors and members of the steering committee for 'I’m PART.'
TNJ.com: Do you think there’s still a big diversity problem in the advertising industry?
V.G.: Without a doubt, there’s still a great challenge when it comes to diversity for the advertising industry as a whole. The participation of minorities in professional jobs is somewhere around 6 percent. That’s not a very good number. Back in the days when I came into the field, it was abysmally lower – probably at 1 percent. I’ve worked, for years, at general market agencies where I wouldn’t work with another African American person at all. The first job I had, I was one of two females. We were writing car advertising on a Pontiac account and I was in a group with 22 men and one woman. And that was more the norm back then. Things have gotten better. But there’s a long way to go.
TNJ.com: Share with us some of your takeaways about working, for decades, in the advertising industry. What advice do you have for African Americans who may be new to the field?
V.G.: Today what is happening, and I just wrote an editorial on this, is that the industry has come, because of the results of the latest census and the results of the presidential election of 2012, face-to-face with the fact that this country is turning brown. And industry execs are scrambling, although they shouldn’t be, to figure out what their response should be. And one of the latest things is called Total Market Advertising which means instead of just creating out of the assumption that the majority of the country is totally white, now suddenly people of color are being taken into account right from the beginning of the process. That didn’t happen in the past. If you turn on your TV, you’ll see that commercials are starting to be cast with a pretty good rainbow of people that kind of look more like the country really looks. The issue with that is that when you try to talk to everybody at once, you can't possibly do the best job of communicating deeply with any group. So there’s still a need for advertising that speaks to groups separately. Yes, we need Total Market Advertising but it doesn't mean that we don't need agencies that speak to African Americans, Hispanics, Asians or gay populations, etc. So right now, I’m trying to get the word out that there still needs to be diversity advertising within Total Market Advertising. One doesn’t replace the other.
TNJ.com: What projects are you currently working on with regard to the industry?
V.G.: Aside from getting my book out there, my work has become focused on public service work that I do, free of charge, with the Advertising Council of America and also the partnership for Drug-Free Kids, which used to be the partnership for Drug-Free America. I’m still doing those things because African Americans, in particular, are disproportioned and affected by a lot of the social issues and I’d like to be a part of doing something about that.
TNJ.com: When you think of millenials you’ve encountered who are entering the field, do they seem more interested in working for general market agencies or multicultural agencies?
V.G.: It was more of an issue for my generation because we were the precious, few who were getting those jobs in the general market agencies. The first 10 years of my career were spent in big general market agencies like BBDO, J. Walter Thompson and Kenyon & Eckhardt, so it was very difficult for people like Byron Lewis, who founded UniWorld, to recruit people like me out of those jobs because they were really far and few in between and hard to get. But one of the things that happens, and continues to happen, is that the younger generation is going to be confronted with this: things haven’t changed so much that the glass ceiling has disappeared. I think it’s very common early on to feel that things are great and to feel like "I’ve got this great job in advertising." And it is a wonderful job until you start trying to get promoted and you reach that point beyond which you cannot rise. Almost everyone in my generation of advertising that ended up at a targeted ad agency came out of the general market. And they came because, as I did, maybe they became a vice president, and realized that they were never going any further than that. And I think if things don’t change, more than they already have, that reality is going to change the mindset among younger people. Now with that said, I think that millenials do have a more inclusive vision of the society, which is more urban than just African American and it's more racially tolerant, in theory, and that’s a good thing. But they would be doing themselves a disservice not to recognize that culturally-targeted ad agencies have a role to play in advertising and they’ll find themselves with no place to go.
Author
VALERIE GRAVES, whom Advertising Age magazine named one of the “100 Best and Brightest” in the entire industry, is a nationally recognized creative director of such Fortune 500 accounts as Ford, General Motors, AT&T, Burger King, General Foods, and Pepsi. A former teenage parent from the factory town of Pontiac, Michigan, Graves broke barriers in advertising as one of the first black copywriters at BBDO, Kenyon & Eckhardt, and JWT. She went on to an award-winning career as chief creative officer at the UniWorld and Vigilante/Leo Burnett agencies, senior vice president of creative services at iconic Motown Records, and creative consultant to President Bill Clinton. In 2007, recognizing Graves’s stellar career and public service via the Advertising Council and the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, industry coalition ADCOLOR granted her the title of “Legend.” She resides in New York City. Pressure Makes Diamonds is her memoir. Visit her website: ValerieGravesBook.com.
Valerie Graves
Author: "Pressure Makes Diamonds: Becoming the Woman I Pretended to Be."
National Basketball Association (NBA) New York University
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Author, Event producer, Recognized expert in all facets of multicultural advertising. Award-winning Creative Director of targeted advertising campaigns for Fortune 500 companies in automotive, fast food, banking, hair care, telecommunications and other industries. Consultant to 1992 campaign of Bill Clinton. Recognized by ADVERTISING AGE as one of "100 Best and Brightest". Recipient of 2007 ADCOLOR "Legend" award. Future goals include involvement in a global humanitarian or environmental campaign.
Specialties: Urban, African American and Multicultural Creative specialist.
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Award-winning creative director puts different spin on young black men as 'statistics'
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I am a statistic - NAACP
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This morning I got into my car and drove 3 hours to Detroit to see Daymond John..."The People's Shark". You see Daymond and I are long time friends, Brooklyn homies and go back to the days of the iconic FUBU. I was 8 years into FraserNet and did everything I could to celebrate, uplift and promote whatever Daymond was doing. So I thought I would surprise him...but I was the one surprised😂. His "Keynote" at the MGM Grand was a "Tour de Force" theatrical performance with style and flair. His mix of "keepin it real stories, lessons, music, and home pictures made you laugh, cry and think.
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Such and important lesson to share!
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Dreams to reality! There's such fascinating magic in the pursuit of what you never imagined you could have! Truth is, I was the kid who was picked on because my clothes were raggedy & didn't always smell good. I was the kid who's self-esteem was non-existent & I hated every single part of me (hard to believe now- confidence on 💯) so seeing my dreams unfold is truly unreal to me. I met Soledad O'Brien the 1st time in Atlanta at The Dream Project conference we both spoke at in 2015. I promised myself I'd connect with her beyond the conference & work with her. December 2016 I spoke for Soledad's foundation in LA. Decide what you want and then go after it like it's already yours!
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The Ad Council and R/GA's 'Love Has No Labels' Wins the Emmy for Best Commercial
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As long as you can generate ideas, you're not stuck.
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Congratulations to Kat Gordon and The 3% Conference for being recognized on Adweek's list of women who are disrupting the status quo. https://lnkd.in/dbvANQh
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Experience
National Basketball Association (NBA)
Creative Consultant
Company NameNational Basketball Association (NBA)
Dates EmployedOct 2016 – Present Employment Duration9 mos
LocationNew York, NY
Assist in development of Public Service messaging and creative.
The Advertising Council of America
Ad hoc Creative Consultant
Company NameThe Advertising Council of America
Dates EmployedMar 2016 – Present Employment Duration1 yr 4 mos
Consult in the development of campaigns with particular relevance to multicultural audiences.
Author, "Pressure Makes Diamonds: Becoming the Woman I Pretended to Be"
Writer
Company NameAuthor, "Pressure Makes Diamonds: Becoming the Woman I Pretended to Be"
Dates Employed2015 – Present Employment Duration2 yrs
Memoirist
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Valerie Graves-Bessent: A Woman of Our Time, Producing Now, for the Community and the Next Generations
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I'm PART Diversity initiative The Advertising Club of New York
Steering Committee Member
Company NameI'm PART Diversity initiative The Advertising Club of New York
Dates EmployedJul 2013 – Present Employment Duration4 yrs
New Federal theatre
Member Board of Directors
Company NameNew Federal theatre
Dates Employed2009 – Present Employment Duration8 yrs
Valerie Graves Creative
Founder / President
Company NameValerie Graves Creative
Dates Employed1999 – Present Employment Duration18 yrs
LocationNew York, NY
Executive Creative Consultant specializing in public service and arts-related content.
Partnership for Drug-Free Kids
Member Creative Review Committee
Company NamePartnership for Drug-Free Kids
Dates Employed1995 – Present Employment Duration22 yrs
KGuide and provide creative direction to the development of highly visible national anti-drug advertising campaigns.
The Advertising Council
Member Campaigns Review Committee
Company NameThe Advertising Council
Dates Employed1995 – Mar 2016 Employment Duration21 yrs
Guide and review the strategic and creative development of the nation's most most-viewed public service advertising campaigns.
New Federal Theatre
Producer, New Federal Theatre 44th Anniversary Gala
Company NameNew Federal Theatre
Dates EmployedDec 2013 – Mar 2014 Employment Duration4 mos
LocationNew York City
Responsible for all aspects of 44th Anniversary Gala of the nation's oldest continuously producing African American theatre. Obtained sponsorship for VIP reception and coordinated venue management, catering, signage, music and decoration. Served as point person for marketing, publicity, radio promotion, ad sales, ticket sales, program journal and video production. Coordinated direction and staging of Gala program hosted by Danny Glover, Debbi Morgan and Robert Townsend, with performances by Valerie Simpson, Chuck Jackson, Debbi Morgan and Oscar-nominated Impact Repertory Theater.
Advertising Club
Director
Company NameAdvertising Club
Dates Employed1997 – Jul 2013 Employment Duration16 yrs
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Education
New York University
New York University
Field Of Study Filmmaking
Dates attended or expected graduation 1987 – 1989
Activities and Societies: Wrote and co- produced short film, "Positive Thinking."
Studied filmmaking technique an technology, screenwriting, directing and production. Wrote and co-produced short film, "Positive Thinking."
Wayne State University
Wayne State University
Field Of Study English Liberal Arts
Dates attended or expected graduation 1970 – 1974
Stanford University
Stanford University
Activities and Societies: 1997-98 ( Spouse/ Participant) John S. Knight Fellowship
Volunteer Experience
New Federal Theatre
Board of Directors
Company NameNew Federal Theatre
Dates volunteeredJun 2009 – Present Volunteer duration8 yrs 1 mo
Cause Arts and Culture
Board of Directors
Ad Council
Member, Campaigns Review committee
Company NameAd Council
Dates volunteered1995 – 2016 Volunteer duration21 yrs
Member Campaigns Review Committee
Partnership for Drug-Free Kids
Member, Creative Review Committee
Company NamePartnership for Drug-Free Kids
Dates volunteered1995 – 1995 Volunteer durationless than a year
Member Creative Review Committee
About Valerie Graves
Author and creative guru Valerie Graves, whom Advertising Age magazine named one of the "100 Best and Brightest" in the entire industry, is a nationally recognized creative director of such Fortune 500 accounts as Ford, General Motors, AT&T, Burger King, General Foods, and Pepsi. A former teenage parent from the factory town of Pontiac, Michigan, Graves broke barriers in advertising as one of the first black copywriters at BBDO, Kenyon & Eckhardt, and JWT. She went on to an award-winning career as chief creative officer at the UniWorld and Vigilante/Leo Burnett agencies, senior vice president of creative services at iconic Motown Records, and creative consultant to President Bill Clinton. In 2007, recognizing Graves's stellar career and public service via the Advertising Council and the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, industry coalition ADCOLOR granted her the title of "Legend." She resides in New York City.
Pressure Makes Diamonds: Becoming the Woman I Pretended to Be
Valerie Hawkins
Booklist. 113.5 (Nov. 1, 2016): p6.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
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Pressure Makes Diamonds: Becoming the Woman I Pretended to Be. By Valerie Graves. Nov. 2016. 288p. Akashic, paper, $15.95 (9781617754937). 659.1.
Barrier-breaking, highly celebrated creative director and advertising executive Graves is about more than glittery and impressive national advertising campaigns and her association with international celebrities and various Fortune 500 companies. Graves tells the story behind her ubiquitous commercial campaigns for AT&T, Burger King, Pepsi, and more, including how she became inspired to seek an advertising career when her only frame of reference was the Darrin Stephens character on the mid-1960s, early-1970s television comedy, Bewitched. Graves' beginnings were indeed humble, and some would say troubled, especially when she became pregnant with her son at age 15. Her eventual professional success was a true triumph for an African American woman in the nearly uniformly male and white Mad Men-like advertising workplaces in which she started in the 1970s. No one was looking for her, but she showed up, spoke directly to the public, and captured the world's attention. Graves' well-told tale, set against a detailed social and cultural backdrop, of courage and success both personally (including a happy marriage) and professionally is moving and inspiring. --Valerie Hawkins
YA/S: Graves will speak to all YAs with ambitious dreams, especially young African American women and teens interested in advertising. VH.
Graves, Valerie. Pressure Makes Diamonds: Becoming the Woman I Pretended To Be
Rebecca Brody
Library Journal. 141.17 (Oct. 15, 2016): p94.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/
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Graves, Valerie. Pressure Makes Diamonds: Becoming the Woman I Pretended To Be. Open Lens: Akashic. Nov. 2016. 298p. ISBN 9781617754937. pap. $15.95. MEMOIR
With this memoir, veteran ad copywriter Graves makes her first foray as a book author. She begins with her childhood in Pontiac, MI, establishing early on her yearning to escape the underprivileged world of her youth for a better life. From there the author discusses the challenges of teenage pregnancy, negotiating work, education, and career choice, and learning to lead effectively in the face of racism, family strife, and self-doubt. At times an ode to fame and the trappings of celebrity, at times a testament to the benefits of New-Age thinking, the narrative is alternately introspective and aloof, full of both pride and frank descriptions of Graves's shortcomings. Through it all, the ad world is depicted as a glamorous, creative haven that can contribute to positive social change. VERDICT Written in a highly polished yet informal style, this book will appeal to readers interested in memoirs of accomplished businesswomen and African American success, as well as those who want a glimpse into the fast-paced world of a top-level ad executive.--Rebecca Brody, Westfield State Univ., MA
Valerie Graves: PRESSURE MAKES DIAMONDS
Kirkus Reviews. (Sept. 15, 2016):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 Kirkus Media LLC
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Valerie Graves PRESSURE MAKES DIAMONDS Open Lens/Akashic (Adult Nonfiction) 15.95 11, 1 ISBN: 978-1-61775-493-7
A pioneer in multicultural advertising recounts her life surmounting the odds of being African-American and female in a predominantly white male business arena.A precocious girl with big dreams, Graves grew up in a Michigan public housing project on the shores of Pontiac’s polluted Crystal Lake. The daughter of a smart, single mother and an errant father, the author, though a self-proclaimed “mouthy show-off,” embraced her tenacity and youthful intelligence and excelled throughout grade school with a natural talent for public speaking. Life soon intervened, however, and, playing out against the backdrop of the 1967 Detroit riots, the “disgrace” of teenage motherhood temporarily derailed Graves’ academic potential. Yet her spirit to exceed eventually won out with college enrollment and an adventuresome and career-defining ascent in the largely white male–dominated world of creative advertising. Her adulthood was clearly shaped by a challenging past, and Graves harnessed the advantages of her hardscrabble youth and channeled that energy and experience into a noteworthy career, theater work, marriage, and watching her son achieve sobriety. The author narrates her unconventional journey with unabashed pride and fortitude and shares both positive and negative anecdotes, as with her unsurprising termination after calling herself the “token” black employee during an ad agency meeting full of “anxious, driven white men seeking money and power of every sort.” Achieving multiple accolades and even collaborating with Bill Clinton, Graves established herself as a fierce force in the advertising field and a greatly admired role model for black professionals establishing themselves in American business. In a moving book steeped in perseverance and empowering determination, the author fully embodies the challenges of her culture and those of being a motivated businesswoman. She concludes with optimistic anticipation for a truly “postracial America” where society has moved beyond skin color, “when race doesn’t determine who lives next door.”
Optimistic and galvanizing, Graves’ message of hope and hard work is timely and applicable.
Pressure Makes Diamonds
Becoming the Woman I Pretended to Be
Reviewed by Kaavonia Hinton
November 28, 2016
This is an inspirational memoir about a determined woman who faked it till she made it—and made it big.
Pressure Makes Diamonds is Valerie Graves’s memoir, a story about an accomplished woman who is the epitome of grit.
Graves always knew that she would leave her modest Michigan surroundings and achieve success; until she did, though, she would act as if she were already there. She was surprised to become a teenage mother, but still determined to make a better life for herself, so she worked, went to college, and embarked on a career in advertising. She eventually worked as a copy editor, a chief creative officer at an ad agency, and as a vice president at Motown.
Pressure Makes Diamonds is made up of four parts with interesting chapter titles like “Mom Drops the Nuclear Family Bomb” and “Big Pimpin’ in the Big Apple.” It covers Valerie’s childhood through the present but sometimes feels overloaded with anecdotes that slow its pace.
Vivid details and thoughtful reflective statements draw out Graves’s unique experiences. She relates encounters with celebrities and important brands, though these are somewhat buried near the end of her book, coming after tangential stories about moving in with different friends, working at a hospital, and maneuvering various relationships, both romantic and familial.
Though the mention of the civil rights, women’s, and Black Power movements are glossed over, Graves’s own perspectives of black culture—based on internalized racism and colorism on one hand, and pride and love on the other— are compelling. She draws on her experiences and evolving points of view related to black culture when she creates ads aimed at black consumers. There is a tension here that is not fully explored but that remains a subtle theme throughout. Whether recalling the guilt she felt as a working, absentee parent, or how she came to adopt new-age thinking, the author’s storytelling skills and use of humor, imagery, and figurative language is noteworthy.
At an early age, Valerie decided she would fake it until she made it. Now a success by most standards, she no longer has to pretend. Anyone who enjoys reading about those who travel difficult paths in life will find Pressure Makes Diamonds to be inspirational.
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The author of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the author for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.