Gabby Lord and Lauren Wong Lee are the two women at the helm of Super Keen, a super cool brand design studio based in Brooklyn, New York. Their discerning eye, admirable work ethic and commitment to being each other’s ride or die have been their not so secret ingredients to over five years of thriving business and serious impact. Here, Gabby kindly answers our questions about quality collaboration, equitable distribution, red flags and a whole lot more, including the birth of her newsletter and resource directory OMGLORD.

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Where is your hometown? Where do you live now?

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I grew up in Tamworth, which is a small city in rural NSW, Australia. Now I live in Brooklyn, NY.

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Tell us about what you do and your business, Super Keen?

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I’ve had a lot of different titles for what I do over the years, but for the most part, I design things. “Things” is intentionally broad because the range is very wide these days. At Super Keen, I design and direct brands, websites, videos, campaigns, products—you name it.

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You’ve been running Super Keen for five years - congrats! How would you sum up the last five years, and what are you looking forward to in the next five?

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Thank you! It really is an incredible achievement that I often overlook. I would sum it up as a rollercoaster ride because while it can be a lot of fun, sometimes you’re screaming because it’s genuinely quite scary. I know I can jump off at any point, but I keep buying tickets for another go-around.

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You also have a newsletter and resource directory called OMGLORD. What made you want to build that, and what keeps you doing it after ten years?
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It started when I moved to Berlin in 2014 and has had a lot of iterations over the years. I mostly just wanted to create a nook of internet that was mine. One that I could share with friends what was interesting to me without the pressure or vanity metrics of social media. I keep doing it because people find it useful, and as an eldest daughter, I can’t help but let that drive me.

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Your business partner, Lauren Wong Lee, is a strategist. Tell us about how you two collaborate and what it means to have both design and strategy at the helm of the studio?

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Lauren is an incredible strategist and all-round Swiss Army Knife. Strategy and design are at the center of our studio offering, but the fact that both of us have a wider skill set of biz organization, client management, and most importantly an “I’m not sure but we can figure it out” attitude is what makes us great partners.

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What have you learned about collaborating with creatives over the years? What are your green and red flags?
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That things should be equitable, not equal. We are still always navigating this. I love collaborating with people who are really good at something I’m terrible at—which is always going to be a lot of things. Green flags are an excitement to contribute and move the work forward. Red flags are ego and a lack of accountability.

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What have you learned about collaborating with clients over the years? And how do you know if it’s going to be a good or bad fit?
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Lauren and I are always right when we trust our guts. We’ve been burned by ignoring it in the past and can pretty quickly distinguish who we think will be a good fit nowadays. A good fit is usually people ready to do the work, have a budget they can disclose, and are willing to be a bit uncomfortable. A bad fit is usually the antithesis of these qualities. If you need something yesterday but don’t have a budget in mind (yes you do!!) respectfully, leave us in peace haha.

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You and your business partner have navigated many things together (moves, new babies, visa drama, etc). What are the hallmarks of your partnership that work and allow you both to work through big life moves together?
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We are partners who have each other's back and know that most of the time it’s never going to be completely equal in terms of life stage or workload. We both acknowledge that it’s more often a percentage of 60/40 or 75/25 and not 50/50—but we’re both always trying to show up as the person putting in the full fifty. I think trust is huge, you really need to trust each other and have grace when the other person messes up or could have handled something better. I feel extremely lucky to have Lauren in my corner and be in hers too.

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What advice would you give to someone looking to start their own studio or business? And advice on picking a business partner?
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We have written reports every year we’ve been in business to help with this exact question! There’s so much info there. Advice on picking a business partner I mentioned above: find someone you trust, someone who will give you grace, someone who will hold you accountable.

What keeps you inspired these days? And what is one thing you wish you could eliminate from your work or studio life?

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Right now I’m inspired by the NY Knicks! I wish I could eliminate the need to make money.

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BONUS ROUND ‍

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What’s your Subway Take?
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Walkable communities are the elite lifestyle.

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What is your personal motto?
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You can’t steer a parked car.

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Who is your creative crush and why?
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I’ll never tell!

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If you could trade lives with anyone, alive or dead, who would it be?
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Whoever owns/lives in a specific brownstone I’m obsessed with in Cobble Hill.

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If you weren’t a designer, what would you do instead?

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I’d be a tradie (tradesman).