Mother New York’s New Creative Duo Are Betting on Brave

Two months into their new roles at Mother New York, creative director duo Sam McCluskey and Tom Hall are still catching their breath. The pace of the city is as relentless as ever, while the timelines feel shorter than they did a decade ago, and the expectations of modern campaigns continue to balloon. But from the fruit-and-veg factory-turned creative studio in Gowanus, Brooklyn, the pair talk about the move with complete certainty.

It’s the right next chapter at the right time.

Sam and Tom’s paths have been running parallel for years. Sam began at Fallon London over 13 years ago before moving to Wieden+Kennedy London – where he met Tom – then W+K Tokyo, and later Droga5 New York. “We then moved to W+K New York, where we officially teamed up.” Tom’s journey traces a similar map, starting at Crispin Porter + Bogusky in London, then Wieden+Kennedy London, before joining W+K New York where he and Sam reunited. “And now, we’re at Mother,” he says with the tone of a punchline to a long-running double act.

Both are originally London boys, “Tom’s more north; I’m more west-north. Rivals,” jokes Sam. But the city they now call home has crept up on them. Tom is approaching seven years in the Big Apple; Sam has about nine. And what may have once been simply a change of scenery, has since become a new life – kids, careers, and a quick rhythm.

Mother New York arrived at the right moment; for Tom, the decision hinged on conversations with CCOs Felix Richter and Oriel Davis-Lyons, who are now leading the London and NY locations.

“When you look at what Felix has done with the London office, which is remarkable in just three or four years, and what Oriel is doing with New York and its recent pitch wins, plus work for The Wall Street Journal and Uber, the moment just felt great,” he tells me.

From the inside, Sam says the reputation of the indie has held up. “We’ve been really impressed… of all the [Mother] agencies out there, they’ve always felt like they have a creative soul. And that’s really true once you’re through the door.” He adds, “There’s a great culture; everyone is closer.”

Tom points to the way Mother backs projects beyond client work, saying, “A lot of agencies pay lip service to doing projects outside of client work, but Mother has this whole programme centred on just making things.

“They actually follow through, they put the budget behind it, and it creates an atmosphere where it’s genuinely a creative place to be.”

Arriving as partners, the two also share they’re incredibly close outside of work too. Proper mates who've seen one another through many of life's biggest moments -- the peaks and especially the troughs.  Now, they're facing their latest chapter, as they have so many others. Together. 

Tom describes it as being “kind of joined at the hip”. It’s a closeness mirrored in their working relationship, where it isn’t really about the clear division of qualities and skills you so often come to find in other duos.

“We both like both disciplines. We’re not doing the thing where one person writes over there, and the other art directs over here, and then you meet in the middle. We talk from the off about art direction and writing together, which I think works well.”

Their shared philosophy runs deep; both came through Tony Cullingham’s famed Watford Course. Tom says, “It gives you a similar foundation and a similar way of thinking. So we’ve always had the same approach to work, and we see the industry in a very similar way. We want to make the same kind of work, which obviously helps.”

Although, doing that kind of work as creative directors in 2025 looks a lot different from when they began. “Timelines are pretty intense across the industry right now, so you’ve got to be able to work at speed and roll with the punches,” says Tom. “You have to be adept at dealing with client realities, creative teams and their agendas. It’s such a multifaceted role, and you have to do it all at pace.”

Sam feels the scale of expectation widening too. “When you go back to clients, the expectation is often a deck full of 360 ideas. You have to hold a really broad picture of how a campaign can live in a thousand different places,” he explains.

You’d think the height of the task would dwarf their enthusiasm, but it seems to expand it; the only way through, they argue, is laser focus and trust. “You’ve got to trust your instincts – they’re what got you to this point,” says Tom. Sam says starting with clarity is also a must. “You really have to focus on getting to a bulletproof idea. Once you’ve got that, you can build the film and everything else around it… You have to go razor-sharp on the cleanest idea.”

Both say Mother client Uber was a huge draw for them, with Sam counting the brand amongst a handful of those “making some of the best advertising in the world right now.” High accolades, indeed. And recent work like ‘Suburban Stories’ has become something of a touchpoint.

Speaking of the two-minute hero spot, Tom admires the bravery to release something of that length that can genuinely move people -- especially in the modern ecosystem of pedestalling snappy digestibles. 

Independence, for them, is something palpable. “You feel it is creatively driven [here],” says Sam. “In every meeting, all anyone talks about is: what’s the sharpest, best work? What’s the bravest work? I think that comes from Mother being independent.” And now working with CCO Oriel Davis-Lyons has underlined that. “‘Brave’ is the philosophy,” says Tom. “He always comes from a place of, ‘Is this brave enough for our clients?’ And we love that.”

And Mother’s mission, to “make our children proud”, lands close to home for both. “I suppose it’s about putting good into the world,” says Sam. “That doesn’t have to mean work that’s ‘good for the world’ in a literal sense. It could be as simple as a point of view, or something that makes people laugh.” For Tom, it’s also simple: “Work that makes people feel something.”

He continues, “We’re all stuck in this doom-scrolling loop and it’s easy to go numb to everything we see. So work that makes you feel – whether it’s funny or emotional – that’s what we’ve always aimed to do.”

It’s no secret the New York market is tough. Clients can be cautious, and the economy can nudge brands towards safer choices. But while realistic about the challenge, their experience at Mother so far has been something close to the opposite. “The clients Mother has are so ambitious and creative that we’ve not really hit a barrier of work feeling too safe. If anything, they say, ‘Push us to be more creative’.”

The duo have set their intention for what they hope to achieve during their time at Mother NY. Sam says it's about “being part of the new chapter that builds one of the best creative departments in the world – and the great work that comes out of that.”

Tom widens the lens to say it’s about helping Mother become the best agency in New York and America. “That’s a big ambition,” he says. “But I think it’s achievable based on the talent, the pieces they’ve put in place, and the philosophy.” And with a client roster boasting names to the envy of many, they certainly have the raw materials to work with too.

Sam concludes, “It’s going to be a very exciting time.”

We'll be watching this space.