Indie rocker, designer a rebel with a social cause

SUCCESS (MEANT) SELF-SUFFICIENCY, BEING A BOSS, NOT A DEPENDENT. THE COMPETITION WASN'T ABOUT GREED — OR NOT JUST ABOUT GREED. IT WAS ABOUT SURVIVAL. — JAY-Z, FROM HIS AUTOBIOGRAPHY DECODED

Lauralee Sheehan is on a social mission. As a female founder and chief creative officer of Digital 55, a successful digital media content studio in Toronto, she's also a rare breed of entrepreneur in a male-dominated industry.

Sheehan's story is equally unique. She's a musician and songwriter, an ex-member of an indie rock band and onetime record label owner.

She's also proficient in digital content creation, and, most importantly for her, a long-standing champion for social change.

So much so that Digital 55's mantra is to harness the power of digital design for good. Its commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion, 21st century skills development, anti-discrimination, human rights and a multitude of other causes are proudly displayed on its website.

Her team of designers, developers, researchers and content producers creates digital interactive media products and learning experiences for not-for-profits, government agencies and companies.

That's a lot of threads to keep watch on, but Sheehan was raised in a creative and entrepreneurial environment, where her father had his own business designing and building sets for commercials and television shows.

“I think the industry imprinted itself on me,” she said. “I grew up on film sets. That's where everything started for me.”

In her 20s, Sheehan immersed herself in the music scene, writing music and collaborating with a wide community of composers and publishers, eventually helping to form the Lovely Kill-bots, where she recognized the importance of branding and began to explore the available technology and social media to put their name out there.

“As a woman in a band, some see you as the tambourine player and not the strategic person running it,” she said. “But I was doing most of the business stuff. That experience pushed me to the next level of thinking.”

That next level soon came in handy. Sheehan later had a job in digital production while doing content creation work on the side, but she took the leap in April 2018 to run her company full time when her employer's business went under.

“I was always waiting for the perfect moment for things to align and was struggling to get things off the ground,” she said. “That job turned out to be one of the best case studies for me.”

Relationships with existing clients provided enough seed money to build stability and cash flow over the first six months. As things grew, it was time to think bigger, so she applied to various accelerator programs and was accepted into both the Canadian Film Centre's (CFC) Fifth Wave Connect program for expansion-ready, womenowned/led digital media businesses in southern Ontario, and Banff Spark, a program for female/female -identified media entrepreneurs. “That combination integrated into my thinking across industries and verticals,” Sheehan said.

Nataly De Monte, director at CFC Media Lab and managing director of the Fifth Wave Initiative, said entrepreneurs such as Sheehan are representative of the switch to a new industry narrative that is changing the language and ethos of business.

“We are really at the intersection of art and culture, tech innovation and social purpose,” she said.

“Lauralee is super purpose driven and is the exact blend of feminism, innovation, art and digital media.”

This new narrative, often championed by female entrepreneurs, is one that is concerned with unintended consequences and historic systemic barriers, and is constantly questioning and reflecting on community building, De Monte said.

“It's super important for digital media to evolve technologically and socially,” she said.

Sheehan is certainly one advocate for helping build women's representation in the industry.

“Women still have to go to greater lengths to prove themselves to investors,” she said. “We've had some great collaborations with clients. But even with our track record and awards, I still find myself having to fight for the evaluation. We've been lucky, but it still happens.”

The vast majority of content creation and delivery is not owned by women, which is significant given the power mass media has to change people's minds, shape policies and champion social issues, said Jenn Kuzmyk, executive director of Banff World Media Festival, in Toronto.

“Roughly 90 per cent of the largest media content companies in Canada are not owned or operated by women. All the stories are being told by a fraction of the world's population,” she said. “With more womenowned businesses creating content, the potential for change is really high. If we can help them get to the next step, we can have a shot at changing some systemic problems.”

Ironically, the pandemic, while disproportionately hurting women, is helping to turn the tide, bringing the social message to the forefront as more investors and organizations are seeking services driven by social purpose, Sheehan said.

“They're now looking at investing for certain values,” she said. “Five years ago, it would have been much harder to sell the social-purpose message. COVID has amplified that messaging really quickly.”

Sheehan said the struggle for women in the industry is an ongoing one, but things are improving as people are looking at more partnerships and different ways of thinking about the future of sustainability.

“The whole culture has shifted,” she said.

Lauralee Sheehan