Dowshen Rides Into Deutsch

One of Matt Dowshen’s favorite pastimes is pedaling uphill on a mountain bike for hours. Still, it doesn’t match the challenge of his first overseas agency gig.

In ’99, Dowshen, who has spent most of his ad career at WPP Group’s JWT, was sent to the shop’s Bangkok office as the group client service director on Unilever. He was excited and initially thought it would be a cakewalk. But the cultural adjustments and the responsibilities of managing about 20 people had him “curled up in the fetal position for the first six months,” he said.