Jeffrey's 'Long Shot' Pays Off With Ryan Hire

Rosemarie Ryan spent 11 of her 19 years in advertising at Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners in New York. It’s where she honed her skills as an account planner and cut her teeth in management, and she considers her colleagues “family.”

So when Ryan, president of the Kirshenbaum Bond Creative Network, was approached by J. Walter Thompson’s Bob Jeffrey in June, she wasn’t looking to move. Even though Jeffrey, North American president of the WPP Group agency, deemed Ryan a top candidate for the New York president post—vacant for two and a half years—he considered the effort a “long shot.”

For years, the two met from time to time to chat about the business.