Tools of the Trade: Susan Vugts of SuperHeroes New York

By Kyle O'Brien 

Tools of the Trade is an AgencySpy feature to help highlight the many tools that help make advertising and marketing folks successful. The tools can be anything that helps people perform at their top form, from a favorite drafting table to the best software program to a lucky pen, a vintage typewriter or a pair of headphones.

Next up is Susan Vugts, managing director of SuperHeroes New York.

Susan Vugts shows off her inspirational Dutch cheese slicer.

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What is one tool you use all the time at work, and how does it inspire your work?

Our cheese slicer. We brought it from Amsterdam and it is simply a great tool to build our team and support our mission: saving the world from boring advertising.

One of our office traditions is to do a communal bread lunch. We set the table with all kinds of lunch items, get fresh bread, sit down at the table and have lunch together as a team. One rule: we don’t talk work. An ideal way to refresh, clear the mind, get re-energized and also get to know each other better.

Why is it your favorite?

We started our communal bread lunch in New York when I joined the SuperHeroes team. I’m originally from Amsterdam and never understood why everybody in the U.S. was having lunch behind their desk. After the pandemic we started organizing a bread lunch one day a week, but soon expanded it to every day. We have a 60% office now, so people come in at least three days a week and really appreciate lunch time together—a time to catch up and find out things about fellow heroes that you didn’t know before.

We have a diverse team and obviously cater for it. Different backgrounds, dietary wishes and food habits make our lunch an eclectic mix. It is great to see this all come together at a lunch table.

How did you acquire your tool or hear about it for the first time?

It is a super professional Dutch original top cheese slicer.  It can be used for all kinds of cheese, although it prefers Gouda cheese, of course.

How does it help you be successful?

Coming from a long career at client side in Europe, I always appreciated working with agencies that operate as a team and clearly had fun together.

Our team is growing fast. The Dutch lunch tradition has been widely appreciated by our U.S. colleagues and is definitely contributing to building a great team spirit.  It is one of the reasons for our Heroes to come in and also was a great way of getting to know each other beyond work across functions and management levels. You hear about weekend stories, shows to watch, trips to make or the latest trend on TikTok. Our clients also regularly join us for our lunch and it is great to see how they stack their sandwiches.

Although we don’t talk about work during lunch, I am convinced that sitting down together for lunch contributes to our success. Togetherness simply creates better work. And all because of a cheese slicer.

Does it have sentimental value?

Not really, but it does bring in a bit of Amsterdam vibes to our Brooklyn hide out.

Do you think your tool could go TikTok viral?

Food and life hacks are big on TikTok, so why not?

We want to know what tools you use to make you successful. If you’d like to contribute or know someone who would want to be featured in Tools of the Trade, contact kyle.obrien@adweek.com and fill out our survey.

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