little red book: Insider: Landis Smithers

role in life: Storyteller. Whether it's for a brand, or a video, I seem to be really good at catching people's attention and keeping them entertained, which leads to some pretty interesting career options.

hometown(s): Raised in Manhattan, South Kensington, Marrakesh & Houston

homebase: San Francisco

you recently left your post at old navy as vp of marketing/creative director. describe old navy, the brand as it was when you got there and how the brand is as you left it?

Old Navy was an amazing part of my life. I was brought in to take the brand from "kitsch to current", and the process and experience of the past few years has been beyond anything I could have predicted.

what's the first thing you do when a creative idea lands in your head?

Tear it out of the book or write it down on the bedside table, photograph it from the car window, email it to myself from my phone, catch it any way possible and nail it down, because ideas are free, but very fickle.

who were your creative idols growing up? what was it about them?

Ayn Rand; my grandfather gave me Atlas Shrugged when I was ten years old and told me that if I read it every three years, everything would turn out ok. And he was right. It's a bit preachy in places, but the message of relying on yourself stuck with me loud and clear, that and respecting creativity in all its forms.

My mother, Jane Smithers; she was a translator at the United Nations and also an interior decorator and a caterer. She has shown me that re-invention is part of the process, that you can express yourself across many medium and that you have to keep trying new things.

Mrs. Murphey, my high school english teacher. She taught me more about the written word, about language, perspective and views and the challenging the way you think and more about literature than all four years of Cornell Arts College combined. She was that pivotal instructor who ignited a child's voice and set them free.

fact or fiction? Fiction. Unless you are really good at writing your own life into reality. I like to say I write myself "out of corners and into views." It's a reminder that creation isn't just about the imagery we put out there, but about the life we imagine and then enact.

if a genie in a bottle granted you 3 dream purchases what would they be?

1) Tenerife. It's a house in the Maldives that I stumbled across and it's perfection. If I could live there, life would be all about creating...and skinny dipping.

2) An equity stake in Berkshire Hathaway.

3) Viacom. I think I could do content for them that they need.

the last piece of clothing(s) you bought?

Lanvin Grosgrain trimmed cardigan. What, it's practical.

favorite brunch and after-dinner drink spots?

For brunch in SF it has to be Foreign Cinema, it just has insane food. Drinks, I 'd have to go with the lobby bar of the Mercer Hotel in Manhattan, try around 2am. Of course, you have to be staying there, but you can kick off your shoes, order food and they are the nicest staff anywhere.

in your next life would your rather be a mad scientist or a mad genius?

In my next life, I'm going to repeat what I'm doing now. It's been a pretty mad ride already and honestly I'm loving it.

Check out Landis' blog.