LAS VEGAS, USA – As the London International Awards (LIA) celebrates its 40th year, its Creative LIAisons program once again took center stage as a powerful incubator for emerging creative talent.
Bringing together 130 promising young creatives from across the globe, the week-long program in Las Vegas offered rare access to some of the industry’s most brilliant minds—through mentoring sessions, panel discussions, and behind-the-scenes exposure to LIA’s judging process.
Inside this buzzing creative energy, one session stood out for its refreshing honesty and human depth. “Creativity’s Secret Weapons,” featuring Suzanne Powers, Founder of Powers Creativity in New York and Andrea Diquez, the Global CEO of GUT, peeled back the layers of what truly fuels creativity beyond data, algorithms, and the latest tech hype.
Curiosity topped the list. For Powers and Diquez, it’s the ultimate creative engine, stronger than any technical skill, because it pushes us to ask better questions, seek the unexpected, and challenge the status quo.
Equally vital: cultural connection. The duo underscored how understanding people, their traditions, values, and rhythms of life, enables brands and agencies to create work that transcends borders and resonates globally. It’s this empathy, they noted, that often separates the good from the truly great ideas.
In a world glued to screens, both speakers delivered a wake-up call: “Get out of your phone.” Real insight, they argued, comes from observing real life – those unfiltered, human moments you can’t capture in a data feed.
They also urged creatives to draw from their own experiences. “You’re not boring,” Diquez reminded the audience. Authenticity rooted in who you are and what you’ve lived is what connects ideas to audiences and brands alike.
Confidence was another recurring theme. The courage to sell an idea with conviction, even when improvising can make or break whether it moves forward. But balance matters too. Knowing when to say yes, and when to say no, is what keeps creative energy sustainable and work meaningful.
And because creativity doesn’t thrive in isolation, both leaders emphasized the importance of collaboration. Surround yourself with the right people – strategists, producers, account partners. Those who elevate ideas rather than dilute them.
The session wrapped with a powerful reminder that gratitude and recognition are creative multipliers. When teams feel seen and valued, creativity expands and the work that follows reflects it.
As LIA marks this milestone year, “Creativity’s Secret Weapons” perfectly captured the essence of the Creative LIAisons mission: empowering young creatives to realize that the real edge in creativity isn’t artificial, it’s human.
In a world increasingly driven by technology and data, this message echoes adobo magazine’s 2025 theme of Creative Intelligence, the powerful fusion of human insight, empathy, and imagination that keeps creativity not just relevant, but revolutionary.
