Given the leadership changes Cossette has experienced over the last year, perhaps it’s not surprising that, when he was asked about the biggest challenge the agency has faced of late, president (Ontario and West) Daniel Shearer had a simple answer: “People, people, people.”

For Shearer, it’s become all about finding the best talent and making sure they have both the space and the backing they need to be successful.

“We have never been more focused on supporting our people through the mental health challenges of being working parents with kids yanking at their shirttails every five minutes,” he says. “Or of living alone and struggling with pandemic loneliness and isolation. Or living in multi-generational households where there just isn’t enough space to jump on a phone call. Trying to provide consistency and quality to our clients in those conditions has been a unique challenge.”

But, despite these and other hurdles, Cossette has attracted top-drawer talent over the last year who will help shape the agency for years to come.

After several months and an extensive search, for example, Cossette recently named Sabaa Quao as its new CCO. Quao brings three decades of entrepreneurial experience in Canada and Europe, building platforms and companies in the tech, content and cultural spaces, to the role. That news came only weeks after the agency hired a swath of senior creatives to work on the McDonald’s Canada account, led by new ECD Jason Hill.