The Power of Being in the Room: A Pride Conversation with Broadway Producer Hunter Regian 

Bringing “Y’all of it All” to the stage

In Hunter’s words
“Identity brings strength and power. There were so many years of my life that I was hiding who I was, I dropped the twang, there was no sparkle. And then I moved back to Texas and all my friends and family, they were like who are you? And so instead of just coming to Broadway and fitting in with everyone else, I decided to bring my unique self to it in my new company. And that made all of my Southern investors feel welcome here in a way that they hadn’t in the past. And so everyone knows me now as the Texas guy, bringing the y’all of it all to Broadway.”

The insight for our industry
Our identity brings strength and power, and none of us are any one thing. We bring our lived experiences to our clients, making campaigns stronger and able to resonate with more communities. At Weber Shandwick, we thrive when our people feel empowered to speak up in a meeting and bring their unique POV. And, personally, I think of every presentation as a performance!

Client experience meets Broadway

In Hunter’s words
“Building community is so important. Every investor has their own reason for being part of a show. For some, it’s social justice, or education, or wanting to walk the red carpet. It’s about validating everyone’s dreams. I don’t need to change your reason for being here. But I also can’t ask outright – you have to listen and cue in.

The insight for our industry
Client relations is often about reading between the lines. Our relationships matter, and our expertise is what we’re hired to share. We are translating our clients’ vision and dreams into work that impacts people and culture. We have to listen and create a custom experience for each of our clients, and the communities they are trying to reach, ensuring we bring fresh, innovative perspectives and creative solutions to every project.

On influencer strategies

In Hunter’s words
“Building community is so important. Every investor has their own reason for being part of a show. For some, it’s social justice, or education, or wanting to walk the red carpet. It’s about validating everyone’s dreams. I don’t need to change your reason for being here. But I also can’t ask outright – you have to listen and cue in.

The insight for our industry
Client relations is often about reading between the lines. Our relationships matter, and our expertise is what we’re hired to share. We are translating our clients’ vision and dreams into work that impacts people and culture. We have to listen and create a custom experience for each of our clients, and the communities they are trying to reach, ensuring we bring fresh, innovative perspectives and creative solutions to every project.

On building unexpected communities

In Hunter’s words
“I think about the people who say, ‘that’s not for me.’ How can you reset their mind and their story that they’re actually a part of this community? I think of my gorgeous Texas women, my Paget women, or my Texas cheerleaders. They’re in drag! They’re in wigs, the hair, the eye lashes, everything. I say, y’all are the same, right? It’s about building community, driving education, making it clear that everyone is welcome.”

The insight for our industry
As communicators, we have to find ways to bridge what our clients are doing and the audiences who think ‘That’s not for me.” Hunter’s example perfectly illustrates finding the unexpected connective tissue. By identifying shared behaviors, passions and values, we can find common ground – and reshape the narrative to build stronger, more inclusive brand communities.

On the opportunity to grow

In Hunter’s words
“When you have the respect and the care for [inclusion], then everyone in all of the different rooms are bringing in that diversity and bringing in that appreciation for it. So I would say, the practical advice is get people at the top who really understand and value that and then not just talk the talk, but actually walk the walk and are giving the resources to make sure that everyone is heard, seen, and has space to be their best self. Having a leader who can say ‘There is space for us to be human here. We want you to be excellent, but that’s secondary to this human experience we’re sharing.’ We have someone who sets that culture and says, ‘There’s no winning and losing. There’s winning, and there’s having opportunity to grow.’”

The insight for our industry
Creating a team and workplace that sets the tone that everyone’s ideas are important and everyone has the opportunity to bring themselves to our work is an intentional decision. Finding ways to celebrate the wins while elevating the opportunities to grow is critical to continuing to develop the kinds of teams that bring forward the best (often award winning) ideas.

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