LAILA GUNESEKERE-MARTENSTYN & HOWARD MARTENSTYN
An achievers profile.
She is from Venus, he’s definitely Mars. His feet are firm on the ground, she’s in mid-air. He’s entwined with the natural world; she’s unapologetically a concrete jungle kind of girl.
City girl? Nature boy?
How did their two worlds even collide? But collide they did and while on a personal level her zig complements his zag their professional lives lead them on diametrically diverse but equally successful paths.
Laila Gunesekere now also Martenstyn and Howard Martenstyn met on a night some Decembers ago with no idea they would marry 3 years later. He didn’t realize she was Gemini and he was getting two for the price of one. She never thought he’d actually expect her to go camping!
But today as they amicably wrestle for the television remote they know that for both travel is true therapy, never mind that his leads to the underwater world and hers goes straight to the mall!
Their passion for the lives they lead has fueled an intrinsic desire to excel. They have been recognized, celebrated and highly awarded and they ain’t stopping now. Not by a long shot!
Laila Gunesekere-Martenstyn learnt that A is for Advertising and forgot about the rest of the alphabet. She has made this world her world from the age of 17 – even before university – starting at the very bottom of the ladder; she mastered every rung before moving to the next one. From junior writer to senior writer / account executive, to Group Head, / Account Manager, to Creative Director, to Executive Creative Director, to Director – Board of Management to Vice President of Grant Advertising, and Director of Response Marketing, Grant Public Relations & Juice Productions, the bottom of the ladder seems far away now but her head is not quite in the clouds. “I learnt something different from every step and am proud to have started at the bottom with no helping hand. Be completely self made, aim high in your careers but stay grounded in your heart. It works” she candidly said.
Over the years she has very proudly been included in innumerable Sri Lankan Institute of Marketing Creative & Effectiveness Awards as well as Chili & Sumathi Creative Awards. She has been awarded a Gold Medal for Presentation Skills at the McCann Leadership Program in Princeton followed soon after by the HK McCann Award for Leadership Excellence. In 2006 the Zonta Club of Sri Lanka honored her with the Woman of Achievement Award for Advertising. She has also been a recipient of the 1000 voices award for Social Marketing. More recently she received the Global Super Achiever Award for advertising in Mumbai India Last year. Committed to developing the industry as a whole she has twice been President of the 4A’s (Accredited Advertising Agencies Association) & twice President of the IAA (International Advertising Association). She has also twice been included in the 50 most Powerful Women in Business listing and last month was honored by being selected to the international Spikes Jury in Singapore. She also actively supports the Women In Need and the School for the Deaf & Blind.
Howard Martenstyn climbed a very different type of ladder. If possible he swam to the top. A man passionately in pursuit of never discovered before research and information on Sri Lanka’s wondrous marine life, his post retirement years have been anything but relaxing. And have resulted in appreciative accolades galore. 3 years of waking up at 2 in the morning of painstaking photography, writing, re-writing and re-re- writing, his best selling 272 page book ‘Out of the Blue’ was born. He borrowed from his design engineering roots & designed the entire book himself. He then embarked on teaching himself how to design a webpage and created SLAM – Sri Lanka’s Amazing Maritime. His maiden effort into the field of web design won him the Best Website Design – Travel & Tourism sector at this year’s Web Design Awards.
Shortly after, UK’s Natural Wildlife Safaris named him the Natural World Hero for August and he was featured on the website.
His current recognition culminated with him being included in the prestigious Marquis ‘Who’s Who in the World’ for his contribution to marine research.
Howard has plans for a new book, and is committed to educating school children, tourists and marine life watchers on best practices and protection of our marine life. He shares his knowledge of promoting conservation of marine life & maritime heritage through his website Slam.lk. Howard is a director of CRIOMM (Centre of Research for Indian Ocean Marine Mammals) and constantly gives talks and conducts symposiums on the subject. In his life before the world of marine mammals, he was an accomplished engineer at Nortel in Canada.
To know the true Howard and Laila better we asked them some candid questions and got back refreshing answers.
What, do you believe is the secret to your success?
LAILA – “it’s very simple – success is an attitude… wear it well. Know your business inside out. In advertising, understand your market completely, develop a deep knowledge of the brands you work on and cultivate a genuine respect & brilliant working relationship with clients. Your work must enhance their business, sell their products – Then & Only then are you successful.
Equally important for me, is that my door & my heart is always open to the people I work alongside. I don’t believe in just giving ideas & advice, I believe in working with.
HOWARD – Success is fuelled by passion and a burning desire to learn. You need to push yourself to the limit and then some. My personal success includes meticulous attention to detail and continuously searching for methods of improvement.
As Leaders in your fields, any Leadership tips?
LAILA – Leadership is a privilege that must be executed with substance & style. Always lead by example. Keep meetings short, tight & effective. Limit lengthy outbound e-mails, they are this millennials perfect excuse for semi – procrastination & real / work avoidance. Be open & always honest with your core team, impart knowledge, & contribute effectively every day. Don’t command or expect respect. Earn it.
HOWARD – A good leader evolves from a good follower, one who has experienced much and developed empathy to others. Always lead by example believing in continuous improvement and effective communication.
Any tips for a good marriage? Family life?
LAILA – Believe your partner is your equal and that at the core of every great marriage is a great friendship. To my children, I constantly remind them to do something for others every day. Give without question. Care without boundaries.
HOWARD – Communication & mutual respect is key as is work life balance. However important work is do not let it eat into core family time. Be there for each other in tough times and never bring up past mistakes.
In your words how do you describe yourself?
HOWARD – I’d much rather let other people describe me!
LAILA – I’m all about the sunshine and colour! I am passionately a people person, adore my family, dote on my dog, love my wonderful, fabulous friends, have a deep belief in God without whom I am nothing. My regrets are clichéd… could be richer, could be thinner, should be spoiled but am not!
I live vicariously though the work I do and the charities I support. I am ready now to embark on something new & have a few surprises in store!