How Our Authentic Queerness Illuminates Our Work and Careers

Your brand and business are based on the teamwork and passion you develop in the talent that surrounds you. Work is effortless when we have the best people working together toward one common goal. My passion and empathy amplify my experience in building world-class, global teams for nurturing diverse ideas. I’m constantly curious about different cultures and points of view. Through high growth years at Nike and leading the brand evolution at Levi’s, I always had teamwork as the single foundation for success. With over 30 years of leadership experience, I’ve been fortunate to create opportunities that match new business growth with superior talent. I founded ThenWhat as a response to business leaders who believe in breakthrough ideas. CEOs and Global Leaders engage with us to turnaround business, improve consumer relevance and attack new opportunities. ThenWhat’s transformative brand lab brings together multi-disciplinary experts that solve problems and create merchandising-led strategies for our clients. Our inspiration comes from the unique fringes of culture where the most creative ideas exist. The question of “when the world is disrupted, TheWhat?” is solved by looking beyond the obvious. At Levi’s, we created the mantra “build moments to create momentum that ignites a movement.” This is the guiding principle for how I evaluate every idea. It starts with a strategy that balances the art and science of business. By partnering together, we can discover new opportunities that deliver both cultural relevance and shareholder value.

Anthony Meindl is an award-winning director, writer, actor, acting coach, entrepreneur, author and inspirational speaker. As an acting teacher, he has the largest scene study studio in Los Angeles and has schools in 9 other cities around the world: New York, London, Vancouver, Toronto, Atlanta, Santa Fe, Sydney, Chicago, and Copenhagen. He’s known for revolutionizing a more modern understanding of acting training and has worked with such Hollywood luminaries as Shailene Woodley, Trevante Rhodes, pop star Camila Cabello, and hundreds of others. He guest taught for Directing at David Lynch’s Master of Filmmaking Program, and has lectured at the prestigious Moscow Arts Theatre. He has been an inspirational speaker, sharing the stage with such luminaries as Jim Carey, Jack Cornfield and Tom Shadyac. As a screenwriter, he has written a number of award-winning screenplays, including the Slamdance Grand-Prize winning The Wonder Girls, which also received a Nicholl Fellowship mention. As a filmmaker, Anthony has received a number of awards and acclaim. His feature film, Where We Go From Here is available on HULU and explores three different intertwining stories about love. The film premiered at Outfest in Los Angeles, won the “Best Screenplay” award at Q-Films Long Beach, and the “Jury Award” at NYC’s East Village Queer Film Festival. His second feature, Sum Of Us, premiered at the Los Angeles Downtown Film Festival and is currently on the festival circuit. His short film, Is This You, Too?, also released in 2019, has screened at over a dozen film festivals and was awarded the “Best Short Film” Awards at both the Tulum World Environmental Film Festival and the Colorado International Activism Film Fest. Anthony’s first short, Ready? OK! premiered at the prestigious Provincetown International Film Festival and sold to MTV’s LOGO Network as part of their “Best in Short Film” series. His first feature, Birds of a Feather, won the audience award at the Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival and was part of the inaugural Champs-Elysées Film Festival in Paris and Wroclaw, Poland. He is the author of three books, including the best-sellers, 'Book the F*cking Job' and 'At Left Brain Turn Right.' His latest book, 'You Knew When You Were Two', is being published this spring.