Walls Have Doors
Lessons from Christine Wise’s life and career so far
Christine Wise’s office is, for the most part, empty. The walls are bare, except for a large poster and a whiteboard. The poster features a close-up of former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s face, overlaid with the words: “Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything.” Positioned next to her office door, the poster comes from Nike’s infamous partnership campaign with Kaepernick — an undeniably fitting piece for an advertising professor’s office. Beneath the whiteboard sits a cream leather couch, facing an L-shaped desk. Her desk is what you might expect from any professor: a computer and monitor, a couple stacks of books, a water bottle, a thermos, and a scatter of personal items. Next to the desk is a file cabinet decorated with three magnets — one of a colorful, almost abstract dog, another that says “Cape Cod” with a lighthouse, and a third that simply reads “Brewster.” In the final corner of the room, under the poster, sits an almost empty square table that holds two miniature pickleball paddles and a net.
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Christine Wise could not be more different from her minimalist office. The unadorned space contrasts with her rich, decades-long career spanning entrepreneurship, advertising, and academia. The likely reason for the lack of decoration? She’s only been at the University of Oregon for a year. Previously from Seattle, Christine came to the School of Journalism and Communications directly from the advertising world, where she served as Chief Strategy Officer at DNA (now DNA & Stone). Today, she’s both a professor of practice and the director of the university’s advertising program. Outside of work, Christine enjoys running, meditating, playing pickleball (often competitively in her office with students), and spending time with her dog, Milwaukee (Millie for short).
In conversation, Christine is quick, thoughtful, and engaging, qualities that hint at her background in fast-paced strategic environments. When I asked why she pursued advertising, she told me how her love for the field was sparked while running the New York Marathon: “At mile 20, there was a billboard that said ‘walls have doors.’ Which is, you know, you hit the wall at mile 20. I saw it and thought, ‘Man, you get me.’ It was a moment of realizing that advertising isn’t just about selling stuff, it’s really about connecting with people.” Since then, “Walls have doors” has become her mantra. “How ironic is it that my life mantra is an ad?” she added with a laugh.
Christine divides her career into three chapters: business, advertising, and academia. Her first chapter began in the 1990s, when she co-founded a company called CareGuide with two friends. The company helped people research care options for aging parents — a groundbreaking idea at the time that had real social impact. CareGuide was acquired by Coordinated Care Solutions in 2000. Her second chapter, advertising, is arguably her largest. In this chapter, she held senior roles at Publicis, the Wexley School for Girls, and DNA. One of her favorite memories from this era was leading a pitch to MTV while at Wexley: “We went to represent the agency, and it was just that night we knew we had a good pitch, we didn’t know if we’d won, but we did FaceTime out in the Plaza Rockefeller Center and everyone was cheering and it was this moment of being at the finish line. It wasn’t even about winning or losing, it was just this positive experience. It was about the fact that we got there”. Now, in her third chapter, Christine works in academia. In addition to her role at the University of Oregon, she has also previously lectured at the University of Washington. Her favorite part of teaching is running the Ad Team. She loves getting to know each student, identifying their strengths, and helping them grow.
Despite her impressive resume, Christine’s humility stands out. When I asked what still surprises her about her career, she responded without hesitation, “How much there is to learn.” This answer struck me. With her experience, Christine would be well within her rights to speak from a place of authority. But instead, she emphasizes the importance of curiosity, “I always say that there’s no such thing as an expert, the more experience you have, the more you realize how inexperienced you are. The industry is so dynamic and always changing, so you can never really master it. While that might hurt some people’s egos, I find it really energizing.” When I asked if she had any regrets or wished she’d taken a different direction, she said, “I really don’t. I feel so fortunate. Like I said, I have chapters, and whenever I felt my heart wasn’t in something, I pivoted. I’ve never had to pivot because of money or because I lost a job, it’s always been because the passion flame got too low.”
The best answer Christine gave me came when I asked her what success means to her: “Success means I’m doing something that’s fulfilling with people I feel like I have a positive impact on.” In less than a year at the University of Oregon, Christine has already made the positive impact she strives to create, through leading Ad Team to the semi-finals, teaching classes, and mentoring countless students. I’m sure every student and mentee is grateful for her presence and expertise. I know I am. I look forward to continuing to learn from Christine, whether in a class, through book or movie recommendations, or during a competitive round of table pickleball.
