Oonie Chase, another Digitas alumn, is one of those women you strive to be – creative, uber smart with a wicked sense of humor and a killer shoe collection. I got to know Oonie at Digitas where she was a Creative Director leading the experience design and strategy for American Express and I was taken with her from the start. She is someone who loves her present job in a serious way, so I’ve asked her to tell us more about how she got here.

Me: What are you doing now?

Oonie: I am an SVP at GMMB, building & leading the digital engagement practice. GMMB is one of the top Democratic candidate and public-policy shops doing integrated campaigns & communications for the likes of (then candidate) Obama, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Nothing But Nets (an anti-malarial campaign), Save Darfur and others.

Me: How did you find this job?

Oonie: Actually, the job found me.

When I began looking around for “the next thing” (this after 8 years at Digitas), I was introduced to Matt Wells by Cindy Gallop, a mutual friend. At the time he was the global head of digital talent for The Talent Business. We had intense talks over breakfast about where the most interesting stuff in digital was happening, about what was important to me, about colleagues I’ve learned from, etc. And while I had been told that he was more an agent than headhunter – that he would only bring you the stuff that was truly a fantastic fit for you – I wasn’t prepared to not hear back from him. For anything. At all. But I figured, hey – “You play. You Win. You play. You lose. You play.” (to quote someone far more eloquent than I).

Fast-forward 18 months: I was six months into a new job (Executive Creative Director for Blast Radius on the west coast). Election night. In a hotel in Seattle writing a product launch plan for a client. Obama’s giving his acceptance speech on TV and Seattle is erupting – people have poured out onto the streets to celebrate. And I am sitting in a hotel room. Writing a deck. About instant coffee.

6AM the next morning the phone rings. It’s Matt, saying, “How would you like to work for the guys who helped Obama do that?”

This was not an easy choice though: I was living in Vancouver, working with a shit-hot team on sexy clients for one of the classic digital shops. I had no idea who GMMB was, the position was to be based in DC, it was a new position in an organization that did not have a deep digital practice or understanding. Most of the clients are not sexy. But ultimately what made the difference was wanting to use my superpowers for good. Politics, cause and public policy is all about creating, nurturing and channeling group action. And nothing is so perfectly suited for doing so than what we are seeing emerge in the digital spaces.

Me: How did you know it was time to make a change?

Oonie: I was restless. I was being challenged by my clients and the work but it was feeling repetitive & soul-less.

Me: Could you tell us about any obstacles that you had and how you overcame them?

Oonie: To be honest, I’ve always been good with change – I have the gene for “blessed unrest.” The biggest obstacle – if you can call it that – was finding something that was right.

Me: What do you know now that you wish you had known at the beginning of your transition?

Oonie: That everything would unfold as it should.

Me: What advice would you give someone who is thinking about making a change in their life?

Oonie: If you are even considering it, then you need to do it. Trust yourself enough to know that something needs changing. You might not know what yet, but you must give yourself permission to explore & figure it out. So: embrace it. Enjoy the process. Shut up and learn something.

One note: think carefully about what needs a-changin’. There is that classic, cautionary tale of the pregnant woman who gets her hair cut off and realizes, when she looks in the mirror at her new chopped do, that she was not tired of her hair. She was tired of being pregnant.

Sometimes it’s not a big shake-up. Sometimes it is a few little(ish) things. Stay open to the possibilities.