Advertising’s most interesting work rarely comes from playing it safe. The creative professionals on this list are poised to shape what the industry becomes in 2026 by pushing in the other direction—building worlds, breaking formats and redefining what relevance looks like in culture.

Nichols and Harrington both started their careers on the account side and have been seeking creative acceptance ever since, taking slightly different paths to get there. Harrington began his career in HR, detouring through account management and convincing someone to let him moonlight as a copywriter. Nichols snuck in through the presentation design door and simply never left. Before landing at Arnold in 2024, they did stint at MullenLowe and Hill Holliday and have worked on brands such as Dunkin’, KFC, JetBlue, Royal Caribbean, Frontier, Avis, Bank of America and Boar’s Head—spanning travel, QSR and financial services. Over the past year at Arnold, they’ve worked on PNC Bank and played a key role on the latest brand campaign for Norwegian Cruise Line.

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