Design in the driver's seat.

Last week I attended a virtual event called “Identical Twins, UN Identical Paths,” hosted by James Sommerville of Known Unknown, and featuring creative leaders—and (you guessed it) twins—Teman and Teran Evans. Teran is currently the VP of Brand Strategy at BECU, while Teman is Global Chief of Design at General Mills.

On paper, they share a lot: identical twins, trained architects, now working at the highest levels of brand, design, and business. In practice, their careers reveal something far more interesting than symmetry. They offer a living case study in how creative careers are no longer linear—and why that’s a good thing.

What emerged from the conversation were a few lessons that feel especially relevant right now, as creative leaders navigate blurred roles, shifting power structures, and a renewed emphasis on storytelling.

One of the early themes was the classic creative career question: agency side or brand side? Sommerville has had experience in both at the highest levels, and prompted each to share their own experience.

Teman framed it simply:

• Agency experience sharpens your ability to tell stories.

• Brand experience teaches you how to operationalize those stories inside a real organization.

That distinction used to feel like a fork in the road. Today, it feels more like a loop. As an aside, I started my career in the agency world. It was flashy, fun, yet unpredictable. I had the chance to be exposed to many kinds of projects and industries, yet for me it felt like a young person’s game. The pressure and environment in the New York agency world was intense. I would imagine that has changed some in the many years since.

The line between agency and brand is blurring fast. Brands are building in-house studios that rival agencies. Agencies are embedding themselves deeper into business strategy and moving up the leadership ladder. And companies like Gap, which just hired Pam Kaufman as its first-ever Chief Entertainment Officer, signal something bigger: storytelling is no longer a marketing function—it’s a leadership function.

The takeaway: Don’t over-rotate on choosing sides. The most valuable creative leaders understand both worlds and can translate between them.

One of the most memorable moments came from Teran, who shared a story from the brothers’ time at Harvard.

As students, they worked in the office of an architecture professor (I couldn’t catch the name) and were exposed to some truly transformational projects—everything from large-scale innovation strategy to work connected to the Beijing Olympics. At a dinner one night, the professor said something that stuck:

“It’s strange to me that you’re exposed to this education of architecture, but when you graduate, you all step on each other to do the exact same thing—build buildings.”

The implication was clear: architecture isn’t just about buildings. It’s about systems, behavior, power, and experience.

Teran took it a step further with a line that landed hard:

“We see the design degree as the law degree of the 21st century.”

In other words, design is no longer a downstream craft. It’s a way of thinking that prepares people to lead—across industries. It’s no accident that we’re seeing more Chief Marketing Officers and Chief Design Officers stepping into CEO roles.

Design has moved into the driver’s seat. Last week during the annual global leadership conference held in Davos, many artistic leaders were present as part of the “Arts and Culture” program, yet, we need to push for a world where creative leaders are not boxed into a talk track only focused on art. Everything is design, from social structures to political alliances. Our world leaders would do well to lean into this truth.

Both brothers are now teachers as well, and Teran shared a moment when a student asked them, “Are you sad you had to leave the profession?” He was speaking about architecture, as they both moved away from the core discipline into brand design career paths.

The question sparked a realization echoed perfectly by a Steve Martin quote:

“You’ll use everything you’ve ever learned.”

Architecture didn’t disappear from their lives—it became a lens. A way of seeing and shaping the world across brand, experience, commerce, and culture.

That idea feels especially important for creative leaders who worry about “leaving” their craft as they move into leadership roles. You’re not leaving it. You’re scaling it.

One final point from Teman grounded the conversation in reality:

When design shows up in the world of commerce, it has to speak the language of commerce. The same can be said in other avenues as well. There still holds a perception that design is “fluffy” and without compromise. The best design (and designers) learn how to adapt into the environments they occupy.

That doesn’t mean diluting creativity. It means understanding context—how value is created, measured, and sustained. The creative leaders who will thrive next aren’t just visionaries; they’re translators. They know how to connect design intent to business impact without losing the soul of the work.

The Evans brothers’ “un-identical” paths offer a fun look at the age-old question of nature vs. nurture. In listening to them, you can tell that they are quite literally “cut from the same cloth.” And yet, it is clear that they also have inhabited environments where creativity and passion were supported. In fact, they told a story of their parents encouraging them to pursue a path of design and architecture from an early age.

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Creative careers are no longer ladders. They’re ecosystems. Storytelling, design, strategy, and leadership are converging, and the people who can move fluidly across those domains are becoming the most influential voices in business.

In a world obsessed with optimization and AI, this conversation was a timely reminder: how we think, design, and tell stories still matters—and maybe more than ever. Thank you to both Teran and Teman, as well as James and the team at KU for curating such an important conversation.

Photo by Zach Wiley on Unsplash.