Eitan Chitayat is the founder and ECD of the international Natie Branding Agency. Eitan has been delivering global brands for over 20 years.
He’s lived in Hong-Kong, London, Tel Aviv, New York and Boston. Clients include Google, Apple, Facebook, YouTube, Medisafe, UBQ, Waterlogic and Clariter. He’s worked at Arnold Worldwide in Boston, Ogilvy & Mather and BBDO in New York and was TBWA Digital’s executive CD in Tel Aviv.
Eitan consults regularly, speaks at global conferences and has been a judge for the One Show. He’s the creator behind “I’m That Jew” which has been viewed over 10 million times on various platforms and gave a TEDx talk about why he created it. He’s also the co-creator of a more recent viral piece celebrating all women, “She’s that Woman” which he released with his close friend and long-time collaborator, Dana Satterwhite.
Why do you support the HeForShe campaign?
To be perfectly honest, until today, I’d never heard of this movement. To me in my heart and mind it feels right that people, all people, should be able to start with a level playing field. Gender, religion, color, size….it doesn’t matter. I’ve always worked in a diverse workplace, just as many women as there were men. But in terms of leadership positions, it was always skewed towards men – which I’ve never really understood. At Natie Branding Agency, the agency I own, there’s a very even balance of men and women. From the strategy and writing, to the account management and design team. It’s not by choice. Not some decision I made as the owner. It just is. Feels right.
Why do you think it’s important for men to support gender equality in the workplace?
It’s such an obvious answer that it’s hard for me to express it in words. Why the f**k wouldn’t they?
How welcome are men in the gender equality conversation currently?
Pretty welcome, I imagine.
What can businesses do to encourage more men to feel welcome enough to get involved in the gender debate?
Speak to them about how it feels as a woman, I suppose. Don’t patronize or attack them. Don’t guilt them. I imagine that many men aren’t even aware that it bothers women as much as it does. That’s just a hunch, but honestly, what do I know?
Do you currently mentor any women or have you in the past?
Sure. I mentor and have mentored a wide range of people. Interns, students, start-ups, people looking for advice on branding or how to run a business.
Have you noticed any difference in mentoring women?
No, not that it isn’t the case but I haven’t ever really noticed a difference.
Watch the “She’s that Woman” below:
WeAreTheCity has a back catalogue of thousands of HeForShe interviews, including Suki Sandhu, Philip Baldwin, Asif Sadiq MBE, Rob Neil OBE and many more. You can read about all the amazing men championing gender equality here.
