LEADERSHIP SPOTLIGHT SERIES: AN INTERVIEW WITH HERTA
January 9, 2025
In our Leadership Spotlight Series, we are highlighting executives across our Company who are driving innovation, transforming business practices, and positively impacting the communities where we live and work.
With a career that spans from her early days as an artist, Herta Silva, Vice President, Creative Director of Marketing at Centric Brands, has embraced challenges, navigated change, and continually pushed the boundaries of what’s possible. Centric’s growth and expansion has significantly allowed her to foster innovation and collaboration while supporting her team to achieve extraordinary results.
How would you describe the overall progress of your team over the past year?
Over the past year, our in-house creative agency and photo studio have made significant strides, expanding their reach and responsibilities more than threefold. The team has taken on concepting, executing photography, art directing, styling, and retouching for both e-commerce and campaign shoots. They’ve also designed layouts for in-store signage, web, and social platforms.
Beyond supporting our brands, we’ve played a key role in assisting teams by leading the design of impactful pitch decks that have secured new business opportunities and renewals. Despite being a small team, our collective talent, creativity, and expertise has delivered value across projects for all divisions, becoming a crucial contributor to Centric’s ongoing success.
What are your top priorities for your team in the coming months?
Our top priority in the coming months is to resolve the production workload challenge, particularly in post-production, by leveraging technology and other resources. We’re exploring automation solutions to streamline tasks like retouching, file cropping, and naming, which currently consumes significant team bandwidth when they’re not actively shooting. For instance, when shooting 60 SKUs a day on models with five views each, we generate 300 images that require individual retouching notes, quality checks, unique file naming, and vendor-specific sizing and resolution. For releases involving two retailers, that workload doubles to 600 images per shoot.
On average, we produce around 1,000 model and 1,000 still-life images per week, with model shoots occurring 3–5 times a week. By automating these repetitive and time-intensive tasks, we aim to reduce overtime, expedite file delivery timelines, and free up our team to focus on their core creative work, ultimately enhancing both efficiency and output quality.
Can you share any specific instances where Centric’s culture has positively influenced your work?
Centric’s winning culture has significantly shaped my approach to work, making me more resilient, adaptable, and versatile. This mindset pushes me to think on my feet, execute under pressure, and consistently deliver results. The fast-paced nature has fostered a sense of confidence that grows with each achievement, proving that even what initially feels impossible can be accomplished. This confidence allows me to approach challenges with less hesitation and more creativity.
Additionally, the culture’s focus on growth and expansion has been instrumental in my professional development, encouraging me to step out of my comfort zone and continuously evolve in my career.
In what ways have you contributed to enhancing or shaping the winning culture at Centric?
There are many ways to influence culture personally, from organizing volunteer groups to fostering camaraderie during happy hours or offering emotional support to colleagues after a challenging day. For me, I enjoy connecting with people—listening to their stories and understanding their passions, challenges, and aspirations.
Co-founding UNiDOS and serving as co-chair, along with being a founding contributor to Creators for a Cause, has given me the opportunity to channel my creativity into meaningful initiatives outside my day-to-day role. These experiences have allowed me to do good, meet incredible colleagues I might not have otherwise connected with, and contribute to Centric’s sense of community.
As we navigate growth and increasing business demands, we’re working to evolve ERGs into true resources that support our associates, making participation feel enriching rather than an added responsibility.
How has your job/role changed throughout the years?
Over the years, my role has grown and evolved in exciting ways.I started as a consultant Art Director at Global Brands Group (GBG), and transitioning to Creative Director allowed me to take on broader responsibilities, from shaping creative campaigns to leading impactful initiatives. As my role expanded, I’ve embraced new challenges and opportunities, sharpening my ability to balance creativity with the fast pace and high demands of the fashion retail industry.
This journey has strengthened my resilience and adaptability, teaching me to approach each challenge with confidence and a solutions-focused mindset. While the pace is fast and the expectations high, it has pushed me to grow, refine my skills, and deliver impactful results. Each step in my role has given me the chance to learn and contribute to the Company’s success.
What key lessons have you learned since joining Centric?
To succeed, one must be adaptable to change and always be eager to evolve oneself to keep up with business demands.
