Meet Meara Daly

“I got connected to Teulo when one of our clients was invited to speak at a Teulo event last year. That talk was so well-received that I connected [Teulo CEO] Janelle to some other firms and our collaboration just sort of organically grew from there,” says Meara Daly, Co-Founder of the US-based strategic media and creative consultancy, Nelsondaly.

Nelsondaly supports architects and designers to get their work seen on a global stage through press and marketing initiatives, media management programmes and strategic partnerships, which now include an ongoing relationship with Teulo. Meara is collaborating with Teulo as an agent in the US, and is working hard to help expand the Teulo Tribe. “I am tapping into my network of colleagues to invite US architects to speak and also gathering recommendations for many smaller firms that I have never heard of, but who would be wonderful additions to the platform. It is really important to me that designers from all over the US are represented, not just architects based in Los Angeles and New York. Teulo is a fantastic opportunity for them to showcase what they are working on.”

Meara launched Nelsondaly 11 years ago as a natural combination of her art history education and her deep experience in marketing for architecture firms including Kevin Daly Architects. “I spent the first part of my career as Marketing Director for Leers Weinzapfel in Boston. I learned so much from that job and made some life-long friendships. Most importantly, I witnessed two women run a successful architecture firm that has only gotten better. After moving back to Los Angeles and freelancing for a bit, I joined forces with my partner Katherine Nelson. Katherine was a design editor in New York and comes from the media side of things. We found that there were very few people who specialised in media relations primarily for architects, and felt our backgrounds in marketing and editorial media could support architects as they present their stories to the world.”

Nelsondaly counts among its clients some of the most exciting architects working in the US right now including Bestor Architecture, LEVER Architecture, Escher GuneWardena Architecture and Design, Bitches. In order to support them in an ever-changing media landscape, Meara says that the consultancy has had to evolve quickly. “In the past, for many firms, media really relied on a ‘project’ getting published. You design a project, get it photographed and then pitch it to the appropriate outlet. Then, when you have many projects, you put them together to create a monograph. As opportunities for design print media have contracted, firms have had to look to other ways of promoting their expertise.”

Podcasting is a good way to do this, she says, as are social media, self-publishing and teaching. “Architecture and design is different than something like product, that has a broader reach. It is inherently a slow process, with years between the beginning and end of a project. We really try to focus on quality media opportunities for our clients, rather than ‘hits’, and are always looking to unite the best writer with a story. Our biggest allies in this are our collaborators who are embedded with our clients – the marketing department, office managers, assistants to the principals – they really help us support our clients in the best possible way.”

Meara is a firm believer in the value of design in our everyday lives; she says that the more we can support exposure to environments and products that are thoughtfully, intriguingly designed, the better quality of life we can expect. She sees her role as one in support of architects by telling their stories and encouraging other people to also find and appreciate that value. “I think my education in art history gave me a strong base to understand the concepts many architects are working with so, in that way, our collaborations start from a common place. I also quite like a puzzle and the greatest challenge in our line of business is to present an architect’s work in language that is suitable and accessible to the general public. We are really translators who refashion language so everyone not only has access to great design visually, but also access to the thinking behind it.”

Several Nelsondaly clients have significant projects opening this year, Meara says, including LEVER’s new CLT tower in LA, KDA & Productora’s Houston Endowment Building and several new workspaces by Bestor Architecture. “We are excited to start sharing those with readers. Our firm is also growing with the addition of Jen Lathrop, formerly of Michael Maltzan Architecture, who is joining us as a specialist in architectural marketing for emerging designers.”

Meara and Janelle are excited to see where the Teulo and Nelsondaly collaboration leads, and are already finding great opportunities to showcase US talent for Teulo’s international audience of architects and designers. ““Great design is happening all over the US,” Meara says, “and we should be highlighting that. My personal hope for the Teulo platform is that eventually we showcase designers from every state!”

To connect with Meara visit https://www.nelsondaly.com/ or email meara@nelsondaly.com.