Chris Ribeiro has taken a long and winding road to his position as creative director of the L.A. independent advertising agency Wongdoody.

Ribeiro worked at a lumber mill, on a logging crew and for a sheep ranch in Oregon, then tried salmon canning in Alaska.

“I was a confused young American male. Between high school and college, I didn’t know what I wanted to do, so I did a bunch of jobs,” he said. “Now, I can say it built character.”

At the age of 23, he went to the University of Oregon and received a bachelor’s degree in journalism, specializing in advertising. After graduating, he moved to New York to work at Ogilvy.

“I’ve strayed to where the money is,” he joked.

After two years in New York, Ribeiro moved to California and worked for a range of advertising firms: Colby Effler, TBWAChiatDay, Deutsch LA, and most recently, Secret Weapon Marketing, where he worked his way up from senior writer to creative director.

It was a college contact that helped him land his current post.

“I stayed in touch with Tracy. He’s the “Wong” in Wongdoody and also a graduate from the University of Oregon. Tracy had been thinking about hiring someone for the position at the Los Angeles office and so I called,” Ribeiro said. “I told him, ‘I’d really like to work here,’ and here I am.”

In his post, Ribeiro will oversee his firm’s efforts to provide up-to-date creative services for its clients.

“The traditional ways of executing ideas are going to go away or change. Ad agencies should be providing ideas as a creative product, not just ads,” he said.

“I’m excited because we’re nimble enough to be flexible.” Ribeiro said. He said that while “integration” has been a business buzzword for years, it’s never been effectively realized. He thinks Wongdoody can, however.

Ribeiro lives in Santa Monica with his wife and two daughters. To relax, he puts his woodworking skills to use building furniture. “It’s very Zen. In advertising, you hope to get to that center place.”

He is currently building a frame for his apron from the lumber mill to hang in his office.

“I can look at the apron and say: No matter what happens today it’ll be much better the next.”

Jade Takahashi