Variety Act Miami #5: Meet Carmen Villafañe Graham, Head of Content + Creative at REEF.
Creative strategist, community-builder, daughter of West Kendall.
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Welcome to another Variety Act Miami! This is your compère, Natalie Guevara. Before we officially begin: big-ups to Jibby Coffee founders (and Variety Act Miami alums) Alvaro Ortega and James Reina, who were featured in a glowing piece in Miami New Times earlier this week. We love to see our CBD coffee kings win and get those clicks!
I’m most excited about today’s newsletter because it’s shining a light on someone who is that rare combination of cool and grounded, calm and incandescent, brilliant, accomplished, and driven but also humble, observant, and ever-curious: Carmen Villafañe Graham. (See for yourself: check Carmen out on this panel featuring moms in the South Florida tech community today at 12 pm EDT!)
Carmen is a creative strategist and digital content visionary who’s headed up storytelling, social media, communications, and media relations for some of the most culture-forward brands in the world, among them Complex Networks, New York Magazine, and Verizon. As a peer in this arena—we were two Cuban-American girls heading up comms for music media companies in New York City at the same damn time—I’ve long-admired her talent for distilling very broad and complex (ha, ha) corporate initiatives into bold, impactful consumer messaging.
Now firmly back in her hometown of Miami after years grinding in Manhattan, Carmen is currently the Head of Content + Creative at REEF, a Magic City-headquartered, turbo-charged technology and logistics platform with national scale and influence. REEF initially began as a parking lot management company and now converts underutilized urban spaces (like said parking lots!) into vibrant neighborhood hubs. It also provides infrastructure and servicing for retail spaces, delivery kitchens and virtual restaurants, healthcare clinics, experiential spots, and more.
REEF’s mission, coupled with the complexity of its operations both in the 305 and beyond, means that on any given day Carmen is managing a bounty of initiatives and activations to reach residents where they are and make them see REEF’s work for what it is: building the future of neighborhoods and changing the way communities interact with public spaces. I don’t know about y’all but I’m both winded and inspired!
She notes:
Enterprise and entrepreneurship can and do thrive in Miami; we just do it our way, and we’re less pretentious about it. It’s cool to be part of a homegrown unicorn that wants to stay that way. There’s a real cultural pride to diversifying where the ‘cool’ companies are and where ‘great talent’ originates from. Why should Miami play second fiddle to any other city?
A self-described “cynic with a heart of gold,” Carmen is a master at navigating full plates at work and at home in Coconut Grove, where she’s the young matriarch of a gorgeous family. A West Kendall native, her Miami claim to fame is having her Holy Communion photo displayed at La Ideal Children’s Store for “arguably way too long.”
MEET CARMEN VILLAFAÑE GRAHAM, HEAD OF CONTENT + CREATIVE AT REEF.
On her gravitational pull towards storytelling and compelling content:
I first realized I gravitated towards storytelling in high school. I barely passed chemistry, so being a doctor was out, but I was always very verbal and visual. So, junior year (big ups, OLLA)—between classes in visual communications, creative writing, and design illustration—I started begging my parents to let me move to New York City for boarding school (they said no). But I knew that was the end goal.
In college, I interned at Lucky magazine (RIP) under Kim France and I knew this was where I needed to be. If you recall, Lucky was essentially a shopping magazine. It was branded content before that was truly a thing.
Fast-forward to joining Complex in 2013—in the first of what would be three stints—and I got to rub elbows with people who arguably perfected the medium. I think as soon as I realized that the new wave of journalism was only as good as its amplification and packaging—these days, to a fault!—I was hooked on the idea of helping brands, or anyone really, get in on that.
On the dimension of brand storytelling she really loves:
I love the brief; that moment when a brand sits you down and says, “We have this unsolvable problem and no way of reaching people.” It’s that “spark” moment when everyone agrees that the only way is through a great story, pre-feedback loops, pre-production challenges and budgets, and all the fine print.
Ultimately, seeing those big ideas through is just so gratifying.
On the element of brand-building that’s not discussed enough:
The importance of making creative spaces safe for honest feedback and pie-in-the-sky ideation. When I was younger, one of the most difficult things for me was finding the gumption to throw out a crazy idea—or worse, to disagree! And now, it’s almost harder as a manager. It’s so hard to make sure all voices feel heard and aren’t bulldozed, by me or anyone. But you can’t build a good brand without diversity of thought.
My very favorite thing about the internet is how creative has been democratized—some would say to a fault. Having an Instagram account does not necessarily make you a photographer, but one cannot deny the ingenuity that digital creators have forced—louder for those in the back!—FORCED brands to adopt.
I will always appreciate a beautiful, big-budget photoshoot; a glossy print; a beautifully produced ad, and so on. But that’s not what I’m scrolling through late at night. You can be mad, or you can get onboard.
On the REEF campaign she’s particularly proud of:
Just recently, REEF launched a 360° campaign declaring that the “Future is a lot closer” in Miami, because we’re here. One of the billboards said “Imagine Miami as the next tech hub.” We loved our campaign, but it wasn’t until Mayor Suarez did his Miami Tech Week that it truly got noticed as the official-unofficial emblem of his message.
Enterprise and entrepreneurship can and do thrive in Miami; we just do it our way, and we’re less pretentious about it. It’s cool to be part of a homegrown unicorn that wants to stay that way. There’s a real cultural pride to diversifying where the “cool” companies are and where “great talent” originates from. Why should Miami play second fiddle to any other city? This movement has been a thing. The pandemic just amplified it.
We’ve definitely got a lot to figure out as a city, but as part of the unintended culmination of our campaign, the city actually approved REEF to pilot our use of delivery kitchens. It wasn’t a direct correlation, but I like to think the buzz we generated through the campaign helped galvanize the consideration from our city commissioners.
On building and promoting a brand in Miami compared to other markets:
The standing belief in marketing is that Miami is a tough market to crack, and I don’t disagree. For one, there’s a huge amount of brand loyalty for what already exists. As another consideration, there are 14 different “Miamis,” and how long you’ve been here dictates your approach to most things—which, in a city of immigrants and transplants, you can imagine becomes a pretty complex Venn diagram for a brand marketer. Take the 2020 U.S. presidential election, for example. The country was shocked that Miami was split red and blue. Those of us who know were like, “...This is not news.”
For me, the dynamic challenges me to consider this in our creative strategy. REEF’s entire platform is built around the importance of a neighborhood. What resonates with Brickell residents won’t mean anything to people in Kendall. Groundbreaking? No. But it makes me a student of our city in a new way.
On Miami’s amazing—and still largely unsung—talent pool:
There are spectacular creatives, strategists, and beyond who are based here. Blame it on my NYC chapter, but for a long time I was a real snob about this. The last three years—and specifically last year, when I joined REEF—have shown me just how wrong I was. We live—and work and create and innovate—where you vacation has become more and more accurate.
On her cultural diet:
On my streaming queue: The Handmaid’s Tale, Mare of Easttown, and, cliché of the century, but Bridgerton got me on a sexy period drama kick that I am not shaking. I’ve watched Poldark, Victoria, The Last Czars, and a few other unmemorable-but-so-relaxing others.
On my bookshelf: Last year, I read a book a month. This year, I’ve been awful. Due to said period drama obsession, there’s a lot of Wikipedia-ing while I watch. Consider me your go-to for all things Regency-, Victorian-, and pre-WWI-era Europe.
On my playlist: Quarantine ruined my podcast habit! Because I wasn’t commuting I’ve completely fallen off. When it comes to music, I honestly haven’t updated a playlist in years. I’m currently back into my “Spanish Girl Problems” playlist from early college: La Oreja de Van Gogh, old Shakira, Celia Cruz, Beny Moré, and classics from family parties of old.
On what she’s up to at 2 pm on a Wednesday:
I’m probably in back-to-back meetings.
While of course I love all my local Miami spots, I’ve got to say the Sweetgreen pick-up window that just opened up in my neighborhood of Coconut Grove is a game-changer for a quick lunch. I tend to eat later in the day and sometimes I’ll take a call to go and pick up a salad bowl. Call it a carry-over from my NYC days, but Miami has always had a serious lack of good fresh salad spots! I blame it on the Cuban salad being iceberg lettuce, a radish, and a tomato. Maybe also a cucumber on a good day. Love y’all, but sometimes I need something cold and hearty!
On how she’s spending her last precious weekend hours at 6 pm on a Sunday:
The answer people want to hear is that I organize my week, make my to-do lists, catch up on emails. FALSE!
6 pm on a Sunday, I’m probably playing outside or at the pool with the kids. If we’re lucky, they’re behaving and we’ll go get an early dinner out in the neighborhood. Lokal and Spillover By Kush in the Grove are favorites.
Sundays well-spent are the actual cure for the Sunday scaries. Don’t get me wrong; if this question was about 9:30 am on a Saturday, it’d be a different conversation. That’s when I get left-over work done so it’s out of sight, out of mind by Sunday at 6 pm.
On one picture from her camera roll:
Grovites: My family moved to the Grove from Manhattan because it’s as tranquilo y tropical as Miami gets. This was one of those Front Porch Project shoots organized early pandemic.
CARMEN’S MIAMI FAVORITES.
Miami anthem (current or classic!): Never not “Take It To Da House” by Trick Daddy featuring Trina & The Slip-N-Slide Express.
Restaurants & bars: As an adoptive Grovite, I’m big on the locals! Tigertail + Mary, Ariete, Farinelli, Flanigan’s, Lokal, and, love it or hate it, Greenstreet is a classic.
Cafés, diners, bakeries, & ventanitas: Fly Buy, a Grove convenience store, has a cortadito that rivals any ventanita! But big, big shoutout to a West Side classic: Islas Canarias. THEE croqueta of Miami. Don’t @ me.
Cultural centers: My favorite cultural centers in Miami are the domino parks. Imagine something being so embedded in the culture that there are actual city-funded spaces dedicated to it. Also, the bookstore dreams are made of: Books & Books. The one in Coral Gables is the O.G. for me.
Small businesses: I gotta shout out my girl Melanie at House of Lilac. It’s given me a new appreciation for just how Herculean an effort it is to be an entrepreneur. Especially one with kids! I also have a lot of jewelry from Ana Mari Ortega and random things from what I like to call the small business mall off of Bird and 67th: Shoes to You, Vintage Rose Home, Mother Goose, and lots more. The Bird Road Design District is a gem!
The Great Outdoors: Since we were kids, we’ve been Mid-Beach people. So, we’ll head to the 30-50 block off Collins Avenue for a beach day—quieter than South Beach, but it still has great hotels you can tuck into for lunch or just to sneak into the pool. The most non-transplant way to beach is to roll up with all your gear: wagon, tent, towels, chairs, and Cuban sandwiches... or the latest for us is El Bagel. (IYKYK.)
For parks, nothing beats Kennedy Park in the Grove. It’s our Coconut Grove Central Park, complete with the G.O.A.T. swelter-beating treat: A.C.’s Icees.
Miami childhood staple: Dandy Bear, The Youth Fair, the pool at Tamiami Park, and Thunder Wheels were all really close to my elementary school. What a time.
Most delightful Miami discovery made during quarantine: How spectacular Miami could be if it had more walkable neighborhoods.
The recommendation you’ll always give to a first-time Miami visitor: LEAVE THE BEACH. There’s so much more to Miami than what meets the eye. But if you simply can’t, the only Cuban food worth having on Miami Beach is at Puerto Sagua.
THANKS, CARMEN!
Follow Carmen at @cvgraham and marvel at her campaign-building prowess, cute kids, and hot-take Instagram Stories. Tune in to SOFLUX’s panel featuring moms in South Florida tech today at 12 pm EDT to learn from her sage wisdom and spark.
Until the next edition of Variety Act Miami, feliz finde!