Chase-ing blue skies

After 40 years with W.R. Drake, Elgin Syferd Drake, es/drake, Drake Cooper, Sara Chase has called it a career.

From the announcement and Q&A with Sara on Drake Cooper’s reverb site:

In August of 1981 W.R. Drake & Co. hired a Media Buyer who would become a pillar of the agency for 40 years. Sara Chase has been our mentor, navigator, north star, and sunny side through every up and down of agency life during her dedicated and fulfilling career.

Sara has held several positions at Drake Cooper; she was our Media Director for ten years and our Account Director for over 25 years. She’s also been a Vice President of the agency. She’s been through four agency name changes, three downtown buildings, three ownership changes, and too many timesheets to count. In fact, she’s worked at Drake Cooper longer than our founder, Bill Drake. Sara has led some of our largest accounts throughout her career and those accounts have produced some of our most award-winning campaigns including the Idaho Lottery Commission, The Department of Health and Welfare, and The Idaho Travel Council. Her dedication and commitment to Drake Cooper has always helped us flourish and helped our clients shine.

So we say thank you, Sara, for being the person you are, and for being the person we needed to help us through all those years at Drake Cooper. We say it with a heavy but full heart and with the utmost respect and admiration. We can never thank you enough for all you’ve done for the agency — you built it, you brought it to life and you made it a better and brighter place every damn day. We raise a glass to you and wish you nothing but blue skies ahead.

The full Q&A is a must-read.

So much has already been said about Sara by those who’ve worked with her and know her well. Her influence on the industry, and on those she has worked with over the years, is unmistakable.

I’m certain it’s been said hundreds of times already, but I’ll say it once more:

Thank you, Sara, for all you’ve done.

Enjoy everything that’s next — whatever it may be.