Emma Castle: A brighter state of mind

As the likes of Meta, McDonalds and Google scale back their DEI programs and WPP staff are ordered back into the office full time, 2025 is feeling a tad dark and doomful; a regression to linear thinking, rigid ways of working, and a one-size-fits all approach. 

But on a sunny corner of the Kent coast, in the creative hub of Margate, you can find a small pushback in the form of Bright Island – a new breed of agency offering joyful creativity, powered by divergent thinking.    

It's a place where you can work to the tick of your own internal clock, not yoked to the standard nine-to-five. Where the blazing lights, competing noises and general chaotic energy of an open-plan office are replaced by a small, plant-filled space lit sympathetically by lamps and softened by soothing smells. Where passion projects are the order of the day, not a nice-to-have. There’s even an emotional support dog. 

Bright Island’s unique ethos – harnessing the power of neuro-creativity and collaborating with a mixture of minds – might feel like a fever dream to the estimated 20-50 percent of neurodivergent creatives working in ‘regular’ agencies, but for founder and creative director Emma Castle, who was diagnosed with combined ADHD aged 40, it was a natural foundation on which to build her own studio.  

“It’s time for us view neurodivergence in more positive ways and to support and encourage each other. For me in particular – it’s about being more open about it as a business owner,” she says. “As the founder, I’m proud of my ADHD – it’s been the driving force of my creativity, my ability to solve problems and connect emotionally with our clients and their consumers in order to deliver authentic, joyful work.”  

One year after launch, that approach is already paying commercial, as well as creative dividends, with Bright Island landing campaigns for haircare giant Schwarzkopf and female health educators Hormones on the Blink, among others.  

The obvious stereotype is a hyperactive boy unable to sit still, but women and girls tend to be better at masking their traits, thanks in part to female hormones. 

Castle launched her agency off back of a 20-year career as an art director and creative director working across fashion, retail, interiors, beauty and lifestyle sectors. Having started out studying design management at Leicester’s De Montford university, she switched courses four times before eventually settling on a graphic information design degree in London – a classic case of ADHD flip-flopping. It’s one of many facets of Castle’s career that suddenly “made a lot of sense” when looked at through the lens of an official diagnosis.  

Imagery from Bright Island's Colour Like No Other campaign for Schwarzkopf.

Early jobs in retail for Habitat and Accessorize landed her in a demanding, fast-paced retail environment where “everything was needed to be done yesterday” – something which suited her craving for variety and ability to multitask at speed: “My brain’s almost like a motor, it keeps going and going and going at a much faster pace than other people.”  

After stints at fashion brands Jaeger and Aquascutum, Castle moved into the agency world, landing a role as head of fashion and lifestyle at WARL. There, she made “great headway” on projects for MacArthur Glenn designer outlets and Tesco’s clothing brand F&F, focusing on customer analysis and shopper marketing alongside TV commercials. Castle puts her success partly down to having a project manager-slash-PA for the first time. “She was my second brain, though I didn’t know it at the time. But looking back since my diagnosis, I can see she enabled me to have the space to be creative and visionary by putting all the nuts and bolts in place.” 

Neurodivergent traits that might have been mild annoyances or easily dealt with get exacerbated [by perimenopause] to the point you just can’t gloss over them any more. 

Following a buy-out by VCCP, Castle was promoted to creative director, but eight years of working in a high-pressured agency environment eventually took their toll. “I was in burn out,” she admits. “I had anxiety issues. I needed to move away from London and be near the sea, for the sake of my health.” In 2019, she moved to Margate and began freelancing, while plotting her next move with a career coach. “We drew this big mind map, and one of the things on it was: Margate-based creative agency.”  

Castle explains how her brain feels like a motor which keeps going at a much faster pace than other people.

Around the same time, Castle’s best friend was diagnosed with ADHD, setting off a cascade of questions. “I could really relate to a lot of the stuff she said,” Castle remembers. “I joked that maybe I had ADHD too, and that thought would not go away. I spent weeks researching, thinking, talking about it with my friend.” 

That negative narrative – oh, why can’t I do this, what’s wrong with me – is far less now. 

Her ah-ha moment was discovering how ADHD presents differently in males and females. The obvious stereotype is a hyperactive boy unable to sit still, but women and girls tend to be better at masking their traits, thanks in part to female hormones. However, those hormones decline with age and the onset of peri-menopause – which explains the prevalence of women who are diagnosed in their 40s: “Neurodivergent traits that might have been mild annoyances or easily dealt with get exacerbated to the point you just can’t gloss over them any more.” That insight prompted Castle to seek an official diagnosis. Six months later, Bright Island opened its doors with a unique vision and mission.  

If I’m excited about a brief, it’s like fireworks go off in my head. I can spend hours trawling the internet, going down a research rabbit hole and finding all sorts of obscure references and imagery. 

Though some might dismiss ADHD as a trendy label, Castle says her diagnosis has been nothing short of revolutionary. “It has changed the framing of stuff in my head so that I’m so much kinder to myself. That negative narrative – oh, why can’t I do this, what’s wrong with me – is far less now.”  

Instead, it has allowed Castle to focus on her positive traits, such as hyper focus. “If I’m excited about a brief, it’s like fireworks go off in my head. I can spend hours trawling the internet, going down a research rabbit hole and finding all sorts of obscure references and imagery.”  

ADHD gives Castle a huge amount of empathy and understanding of other people, which she can channel into unique solutions for clients. 

Another asset is the “huge amount of empathy and understanding for other people” that often accompanies ADHD. By funnelling the ability to put herself in other people’s shoes, and see things from multiple perspectives, Castle can offer clients a solution that talks to everybody, but in their own different ways. “It’s almost like a 4D picture,” she explains. “I would never just say: here’s a solution for everybody to help sell this product. Instead, I’d approach it asking: how many different types of people are there? How is each type going to engage with our communication? How do we need to adapt our language or our colour palette for different interests and age demographics?”  

I knew how much it would have helped me, in my 20s or 30s, hearing someone being honest about their experience [of neurodivergence] and their coping strategies. 

These ‘modular campaigns’ - seen in work such as Schwarzkopf’s Colour Like No Other, which is based on the idea of unique identity – have quickly become one of Bright Island’s calling cards, alongside its commitment to “joyful work” and causes that Castle is passionate about.   

Though the agency’s core team is still small, its wide network of freelance creatives offers scalability where projects demand. Castle’s open attitude to divergent thinking has played a large part in attracting local talent. Last year, she gave a talk about neurodiversity at the Creative Circle awards and was “stunned” by the number of people who came up and asked questions. 

“I’ve personally made a choice to be open about it, because I knew how much it would have helped me, in my 20s or 30s, hearing someone being honest about their experience [of neurodivergence] and their coping strategies,” she says, while also recognising the difficulties inherent in ‘coming out’. 

The Bright Island office aims to create an environment that’s more neurodivergent friendly and conducive to creativity.

One of those struggles, particularly in business environments, is sensory ‘overwhelm’ and Castle agrees that busy open-plan offices can be “really challenging”, made bearable only by noise-cancelling headphones. The Bright Island office aims to create an environment that’s more conducive to creativity: lamps rather than harsh overhead lighting; a scented humidifier to help with sensory regulation; a big collection of plants that get watered as an exercise in thinking time.  

Castle has an adjustable standing desk to help with the hyperactive element of her ADHD: “I get fidgety sitting down, so sometimes it’s more productive to stand and slightly rock.”  

When I set up the agency, I wanted to ensure that people that work with me are respected in the way that they function best.

Just as important as the physical space, says Castle, is a culture of openness about people’s needs: understanding that an individual’s productivity cycle don’t always match typical working hours and trusting them to organise their own time (depending on deadlines and client requirements).  

One member of staff, for example, needs a certain amount of daylight hours outside to maintain her attention levels and productivity, so tends to walk her dog over a long lunch break, and pick up later in the afternoon. Others might find they are most productive and energetic in the morning, or late at night. Interestingly, Castle herself is “allergic” to working from home – “I just get distracted” – but supports the practice for other people if they don’t have to be in the office and want to get their heads down. “When I set up the agency, I wanted to ensure that people that work with me are respected in the way that they function best,” she concludes.