Employee spotlight: Tom Brosseau

Associate Director of Industrial Design Tom Brosseau has been at tms long enough to work on 100+ McDonald’s Happy Meal programs. Learn more about him below, including how he rocks out when he’s not helping design 1,000+ toys.

What are your pronouns? 
He/him/his

What type of work experiences did you have prior to joining tms? 
I actually started working at tms as an intern while I was in college and joined full-time as soon as I graduated! Outside of some early freelance design work, all of my work experience has come from wrangling the huge variety of projects I’ve been involved in at the agency.

What’s in your headphones currently?
I usually trust the Spotify algorithms to make me a playlist of everything I’ve already heard a million times, so lots and lots of 90’s rock. I’m also a big fan of the podcasts Strong Songs, Comedy Bang! Bang!, and How Did This Get Played?

Describe tms in one word. 
Creative!

During your time at tms, what work are you most proud of? 
I have worked on well over 100 Happy Meal programs and over 1,000 individual toys at this point, and I’m proud of them all. Most recently, I’m really proud of my work on the Minions program that launched last year and featured 48 different sculpted figures. It was such a big program, I even had to fly out to the factories to review and approve the start of production.

What would the title of your autobiography be? 
Thoughts, Feels, and Happy Meals.

Which person (dead or alive) would you most like to be stuck in an elevator with and why? 
Probably a professional elevator repairman. If none were available, then Leonardo DaVinci. That guy could probably figure out how to fix an elevator pretty quickly.

What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve been given? 
One of my Industrial Design professors, Chuck Harrison, gave me the advice to “never stop learning.” There are always new and different ways to approach a problem, and it’s in those approaches that you can sometimes find real innovation. It’s definitely advice that I’ve taken to heart throughout my career.

What’s your current side hustle?
Whenever I’m not working, I’ve been spending my free time writing and recording music. I know I’m 20 or so years late to fulfill my dream of becoming a rock star, but at the very least I’m still able to play enough to keep my family entertained (or annoyed). 😉

I’m part of the 90s alt rock cover band Patti’s Preference, which was inspired by a sandwich that used to be served at tms (formerly The Marketing Store) years ago for lunch. All of our members currently work or previously have worked at the agency.