Communications Wizard
Christian Nagle
TOKYO
Independent Agent
ASK ME ABOUT
How a 15-line poem got me to Japan, singing in the preview of a West End musical for HRH Princess Margaret, and being charged by an angry rhinoceros in the Kenyan bush.
AND FOR THE REST OF THE STORY
Having grown up in Rome and London, Christian has always felt more comfortable as an ex-pat than living in his hometown Alexandria, Virginia. He got his start in the arts at an early age, making his professional music debut in the West End production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita, and went on to perform regularly at The Royal Albert Hall. After his family moved back to the US, he co-founded the critically acclaimed rock band Clockhammer, releasing CDs and touring internationally. Still, unlike most kids, he loved school, and kept drifting back to university until eventually someone gave him a PhD. At the same time, he was writing and producing for the stage, and publishing work in magazines like Esquire, The Paris Review and Raritan. He got his start in advertising and marketing as a copywriter at a tiny boutique firm with Fortune 500 clients, where he learned that craft could actually make him some money. He had retired from music when a Japanese singer he met in Texas convinced him to give it one more swing in Tokyo, and although the band soon broke up, eighteen years later he’s still here. He began working between the US and Japan as a marketing consultant in 2011, but it wasn’t until two years ago that he found his true business calling. He and Robin have worked together in various marketing ventures over the years, but when Robin told him about Zensho, he knew it was something special. “Helping Robin develop his brand has been the most rewarding creative experience of my business life,” he says. “I’ve never been involved in a branding project that required zero spin. This company is a work of genius.” When not writing and concepting for the agency, Christian likes to cook, translate early modernist Japanese literature, and run out of town to unwind at a Yamanashi onsen.
