ATL Standard

Sprite Zero Sugar collaborated with Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever to empower tomorrow’s creative talent to explore and patiently pursue their true gifts.

For the two Sprite NAOU leads – Brand Director, Terika Fasakin and Creative Director, A.P. Chaney – building the campaign from concept to screen hit close to home. Both are Black women who attended HBCUs, pivoted careers and share a passion both for giving back to communities that helped them along the way and inspiring the next generation of multicultural creatives.

We caught up with them for an inspiring conversation about their nonlinear professional journeys and how “Infinite Potential and Zero Limits” has been a career-defining opportunity. 

Let’s start by sharing your ‘Origin Stories'.

A.P.: Growing up in a small suburb of Minneapolis, I was always the “token Black girl,” particularly in high school. It was when I got to Spelman College, in Atlanta, that I was able to truly discover and define who I am as a woman. I was no longer defined by my race, and I was able to learn the A.P. I am today. The curious, creative one who likes to make people laugh, and much more. My achievements and what I looked like no longer defined me.

Both of my parents came from low-income families and worked their way up to executive positions at multinational CPGs. They wanted me to see and explore the world, so I wasn’t allowed to go to college within an eight-hour drive of Minnesota. Moving from the Midwest to the South was definitely a transition! It was a bit uncomfortable at first, but quickly began to feel like home. I'd never seen so much diversity, which most people wouldn't expect from an HBCU, but it's quite the opposite.

I studied history, which helped shape my storytelling by understanding culture and behavior. I had two job offers after graduation: one was an entry-level marketing position for an NBA basketball team and the other was as a paralegal at a large antitrust law firm in Washington, D.C. My mom is a lawyer, and I thought I wanted to go to law school, so I took the latter. Within a few weeks, I realized I hated it and started applying to grad school. Fast forward a year and half later, I received my Master’s of Public Relations at Syracuse. I worked for a PR firm and, yep, realized I didn't like it that either! I continued to try different communications jobs and landed at a sports marketing agency where I had my first creative role.

Left: A.P. in her first creative role at a Sports Marketing agency. Right: Terika playing a home tennis match for North Carolina A&T State University. "As I matriculated through my career, I realized again that I was a minority, but that my background and experiences were my true power." - Terika Fasakin

Terika: I’m from Atlanta. My mom moved here to work for The Coca-Cola Company in computer science when she was pregnant with my younger sister and me—which is crazy because I've had both of my kids during my time at Coca-Cola. She sent us to Georgia Tech engineering camps every summer. I’m almost the opposite of A.P.! I was not a fan of language art classes but loved math and physics. By the time I graduated high school, I’d had so much exposure to the tech world through my mom's friends and those camps. Engineering felt like a natural fit.

I got a tennis scholarship to North Carolina A&T State University (Aggie Pride!) and majored in mechanical engineering. As an HBCU student, I no longer saw myself as a minority engineer because I was surrounded by my peers. As I matriculated through my career, I realized again that I was a minority, but that my background and experiences were my true power.

Right after undergrad, I worked for the U.S. Department of Energy in a manufacturing facility that built nuclear bombs for the military. After seeing how passionate my peers were about pursuing advanced degrees in engineering, I realized that I had picked my major because I was good at math and science, not because I was truly passionate about it. So I started the process of discovering what I’m truly passionate about, which is creating connections with people. I got my MBA from the Kellogg School of Management in Chicago. I quickly fell in love with marketing as an intern at a big CPG company, where my boss and mentor was a former engineer who’d transitioned to marketing. That made me feel like I was on the right track, and I haven't looked back since.

Why has this campaign been so special to you?

A.P.: My mom always said: “If you have it, give it back.” And Marian Wright Edelman, a fellow Spelman alum who founded the Children's Defense Fund, said: “You can't be what you can't see.” I’ve taken both of those quotes to heart. I believe it’s important to give back to the HBCU community that gave me so much and fostered who I am today. And, I would say it’s equally important to be visible. Because once you're visible, people can see a pathway or opportunity. When I was in college, I didn't even know what a copywriter was, but it ended up being my first title in the creative world. For Terika and me — two Black women and graduates from HBCUs with strong ties to S.T.E.A.M.— leading this campaign shows a pathway to careers and opportunities people might not otherwise know existed.

Original source can be found here.