Flipping The Ladder is a feature-length documentary from GANT that explores what happens when we let go of our fear and follow our curiosity into the unknown. The film—narrated by Hollywood star, Rashida Jones—follows three people as they step away from the traditional upward-bound career path to seek out success on their own terms. The question at the heart of the film is “What if the next step in your career isn’t up?”

GANT has a rich 70-year history making preppy, American lifestyle fashion—and is on a new trajectory to reach beyond this cliché. With one foot in its history, and one in the future, they subscribe to the ethos “Never Stop Learning.” This line and approach speaks to Curious Professionals around the world—the people that through knowledge and creativity move the world forward. Simply put, GANT creates workwear for this group. In 2017, GANT released an ambitious content series, Couple Thinkers. Our brief was to raise the bar, going further both in relevance and output, to create a piece of work that demonstrates GANT’s beliefs and progressive ways of thinking to inspire our audience and activate the brand promise “Never Stop Learning.” We took a topic that is incredibly relevant and inspiring to GANT’s target audience, and delivered in a format that they we know they love.

The career ladder. That tried and true path to the top. It dates back to the Industrial Revolution and has served as the foundation for society as we know it. But what if the established idea of a career success—moving up this ladder—isn’t working anymore? Our feature film explores this question by following three inspiring people who are in the middle of “Flipping The Ladder.” Their journeys are supplemented by insights and knowledge from a team of experts. We learn that roughly 50% of us are at least curious about exploring another career. We go deep into trends to discover that rapid technological and societal changes are creating new possibilities, allowing people to define success on their own terms. The film—and campaign that surrounds it—is aimed at helping them see their career journeys from a new perspective and realise it’s not impossible to flip the ladder and pursue their passions.

The idea of the “career ladder” still thrives despite how irrelevant it has become. With the speed of progress accelerating, all the research tells us that specialising and climbing the rungs in one field (or even with a single employer) is not the way forward—or the way to make the most of your potential. Our audience feels this, with many desiring change in their professional life. But far too few act. Our strategy was to bring this insight to life in the most rich and inspiring way possible, to connect with the audience and plant this phenomenon in culture with an inspiring message: The simplest way to stay professionally relevant is not to fear change, but to let your curiosity and passion guide you forward.

With one part being theory-based and one a social experiment, the idea is to factually present this thought-provoking thesis while at the same time speak to peoples’ gut using reality. We meet experts that introduce different takes – a neuroscientist going into how our brains are creatures of habits that need change, a professor of Economics focusing on finding long-term drives other than the status-oriented and monetary, and a former Wall Street banker that left her career to found the Women’s March Alliance. In parallel we follow the journey of three individuals as they leave one career to pursue another, a sports brand executive, a lawyer and a personal trainer. With their curiosity as a guide, we’re taken to a horse ranch in Arizona, a special needs home in Brighton and a research facility on Greenland. The film premiered during the Tribeca Film Festival before being publicly released online.

The film debuted to positive reviews the day of this submission.