Tag: Advertising

It took me 10 years to recover my confidence

That job, getting fired, and eighteen months of failing to overcome mediocre work set me and my career back.

Fuck milk

This was our first project for a huge household brand. I saw our hard work closing the deal, and my financial projections disappear in front of my eyes.

Opinions are like arseholes, everybody’s got one

If you work in marketing or advertising, you're surrounded by opinions. Some people don't like green in their logo. Some people don't like sentences beginning with "And" or "But."

Scammers, invisible ad agencies, and being successful before 21

This distorted view made me believe I needed to be successful by 21. Which lead to me taking bigger risks and making a lot of mistakes.

A death-threat-inducing fuck up, and adlands obsession with ‘why’

Biggest fuck up? Over the last 15 years, there’s been plenty of moments that – at the time – looked like Mr Fuck Up had...

Poisoned partnerships, being the wrong age, and how you can have it all

Slow down, you're going to have a very long life, and you will work till you are at least 70. You don't have to work full pelt for nearly fifty years.

Accidental texts, performance miscalculations and what you should never apologise for

I was lucky to have a client who was both forgiving, and receptive. I learned from this experience to never ever badmouth or underestimate a client.

Self-doubt, freedom from bureaucracy, and the search for meaning

I dream of a world in which people doing creative work are able to suffer only their own internal pain and not be pushed through bureaucracy that causes them additional pain.

The “good enough” people are dangerous

I remember his opening line, “what makes you think you can get away with that with me?” I had become the person I wanted to destroy.

How not to be an arrogant prick

Lessons learned: don’t be an arrogant prick, never show off, engage brain before mouth, and ALWAYS have empathy and respect for others.

The perils of pleasing everyone

I had massive anxiety that everything else I was doing at work was shit. The biggest thing I learned was to make a decision early and stick to it.

You say it best when you say nothing at all

I forgave him and learned my lesson long ago. I don’t know if he ever did. We haven’t spoken in twenty years.