August 13, 2026
What is the very best career advice you’ve ever received?
It was something I heard Chuck Palahniuk (Fight Club author) say in an interview. “Don’t stop until the glass breaks.” Basically, don’t stop your idea from reaching the edge of madness. You have to go too far to know where the line is. We stop too soon because of the pressure, fear and endless voices in the room.
But the moment right before an idea feels “too much” is usually the moment it becomes good. Pull back too early and you’ll never know what you left on the table.
The way I see it, my job isn’t to protect an idea from criticism; it’s to protect its potential. To ensure it’s not slaughtered before it even has the chance to prove whether it’s brilliant or not.
Another quote I live by is from Olle Eksell, regarded as the founder of modern Swedish graphic design. “To know is often wrong, to feel is often right.”
Instinct doesn’t get talked about enough in this business. We’re obsessed with data, research and rationalization. But your instinct is data. It’s years of human and biological experience processed faster than the conscious mind can explain itself. By the time you’ve built a rational case for something, your gut usually already knows the answer.
I always chase the first thing I feel because that instinctual feeling already knows. And here’s the liberating part; you can never always be right in this business. You just better be right 7 out of 10 times.
What is the number one quality you look for in talent?
I’m going to cheat and say two things.
i) Foolish Optimists
Creativity is the ultimate act of optimism. This business doesn’t belong to those who are too rational or realistic. We need people who are crazy enough to think their little idea could change something. People who think reality is negotiable. It’s more fun to be a foolish optimist than a realist.
ii) People who see the world in their own way
At the end of the day, an agency or brand is renting your voice. I want people to embrace their unique POV.
Bring all your flaws, beliefs and eccentricities into the room. Show me what you believe to be true. And if you see the world completely differently than I do, even better. Because people who see the world differently bring different ideas to the table.
This is very different from being a contrarian. Seeing the world in your own way isn’t about disagreeing with the consensus. The contrarian needs an audience to react against; the original thinker would have the idea even alone in a room. People who see things their own way tend to connect things that don’t naturally belong together.
What is something the industry isn’t paying attention to that they should?
That’s easy. Junior talent. As soon as AI entered the chat, the industry stopped talking about the kids. They care more about an automated future than a messy, human one. You wouldn’t believe the amount of times I’ve heard people say “the advertising industry will be AI plus a small group of senior people.”
If that’s the future we’re heading for, then we’re heading to a world of mediocrity.
We need to keep training and nurturing young talent. Historically, in any creative field, the angry foolish youth are the ones who have introduced the world to new ways of thinking.
Think of anyone who pushed their industry forward (Basquiat, 2 Pac, Mary Shelley). They broke through precisely because they were too young to know what’s supposed to work. Or too young to care.
All of them were dismissed by the gatekeepers of their moment. They weren’t polished enough to know the “correct” way to do things, so they built their own way instead.
This is the real value of young creatives. If we lose sight of young talent in our industry, we will become less relevant, and so will our ideas.
Let’s build your future.
