What is the very best career advice you’ve ever received?
When I think about it, the best advice for how to approach work was probably influenced more by what I grew up around than anything I heard later in advertising. I was influenced in many ways by people like Ian MacKaye, where his whole mindset was basically: the work comes first.
He has this quote, “I just have work to do; I just do it,” and that always stuck with me. It’s simple, but it cuts through a lot. That scene’s DIY philosophy was about taking ownership—don’t wait for permission, build things yourself, stay true to your principles, and treat your work like a responsibility to the people depending on you.
What is the number one quality you look for in talent?
At the end of the day we need talent more than they need us because every agency is looking for hungry creatives who want to learn, push the work forward, and make everyone around them better. The job is simply to create the conditions where the best work of their careers is possible.
I tell young people who I want to hire that one day they are going to quit. And it will be for one or two reasons.
The first being they did something amazing. The industry noticed, they bragged about it, won some awards, and another agency down the street noticed and made them an offer they couldn’t refuse. The other reason is that they haven’t done any of that and it’s time to try and find a place where they might. Obviously everyone knows which scenario is best.
The other quality I am looking for is a sense of humour – someone who laughs at this ridiculous pitch.
What part of your role as a leader do you find most rewarding?
Still to this day, if I stumble across a portfolio site of someone I used to work with and they have a project or two in their book that we worked on together at some point – that makes me the happiest. It means they’re using it to show the industry what they are capable of and are still proud of it. More often than not it reminds me that I should be too.
