Happiness in Advertising?

Advertising People are Leaving Agencies

Research shows that 30% of advertising employees will leave their agencies this year. (This is one of the main reasons I’m working with advertising agencies through presentations and high-level career coaching.)

Driven to Help Advertising People

When I saw the question, “How Much Do You Utterly Despise Working in Advertising?”, I immediately wanted to reach out to miserable advertising people, GRAB THEM BY THE SHOULDERS and tell them it doesn’t have to be this way – THEY CAN BE HAPPY! I know the vicious cycle too well; I lived it and I have the solution. I can help whether it’s through an agency presentation, agency-sponsored coaching program or working directly with an advertising art director, copywriter, designer, ACD or CD without the involvement of his or her agency.  It’s my passion.  It’s my purpose.  And it’s also my biggest frustration to know that there are people in the advertising industry that don’t want to go to work in the morning and don’t know that they can change that.  When I get all fired up (e.g, this very moment), I have to remind myself that I can only help those that want the help (like my past and current clients)…oh and those that know an advertising career coach like me exists. And with that, I’ll end this public rant of sorts (which can’t quite compare to the intensity of the rant in the video below created by Deutsch LA) and get back to telling the industry I exist and I want to help.

Cannes Session

It’ll be interesting to see what Deutsch LA proposes and what they share about their “ownership culture” during next Monday’s (June 18, 2012) Cannes session “Ending The Agency Talent Rotisserie.”  Deutsch LA created a series of videos as a teaser including the video above, which were included in the AdFreak article with the subtitle Deutsch wants to make you happier.

What I Do – Money and More

Yes, turnover is costly to agencies and money is important to a business, but it’s not all about money.  Keeping talented creatives is a must.  Attracting talented creatives is a must.  And a certain level of happiness is a must if you want to create great ads consistently.  Deutsch LA recognizes that, “this agency talent rotisserie has real costs, on recruiting, creative excellence and business development.”

I push my clients to make substantial shifts toward employee satisfaction (custom to each agency and  advertising creative individual’s needs), so that each can be fulfilled when they were previously stuck.  So they can dramatically slow down or stop the agency talent rotisserie.  I guide them to the balance of efficiency with palatable culture.  They go from talk to action.  They go from their employees leaving to their employees being happy to work there again.

 

 

 

Progress not Perfection

 

 

 

 

 

 

A white page.  A blinking cursor.  A blank stare.

Where to start?

I know I want it to be incredible.  I know I want to give you value.  I know I want to post content regularly.  And yet, as with most beginnings, I don’t know how to start this blog for the new year.

So I jump.

I type about this struggle in the most transparent of ways, because we are all human beings.  We all – at one time or another, with one project or several, and for whatever reasons we may have – we all have had a hard time starting.  With this blog post as an example, I challenge you to start with the concept of “progress not perfection” in mind.

This is the start.

 

Creativity shows up when you invite it

CreativityRecently I wrote an article around claiming your creativity.  As I wrote I could feel passion bubbling up inside of me.  I am creative (one notch more creative than business-like in the left-brain/right-brain test), and I am my happiest when I am surrounded by creative people.  “Who are creative people?” you may ask. Years ago I would explain the answer with specific examples of graphic designers, art directors, writers, painters, musicians and so on.  Now I tend to simply say, “Creative people are those who say they are creative.”  Notice, it’s not enough to know you are creative, you must admit it.  You must say it outloud.  You must claim your creativity.

Several weeks ago I connected with a creative group on Meetup.com.  Please understand that I am the type of person who only joins a group when I am confident that not only I want to commit to it but also that I have the time, energy, resources, etc. to jump right in.  So after being an assistant organizer of a music-related Meetup group for close to a year, I joined the creative group.  As I read the group’s description, a book that is on my to-read list was showcased.  The book The Artist’s Way has come up three times in a matter of weeks, so I took that as a sign to join the group (and bump the book up to the top of my list). After filling out my bio in which I first said,

“While I love art, design, music, and specifically singing and playing the ukulele, my real passion is coaching & consulting creative people so they finally feel satisfied even when they have previously felt stuck,”

I found out that the organizer of the group is also a coach!  Yesterday, we met for tea (for her) and coffee (for me) where we must have sounded like giggling teenagers with a crush (only we were discussing coaching, business, marketing, and creativity).  Stories were spilling out of me almost faster than I could say the words, and I was absorbing her experiences as if I were watching a movie trailer.  As with many times throughout this last year, the fact that career coaching is what I am meant to do was blindingly evident.  Her passion for helping others find or reignite their creativity was refreshing, and I couldn’t help but think about the final line in my article, “When you claim your creativity, you are powerful.”

The more I focus on my career coaching business’s niche market of graphic designers and advertising creatives, the more creative my thinking around my business has become.  It’s no coincidence that as I invited creativity to take center stage in one of my articles that it has begun to show up more and more in my work and life.

With that, I encourage you not only to claim your creativity but also invite it to be a part of every aspect of your life.  If you’re like me, you’ll feel more fulfilled than you even thought possible.