Many, many years ago, I was living in Ft. Lauderdale trying to figure out what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I had recently moved from Southern California where I had left behind a six-figure sales and consulting job. I had been extremely successful at sales after some intense training while working for LifeTouch Studios, a fantastic school photo company based in Minneapolis. So, I was good at sales but I wasn’t truly passionate about the traditional corporate sales process and was feeling restless.
I accepted a position for another photography company in South Florida thinking that a change was what I needed and quickly found out that I was wrong. Shortly thereafter, I left that job and started waiting tables at Mangos, a trendy restaurant on Las Olas Blvd., while I tried to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up.
I had purchased my first Apple computer (IIvx baby!) a few years before and had done a couple of “ads” for small businesses previously. I knew I really enjoyed doing that and I knew that I was absolutely horrible at it.
So I did some research and found that the Miami Ad School had opened on South Beach the year before and looked really interesting. I took a second job at a local service bureau (remember those?) to learn more about the computer. I waited tables during the day, ran film in the afternoon and started classes at Miami Ad School in the evening. I arranged to sleep on the floor of the back room at the service bureau at night so I would have access to the computers to do my homework. Long days indeed.
I had some really great teachers at Miami Ad School including Alex Bogusky, Bruce Turkel and many others. In the middle of all this, I received a job offer from a local magazine to do sales for them. The money was really good and I was really struggling. Not sure what to do, I went to Bruce Turkel for advice. What I got was advice that has helped guide my success to this day.
I remember vividly standing out in the parking lot of the school talking with Bruce about an ad I had done for a “client” that had come to the owner of the service bureau where I was working. I still have that “ad” and still hear Bruce’s voice kindly telling me that there was “no big idea” to my masterpiece and to go back to the beginning and come up with an idea.
Secondly, when I asked him about my job dilemma he said this: “It would be really easy to take the money, get comfortable and miss out on the passion you have for what you’re learning now. It’ll be much easier to keep sacrificing now for what you really want, then to take the money and then later have to walk away from it to begin your career in advertising”. Wise words indeed.
Bruce owned a successful agency called Turkel Advertising, had mercy on me and hired me to do production. This was my first “real” advertising job.
Day after day, I was able to observe how truly big ideas and concepts were developed. I got to see how these ideas were produced and executed. I got to work with Bruce and learn to pay extreme attention to details. I can’t tell you how many times I got to go back to the computer and fix the leading and kerning until it was right, how many times I had to hand comp a presentation brochure or pitch book until it was perfect. I would not trade that education for all of the money in the world.
Another one of the great things I learned from Bruce was that great ideas can come from anywhere. I will not forget the day that we were working on a pitch for Carnival Airlines and Bruce called everyone from the office into the small conference room in the front corner of the office across from the receptionist. When I say everyone, I mean everyone. In fact, he locked the front door and had the entire office, from the creative teams, account teams, receptionist and cleaning staff all in this little conference room. If I remember correctly, there was even a UPS driver who was there and we were all quickly briefed and throwing out ideas and thoughts as quick as we possibly could. This also left an indelible impression on me that would help me for years to come.
Bruce was not only my first creative mentor; he was a brilliant and ethical businessman as well. All of the things that he taught me and all that I was able to observe have helped to guide me through my career. I’ve had the honor of being a creative director at agencies like Y&R, ATTIK and TracyLocke on some of the biggest brands in the world and I would never have had these opportunities if it wasn’t for people that took the time to guide and mentor me. Now, I get to use all of that knowledge and experience in our work at THEM! in ways that make us a successful little agency. For that, Bruce, I say thank you.
Now as we are in difficult times in our business, I challenge you all to take the time to find young, hungry minds and share your knowledge. With all of the technology available to us, with all of the methods to get messages out there, there is still no substitute for a great idea and attention to the little things. These are the things that make good, great and make our work, work.
Lastly, don’t forget to take the time to say thank you to the people that have taken the time to help you. You know who they are.
Here are a few of mine:
Bruce Turkel
Cliff Courtney
Alex Bogusky
Miami Ad School
Will Travis
James Sommerville
Jim Hord
Thank you all.
Lessons learned and people I’m thankful for
Many, many years ago, I was living in Ft. Lauderdale trying to figure out what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I had recently moved from Southern California where I had left behind a six-figure sales and consulting job. I had been extremely successful at sales after some intense training while working for LifeTouch Studios, a fantastic school photo company based in Minneapolis. So, I was good at sales but I wasn’t truly passionate about the traditional corporate sales process and was feeling restless.
I accepted a position for another photography company in South Florida thinking that a change was what I needed and quickly found out that I was wrong. Shortly thereafter, I left that job and started waiting tables at Mangos, a trendy restaurant on Las Olas Blvd., while I tried to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up.
I had purchased my first Apple computer (IIvx baby!) a few years before and had done a couple of “ads” for small businesses previously. I knew I really enjoyed doing that and I knew that I was absolutely horrible at it.
So I did some research and found that the Miami Ad School had opened on South Beach the year before and looked really interesting. I took a second job at a local service bureau (remember those?) to learn more about the computer. I waited tables during the day, ran film in the afternoon and started classes at Miami Ad School in the evening. I arranged to sleep on the floor of the back room at the service bureau at night so I would have access to the computers to do my homework. Long days indeed.
I had some really great teachers at Miami Ad School including Alex Bogusky, Bruce Turkel and many others. In the middle of all this, I received a job offer from a local magazine to do sales for them. The money was really good and I was really struggling. Not sure what to do, I went to Bruce Turkel for advice. What I got was advice that has helped guide my success to this day.
I remember vividly standing out in the parking lot of the school talking with Bruce about an ad I had done for a “client” that had come to the owner of the service bureau where I was working. I still have that “ad” and still hear Bruce’s voice kindly telling me that there was “no big idea” to my masterpiece and to go back to the beginning and come up with an idea.
Secondly, when I asked him about my job dilemma he said this: “It would be really easy to take the money, get comfortable and miss out on the passion you have for what you’re learning now. It’ll be much easier to keep sacrificing now for what you really want, then to take the money and then later have to walk away from it to begin your career in advertising”. Wise words indeed.
Bruce owned a successful agency called Turkel Advertising, had mercy on me and hired me to do production. This was my first “real” advertising job.
Day after day, I was able to observe how truly big ideas and concepts were developed. I got to see how these ideas were produced and executed. I got to work with Bruce and learn to pay extreme attention to details. I can’t tell you how many times I got to go back to the computer and fix the leading and kerning until it was right, how many times I had to hand comp a presentation brochure or pitch book until it was perfect. I would not trade that education for all of the money in the world.
Another one of the great things I learned from Bruce was that great ideas can come from anywhere. I will not forget the day that we were working on a pitch for Carnival Airlines and Bruce called everyone from the office into the small conference room in the front corner of the office across from the receptionist. When I say everyone, I mean everyone. In fact, he locked the front door and had the entire office, from the creative teams, account teams, receptionist and cleaning staff all in this little conference room. If I remember correctly, there was even a UPS driver who was there and we were all quickly briefed and throwing out ideas and thoughts as quick as we possibly could. This also left an indelible impression on me that would help me for years to come.
Bruce was not only my first creative mentor; he was a brilliant and ethical businessman as well. All of the things that he taught me and all that I was able to observe have helped to guide me through my career. I’ve had the honor of being a creative director at agencies like Y&R, ATTIK and TracyLocke on some of the biggest brands in the world and I would never have had these opportunities if it wasn’t for people that took the time to guide and mentor me. Now, I get to use all of that knowledge and experience in our work at THEM! in ways that make us a successful little agency. For that, Bruce, I say thank you.
Now as we are in difficult times in our business, I challenge you all to take the time to find young, hungry minds and share your knowledge. With all of the technology available to us, with all of the methods to get messages out there, there is still no substitute for a great idea and attention to the little things. These are the things that make good, great and make our work, work.
Lastly, don’t forget to take the time to say thank you to the people that have taken the time to help you. You know who they are.
Here are a few of mine:
Bruce Turkel
Cliff Courtney
Alex Bogusky
Miami Ad School
Will Travis
James Sommerville
Jim Hord
Thank you all.