I like to watch.
No, not in a creepy, uncle pervy kind of way (that would be weird) but rather in an observational, how do things work kind of way. It’s what happens when you grow up an only child. Without brothers or sisters to fight with out loud, you spend a lot of time inside your own head trying to figure out what makes the world tick. You study things, like your father’s insane love of liver (yuck). You wonder things, like in the event of a nuclear first strike by the former Soviet Union, what is the fastest route from Reno to the Canadian border? You take things apart and put them back together. Differently. Good or bad, I am in love with looking beneath the surface. In life this means I’d rather sit in the corner and watch a party unfold. Or have a single, meaningful conversation versus a series of superfluous chit-chats. As an advertising writer and creative director, this means I approach my work with an added layer of thoughtfulness. I don’t just want to write the ad, I want to understand the brief, the assignment and the brand. I want to understand the business problem. And any other meaningful context. Because, as much as I want to write something funny, provocative or emotional, I also know my job is to write something that has a job to do. I’ve done this for agencies on staff and, more recently, as a freelancer. I work on-site and from home. I work fast because I work smart. And while I love, love, love working in this capacity, I’m also curious about how I could apply my creative problem solving abilities beyond the basic building blocks of an advertising campaign. This could mean working directly with a start-up, established brand or even partnering with a CMO to solve real business problems while bringing a brand to life with all the creative touches so many of today’s brands lack. Thanks for looking, reading and watching.