It’s a funny industry, advertising. The more you immerse yourself in the job, the worse you can become. The best ideas are borne of insight gained outside an agency’s walls. These are the ideas that can stop people in their tracks and turn culture on its head.
I made my exit from full time agency life on 4th January 2016. Not so coincidentally, my son was born the very next morning.
It was a unique set of circumstances that saw me take a step back, but in doing so my perspective has widened. My days are now spent amongst the people we try so hard to reach. I understand their world better because I’m a part of it.
After years of overtime, my work-life balance is now skewed very much in the opposite direction. I couldn’t be happier, and my work couldn’t be stronger. In fact, 2016 saw me named one of the world’s 50 most awarded copywriters, and in 2017 that ranking rose to #8.
My little boy gets the majority of my time, and that’s the way it will continue. Because advertising is not about the hours - it’s about the insights. And of those, I have plenty.