From Madison Ave to Carolina Street

Peter Mitchell
Jul 10, 2017 · 6 min read

A Mad Man Looks Back at His Journey from the Big Apple to the Tar Heel State

(Source: New York Post)

Five minutes after push back we’re already number one for takeoff from Piedmont Triad International Airport (Greensboro, NC) bound for New York, LaGuardia. It’s a new business trip that may land client prospects for SFW Marketing from the 3,100 exhibitors at the Summer Fancy Food Trade Show.

It’s also a chance to visit my daughter, who was born in Manhattan and is now the resident New Yorker in our family.

I do the math and realize I’ve now spent exactly half my advertising career with North Carolina agencies and half on Madison Avenue. Am I still a New Yorker or does my time away mean I now look up at the buildings, marvel at the speed and unruliness of Manhattan, complain about the $8.00 toll for the bridge and book tickets to see Phantom with the rest of the tourists?

In short: yes. I’m that guy now. I’ve traded the sights, sounds, and smells of the concrete jungle for the warm, open spaces of North Carolina. But as a former New Yorker, I find myself wanting to hang on to that identity without actually having to live there anymore. I want to sleep outside of the city that doesn’t sleep, but sneak back inside city limits before dawn.

I left New York for my home state of North Carolina in 2000. My motives for leaving were both personal and career-driven. I had two kids that were growing up fast and I was traveling at least three days a week with my job in Manhattan. My parents were in their 70s and moving back to North Carolina meant we’d be closer to them, and my kids would get to know to their grandparents. I felt I’d outgrown the city. I liked the idea of moving to a smaller agency where I could have a bigger impact. There was entrepreneurial opportunity, a chance for growth I didn’t feel I had working in an agency with 8,000 other employees.

But leaving wasn’t easy for me or my family. The kids were excited about the adventure of moving south at first, but once the realities of change set in — making new friends, attending new schools — they got scared. My wife, a native New Yorker, was both upset and anxious to leave her home behind. Nevertheless, we left, optimistic as we could be.

Winston-Salem, NC (Source: Visit NC)

Things did not start out well. My position in North Carolina was terminated as the result of a company merger just 3 months after we settled. So much for entrepreneurial growth. So much for that big impact. Suddenly being a small part of bigger accounts, like the Quaker Oats or General Mills accounts I used to run, didn’t seem so bad.

Not long after this bombshell, I got a call from the owner of a small, local agency looking for ways to grow. Just a chat over coffee. She was impressed with my time on Madison Ave, and I was impressed with her passion and drive and the agency’s culture. She offered me a position at The Woodbine Agency in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

This was it, I thought, the chance for growth I’d been chasing. And it was, but, there was a problem. My experience on Madison Avenue may have landed me the job, but it also ingrained in me a geographical bias. I came into North Carolina pre-disposed to see any creative talent outside of the city as “less than.” Many of the agencies I worked for wouldn’t even consider interviewing candidates who didn’t have New York agency experience. If Chicago, LA, and Miami-tested industry veterans couldn’t make it past the front desk, there was no way a North Carolina creative was going to pass muster.

When I began to coordinate one of my first projects at Woodbine, I hired someone with New York experience, a freelance art director at $1200 a day. That’s right. $1200. A day. I wanted somebody good on the project and that was the price to be paid. My snobby, turned-up nose was smacked back into place when the junior creative team we’d recruited out of school pitched their marketing ideas. Not only were they every bit as smart and focused as the New York talent’s, the message was fresher. Guess which direction the client chose?

I was stunned. But I learned something.

Talent is everywhere.

This may seem like an obvious statement, but for far too long the marketing industry has overlooked what‘s going on in smaller cities. And they’re missing out.

In my time in North Carolina I’ve been utterly blown away by the storytelling, creativity, and ideas I’ve seen. The drive and strategy, brought to life with energy and conviction, rivals anything I saw in the five boroughs. Had I never left the Big Apple, I might not have ever known.

This is by no means a commercial for North Carolina. It is, however, a plug for geographic neutrality when gauging creativity and ideas. Talent is all-too-easy to overlook when you’re dismissive of anyone not coming out of JWT or BBDO. If you want to find the best talent, then you need to take the taste test blind and unbranded. Look beyond big names and the big cities. Resumes and references are not the sole indication of creativity and ideas.

Chances are if you’re in the marketing industry you hold some biases when it comes to creative talent, just as I did. These are holding you back and, if you’re like me, costing you a lot. Like $1200 a day. Maybe more. It wasn’t until I shed my pre-conceived notions that I was able to really make an impact at my new agency. Once I embraced the creative culture around me and worked with the talent right there at my disposal, I was able to bring in bigger accounts and grow the company. My New York agency experience helped, but I wasn’t using New York talent. And the company was better for it. Eventually, I became CEO and President of Woodbine, something that could’ve never happened had I held onto the idea that the best talent only comes from the big city.

***

Four days in Manhattan and I find myself anxious to get back home. My fears of having become the wide-eyed tourist are put to rest. If anything, I’m closer to the cranky Manhattanite who speaks of the good old days when the Starbucks down the street was a soda-shop run by an Italian family. The city is harder to get around than I ever remember. It’s more expensive too. I’ve worn out the company credit card in one weekend. I bump into sixteen strangers just making my way one block east to catch a cab for the airport. It’s exhausting. I find myself wondering if the city, for all its energy and vibrancy, is everything it’s made out to be.

My daughter and me back in my old stomping grounds.

No, that’s not right. New York City is a wellspring of talent and vitality. It has been and always will be. Dinner with my daughter, a rising star at a content marketing agency, was a reminder of that. Deep down I’m grateful to be heading back to my agency on the aptly named Carolina Street, but I wouldn’t want to admit that to her. “I’m so glad you love New York, sweetie. Take care of my city as I head home. Keep pushing yourself. Live richly. I’m very proud of you.”

Peter Mitchell

Written by

President, SFW Marketing http://www.sfwresults.com/

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