Career Day | Dayo
“A job is something you do simply to earn money. A career is a series of connected employment opportunities.” — Google Search, Result #1
This isn’t a post about ways to grow your career. Not a post about the best habits of successful people. Not a post about ways to nail your job interview.
I Don’t Believe In Advice
Honestly, I think the aforementioned sentiments are bullshit. The advice-version of tarot cards and psychics. Psychics are basically D-list therapists, preying on people’s insecurities and spitting back what people want to hear. The Gary Vees of the world are the same to me. The this-is-my-story-thus-it-must-apply-to-everyone notion. The I-made-it-therefore-anyone-can-make-it notion. Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit. The if-you-do-these-three-things-you-will-be-successful notion. It’s all self-serving. For every Mark Zuckerberg, there are a hundred dudes who wish they DIDN’T drop out of Harvard. There are no-brainer things NOT to do, but don’t get that mixed up. Stop making life and career decisions based on some Forbes post.
“What Do You Do For A Living, Dayo?”
[exhales] OK I’m done. The bulk of this post is about the most frequent question I get. To start, I polled some of my closest friends and families and asked them to state what they think I do for a living in a sentence. Answers included:
“Create marketing materials to retain customers.”
“The shit them niggas on Mad Men did.”
“Make commercials.”
“I don’t know, but you live in New York, so you must be rich.”
“Mak-a-tin.” [this is from my mom so read this in a Nigerian accent]
Wow. Just wow. I’ve been in this shit for seven-plus years and the people closest to me don’t know my life. For starters, I work at an ad agency. What does that mean? Well.
Agency Structure
While every advertising agency has its own model, most have three core disciplines: Strategy, Creative and Account. The strategy department helps facilitate the “why.” Brand X comes walking through the door. Boom. Before you create shit, you gotta understand who Brand X’s target is, what action is Brand X trying to illicit and who does Brand X stand for. It’s very meta. It’s the stoner kid in college asking “what is the meaning to life” every time he gets high. With that said, issa lot of work. You can’t take shortcuts withthis step since everything we make is based on this foundation. You tracking? Aight bet.
Creative. It speaks for itself. The creative department ideates based on the agreed-upon strategy. Despite what y’all think, a lot of time, energy and thought gets put into whatever campaign is hatched. There are a lottttt of reviews. Tweak it, re-tweak it, test it, touch it, bring it, pay it, watch it, turn it, leave it, stop, format it. Start over, test with consumers, tweak it again, test it again, then maybe….and only maybe, does the print ad or commercial go into the world. Shoutout to the copywriters and art directors out there BTW. In most shops, they are paired up, working exclusively with one another. Think the most extreme version of a work wife and work husband situation.
Then there’s my department, Account. I am the black Pete Campbell, hairline included. I am Dre without the sneaker collection. You need a good-looking, smart, funny, charming liaison to foster a healthy work dynamic between Brand X and the agency. I am OBVIOUSLY all of the things detailed in the last sentence, so it was a pretty seamless fit. Essentially, I need to make everyone involved feel like they are the prettiest girl in the room. Sprinkle in that creative gene and strategic gene and voila, you have yourself a good account person.
The Fun Shit
Advertising attire is pretty lax. People can more or less wear whatever the fuck they want. I have seen coworkers present decks with the tucked in with dress pants look. I have seen coworkers write television scripts while wearing workout clothes. Three years ago, I was wearing a hoodie with a fitted hat. My dad FaceTimed me and thought I got fired without telling him based on my fit. That story sums it up nicely.
Drinking heavily isn’t for everybody, but it’s definitely for me. Very much a work hard, play hard environment. The play hard angle lends itself to some unforgettable times. A few years back, my old agency had their holiday party at a big music venue. After the party, we stumbled out to realize there was an event playing next door.
19 Year Old Intern: “Do you want to come to this private concert? It’s free.”
Me: “Who is performing?”
19 Year Old Intern: “I’ve never heard of them. Um. Fitty Cent. Pusher T. French Montana? (Before you ask, yes, she was.)
Shit like that is more normal than it should be. I truly take it for granted. I also have a tale about a work situation then ended up with me falling asleep at a high traffic NYC location at 9 pm. That’s a story for another day.
The most enjoyable part of it is we make fucking ads. Stuff that’s gonna be seen all over. There’s a neat level of pride to that. To the teachers, lawyers, doctors — any occupation where your success or failure impacts other people’s lives, I truly commend you. At least once a week, I say the phrase “no one died, this is advertising.” It put things in perspective.
I will never complain about work again. Or until at least tomorrow.
