Lately I've been doing a lot of thinking about the career path I've chosen. To be completely honest with you I chose the advertising career path on a whim after high school. I originally wanted to study film. My entire life I grew up going to lessons at “Miss Betty’s drama school”, participating in school plays, community theater shows, high school musicals, took voice lessons, joined choirs, played piano and even had the amazing opportunity to perform in Carnegie Hall. I dreamed of gracing the stage in a Broadway musical after every trip we took into NYC to see a show. There was something so captivating to me about being able to become a character and enter a new and exciting world. So why didn't I pursuit that dream? Well first of all I am incredibly clumsy and would have made a horrible waitress. I've got a feeling I would be waiting on more tables than I would be starring in feature films. I also don’t think my parents ever would have approved. Not because they don’t appreciate the arts but because they want me to have a successful comfortable career in which I’d be able to take care of myself. I don’t blame them.
Then I got to thinking about the “normal” working world. There are so many people that went the safe route and got a 4 year business degree. The sad thing is that a lot of them are waiting tables as well. So why is it that I, at 23 years old, already have the beginnings of an amazing career in the advertising industry? Two big things came to mind.
1) Working in the advertising industry (as well as many other business careers) is a lot like working as an actor. You need to be able to build your personal brand image and be able to sell yourself. Having the ability to convince someone that you are the perfect answer to their job description needs is a must. I’m not saying that in order to sell yourself you should sell yourself as someone you’re not. Please don’t ever to that. But you need to study yourself in a sense. What are you really good at? What can you say about yourself (that’s true of course) that will make you the star of the hundreds of interviews that people go through? One simple interview, or even email, is enough to change someone’s mind about you. Growing up and being involved in theater has taught me to use my strengths to my advantage and down play the things I might not be so great at. Being able to sell myself has gotten me some pretty amazing opportunities in the 23 years I've been on this earth. Every interview is an audition and you have to leave the employer hanging with something they just can’t forget about you to get the role.
2) Creativity is a large part of what makes someone in the advertising industry successful. I mean let’s be honest. If you can write a piece of copy about duel flush toilets that makes everyone want to run out and buy one the next day you’ll probably do well in this industry. This time it’s about being able to sell an idea. Movies are founded on messages. You might not necessarily agree with the message. You might not have any idea what the message is about. But when you have a character that can bring the message to life on screen things change. You now have the ability to make someone think and feel in a way the might not have originally. That’s exactly what advertisers do with products. It’s amazing what people will buy when they form a connection with it. You have to be able to take yourself out of your own skin and become someone different. By doing this you can grasp a deeper understanding of why someone might connect to a product. Why would this product or idea resonate with “Susan” a 35 year old single mom living in Chicago? When you’re in your own skin it’s sometimes a hard thing to do. Being able to see and feel though someone else’s eyes allows you to understand people on a whole other level. I know what you’re probably thinking. Those darn advertisers are always convincing me to buy things I really don’t want or need. Well that’s definitely not my goal in life. But to one day be able to create an ad that really moves someone or makes them think is a pretty cool thing to think about.
So maybe my advertising career isn't going to land me on Broadway. But it’s pretty neat to think that my love of theater and film can still tie into my career in advertising. At least to an extent. It’s nice to know I've found something that I not only enjoy but that I’m good at. I might not be accepting an Emmy award anytime soon, but I can always hope to be as successful as some of my greatest mentors and take home an Addy one day!
