I Had to Pick A Lane. I Am Glad I Finally Picked A Lane.

Creative people do not want to be reigned in. We are are idea engines. Constantly churning, perpetually asking “What If?” We take the challenger’s stance. We are the non-believer and consummate idealist all wrapped up in one complicated professional package. Sometimes we also create businesses and express ourselves through these businesses.

Three Crucial Lessons Learned

1. Starting my own company and lifting it up from one client in Salt Lake City, to new clients in Portland, Denver, Omaha, Kansas City, Albuquerque, Austin, and Seattle required my full immersion into account service. There may be creative people in advertising who don’t want to hear this, but I’m a creative person in advertising who needs to say it: The ability to do great work is determined by the relationship with the client. No trust, no trophy.
2. In the beginning, new business prospecting is a frog kissing contest. The mission, if you accept it, is to survive the first three-to-five years, because there will be clients who do not pay on time, or pay at all. There will be clients who see you as their hired hands, not their marketing minds. There will be clients who can’t be moved to a better place, no matter what you do, or how brilliantly you and the team show up. Here’s the good part: Without the pain of these…