He had only three agencies on his hit list.
It gave me a kick up the arse,
and inspired me to repeat what my tutor did to break into the industry.
Fast forward nearly 2 and a half years later.
I am preparing to start my placement at AMVBBDO on April the 3rd.
My road getting to this point hasn't been smooth.
It was quiet the opposite.
Never have these words ringed truer as I pushed myself to achieve something in this industry.
Advertising is tough, its horrible, you need be to determined, resilient, strong,
its literally a cut throat business.
Its never an easy ride if you want the best out of this industry.
This is why when I talked to watford students,
I say to them cherish your time at Watford,
listen to Tony, take every little piece of advice,
use it, attack, secure a placement while your touring these good agencies.
Because these golden opportunities won't be this easy when your out there fighting,
fighting not just against your classmates, but every ad school in the UK.
However from not giving up, things are looking up,
I have the perfect creative partner now,
where our work actually works together.
Agencies we want to get into are liking what we're doing,
and considering us for placements.
We have broken into the news twice this year.
And now we are starting at arguably the biggest agency in the UK.
It shows that digging deep you will eventually find gold.
I write this post not just to document my journey outside of Watford,
but also its a rallying cry to those struggling in this industry.
Because never giving up, is not giving up on cracking a brief, a thought, a idea, a career.
Thats why there are so few creatives at the top,
because most have given up.
Never giving up is winning.
If he didn't succeed in breaking into any of them,
he would head back to Leicester to work at the markets,
until he finally broke into one.
until he finally broke into one.
He took his student book into Saatchi & Saatchi,
only for all his work to be rejected.
But it wasn't over, the following day Tony returned with a brand new book,
and got his first job in creative advertising.
Tony preached his story to my class after a bad session of not cracking anything.
It gave me a kick up the arse,
and inspired me to repeat what my tutor did to break into the industry.
Fast forward nearly 2 and a half years later.
I am preparing to start my placement at AMVBBDO on April the 3rd.
My road getting to this point hasn't been smooth.
It was quiet the opposite.
I have been to agencies that have folded due to disputes over direction.
I have been to agencies that spend more on drink and food, then creating great work.
I have been to agencies that care more about profit then creative merit.
I have had placement opportunities snatched in a spit second by other junior teams.
I have sent email after email, blanked, blocked and forgotten.
I have watched as all my classmates got hired in advertising.
And between all those episodes the job centre has been my second home.
Not the fairytale I was hoping for after Watford,
but I haven't given up.
Never have I stopped writing idea after idea,
book after book, email after email.
Never have I packed my bags and ran back to Birmingham,
to settle with a smaller, more comfortable agency job.
Never have I felt one second that this career wasn't for me.
Never.
If there was a Raging Bull or a Rocky Balboa type in advertising,
book after book, email after email.
Never have I packed my bags and ran back to Birmingham,
to settle with a smaller, more comfortable agency job.
Never have I felt one second that this career wasn't for me.
Never.
If there was a Raging Bull or a Rocky Balboa type in advertising,
I would like to throw my hat in the ring.
And here is why through a film quote from Rocky Balboa:
"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!"
And here is why through a film quote from Rocky Balboa:
"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!"
Never have these words ringed truer as I pushed myself to achieve something in this industry.
Advertising is tough, its horrible, you need be to determined, resilient, strong,
its literally a cut throat business.
Its never an easy ride if you want the best out of this industry.
This is why when I talked to watford students,
I say to them cherish your time at Watford,
listen to Tony, take every little piece of advice,
use it, attack, secure a placement while your touring these good agencies.
Because these golden opportunities won't be this easy when your out there fighting,
fighting not just against your classmates, but every ad school in the UK.
However from not giving up, things are looking up,
I have the perfect creative partner now,
where our work actually works together.
Agencies we want to get into are liking what we're doing,
and considering us for placements.
We have broken into the news twice this year.
And now we are starting at arguably the biggest agency in the UK.
It shows that digging deep you will eventually find gold.
I write this post not just to document my journey outside of Watford,
but also its a rallying cry to those struggling in this industry.
Because never giving up, is not giving up on cracking a brief, a thought, a idea, a career.
Thats why there are so few creatives at the top,
because most have given up.
Never giving up is winning.
