"You can change if you put your mind to it"
Talent Spotlight: Doreen, Aquent Chicago
Doreen's career started in the advertising world. Graduating with a degree in journalism, she spent 4 years in account management at a couple specialty agencies before trying her hand at field marketing management for a restaurant chain. Discovering that this wasn't exactly the right fit, she decided to chart a new course and re-entered the advertising industry on the creative side as a copywriter.
After taking a few months to create a "spec" portfolio containing hypothetical campaigns for a broad range of consumer products she hit the streets. Finding work was a challenge and over the course of the next year she went through "60 or so interviews." Although interviewing was a hard slog, Doreen also found it to be a real confidence builder. "After a while you stop taking things personally. You take into consideration what someone has to say about your work, but in the long run you have to have confidence to listen to your creative instinct. So, if you happen to catch someone on a bad day, rather than getting down on yourself, you end up thinking, 'What was that about?'"
Pounding the pavement eventually paid off and she landed a job with Frankel. "That was a real turning point," she says, "because I'd actually gotten a job doing what I wanted to do." Not only that, it turned out she was good at it. The next several years found her doing award-winning promotional work for department stores from Marshall Field's to Target. Following her position at Target she worked at another prominent promotional agency on brands like Kellogg and Kraft. Gradually, her role morphed from copywriting to creative direction as she moved into TV and radio as part of Publicis Mid-America, working on successful campaigns for Del Webb and OfficeMax.
When Publicis closed their office in 2003, Doreen started free-lancing. Although she was able to find work through her many contacts, she also chose to register with Aquent. She made it clear up-front that, as she was planning on having a child, she would only be open to off-site work. The folks at Aquent were flexible and set about finding off-site opportunities for her. Among them was a gig through a national design firm concepting and writing copy for a leading, "cloth like" paper towel brand. This role was a particularly good fit for her since, as a working mother, "I was writing for myself. I was the demographic they were going after!"
"You can change if you put your mind to it," Doreen says when asked if she has any career advice for marketing and creative folks. She also encourages anyone making a career change to take the inevitable rejection in stride and remember that everyone's pretty much making it up as they go along. "It sounds corny, but don't listen to someone else's opinion of you, listen to your heart. If I had listened to other people's negativity I would never have left my house."
Doreen's experiences have taught her that passion and perseverance can ultimately take you where you want to go. "If you're happy doing what you're doing, keep it up," she adds, "And if you're not happy, find out what it is that'll get you there."
Comments
I also have a story like Doreen's in that I worked for Scholastic in the Marketing department then moved into project management while copywriting online newsletters and sales letters each month. When Scholastic had a major lay-off last year I decided to start my own marketing copywriting career. With the help of Aquent I became very successful focusing on marketing and promotional ads for online companies and copyediting for print. The downside is that it can be a seasonal business and sometimes companies have setbacks. What is your advice during the slow months of the Spring and Summer when business is slow? How can you reinvent yourself?
Posted by: Nelressa @ Jun 9, 2007