The other day, while sifting through some strands of wisdom in Lee Clow’s beard (Twitterstream of Lee Clow, Chairman of TBWA Worldwide), I came across this interesting tweet:
“Can a Beard blush? RT @bogusky: Flip-flopping to success http://post.ly/45kX.”
The link was to an enlightening, inspiring story that Alex Bogusky (Crispin Porter + Bogusky) had written about Clow on his blog. It’s worth five minutes of your time. Go ahead. I’ll wait…
What’d you think? Good stuff, huh?…
I strongly related to Alex’s story because I had a similar illuminative moment a few years ago at an AdWeek conference in Miami, the same city where Bogusky began his creative rise. And while our takeaways paralleled each other, the sources of our inspiration and circumstances surrounding them could not be more dissimilar- almost “flip-flopped”, you might say.
Alex’s seminal moment came when he was a young art director– a beach boy wearing a tie who felt uncomfortable faking the false trappings of business. He found himself inspired by the long-haired, back-pack toting, flip flop-wearing creative rebel, Clow, who not only stirred Bogusky with his insights about achieving creative excellence, but also let him know it was OK to just be yourself.
My experience didn’t occur early in my career, but rather a decade into it. And the person who made an impact on me was not a counter-culture iconoclast, but a Mad Man cut from slightly different cloth– Mike Hughes, CEO & Creative Director of The Martin Agency.
Like Bogusky, I’m a lifelong Florida “kid”– a die hard surfer with a genetic disdain for coats, ties and corporate BS. I also spent the first few years of my career at a small agency, earning little, but working hard to learn everything about the ad business.
When I decided to open my own agency, doing so with my former creative director and now business partner, Matt Britt, we established Renaissance Creative, a firm built upon high-level work and valuing our team-members as much we do our clients. Flexible hours? Been doing that for 13 years. Vacation? “Take as much as you need, just be responsible.” Health insurance? We still pay for every bit of it, for every full-time employee and their family, despite the recession.
Oh, and wearing ties?… please.
Now fast-forward 10 years. The agency has grown to 27 people and I’m burning out and need to recharge. On a whim, I decide to go to the first ad conference of my life. (I was just never into them. I thought they were so much pomp and circumstance. I was wrong.)
Unlike Bogusky’s experience, at the conference I attended, not a lot of people were wearing suits. Nope, there were a lot of t-shirts. Lots of artsy glasses. Lots of laid back, long-haired creative types, like Alex. I wore jeans and sneakers every day and felt right at home. Each day of the three-day conference provided terrific presentations from young, high-powered global ad execs, showcasing edgy, viral campaigns. Great stuff.
All of them were trying to answer the question, “Where is advertising headed?”, the theme of the conference.
Like Bogusky, the entire time I was there, I kept noticing this one guy who just seemed… well, kind of out of place; a tall, silver-haired gentleman who wore unassuming slacks and a business shirt. Amidst the young, hip creative types, he looked downright corporate– like some kind of tobacco industry power executive from one of Bogusky’s TRUTH campaigns. I just envisioned him as some kind of tired older sales executive, who had likely spent his life pumping hands, playing golf and who probably felt uncomfortable amongst us, “creative” types.
But, as the event went on, I began to notice one person after another approaching this man and shaking his hand. And I couldn’t help but notice the clear look of deep respect in every one of these people’s eyes as they approached him; and the warmth he exuded in taking his time and speaking to each of them.
Then, I noticed that it wasn’t just the attendees like me who were approaching him in this way, but the various conference presenters, themselves, all with that same look in their eyes, as if they were in the presence of royalty. Turns out, they were.
Wondering who this man was, I found out the following day, when they called Mike Hughes to the stage to give the closing keynote. While all of the presentations at the event had been informative and inspiring, Mike’s was downright enriching.
He began by being the first presenter at the event to admit that, he “couldn’t say where advertising was headed”. He said he “had some ideas”, but wasn’t going to try and predict with any certainty (Thanks for shooting straight, Mike. The fog was only just starting to get thick at that time, and we still haven’t come out of it).
Mike talked about how brands used to focus on one unique selling point, but had now begun to present multiple USP’s, as exampled in The Martin Agency’s, Geico campaigns. And he talked, not only about the latest trends, but also about things that endured- like the importance of a good story. Of great copywriting, of compelling imagery. And human emotion. Needless to say, I was compelled. He pulled out work that I had seen in CA years earlier, work that had inspired me and that even today, I still consider some of the best ever.
And then Mike took us down a different path… He quit talking about work and started talking about life.
He told us how he had spent much of his own focusing intently on work, often at the expense of his personal life. A life-long non-smoker, he told us how he had been diagnosed with lung cancer; and despite being given an 85% chance of dying within five years, had now been living with it for more than ten. Living with and winning a battle against cancer for so long may seem impossible for many, yet sitting there mesmerized, I began to understand how someone like Mike Hughes could do it. I also began to understand that, regardless of his decidedly unassuming, businesslike appearance, he was one of the most masterful storytellers I had ever had the privilege of hearing.
Of course, our greatest storytellers always provide a twist– and Mike did not disappoint.
He said that when he was diagnosed, he had to make some important choices about his life. Naturally, this included “spending major time, doing major things” with his family (which he said had always planned to do, but would now no longer delay). But then Mike said he, “surprised even himself”, when he realized he also wanted to continue to work. Because Mike was passionate about his work. It brought him joy. And he loved the people he worked with. Because they were his family, too.
He closed, like Clow in Bogusky’s story – by encouraging us to always pursue excellence in our work. But he also reminded us to never forget to also pursue excellence –and joy– in our lives. To be a good father or mother; a good husband or wife; a good mentor, co-worker; or just a good friend. Because life is short, you don’t get any of it back. And there are only 24 hours in every joyous day.
I share this story with you not only to provide you Mike’s profound wisdom, but also point out that whether you are a beach-loving creative rock star; a flip-flop wearing, bearded groundbreaker; or a storytelling Don Draper in business slacks, with the fortitude to beat back cancer and the courage to admit you don’t know everything; there’s much to be learned about simply being, authentically you.
Author’s Note:
Mike’s story had special resonance for me, as my other longtime business partner, friend, designer, architect and general superhuman Ed Bondi — who possesses many of Hughes’ fine qualities — won his own near-death battle with cancer at about this same time. Like Mike, Ed has long been a huge source of inspiration for myself and others around him; he’s just not as tall or famous.
Following Hughes’s speech, I wanted to go introduce myself and shake his hand, but never worked up the nerve to interrupt the many conversations that swirled around him. Nonetheless, I felt he had already given me just what I needed — a renewal of my passion for the work and confirmation of what I had long suspected— that honesty is the real genesis of good creative; a requirement for successful brands; and a fundamental quality for a truly satisfying life of excellence– and joy.
Thanks again for the inspiration Mike, Lee, Alex and Ed.
