A year in the life.

It’s been over a year since I signed up to life at Hunch and six months since I spoke up about it. So I’ve been tasked to cough up a progress update, so to speak. All in all, it’s been a lot of guessing, learnings, surprises and all round laughs. Here’s where I’m at.

WE’RE A TIGHT BUNCH. THAT’S GOOD AND BAD.

Just like the workings of a family, agencies are notorious for crossing that ‘professional’ line – platonically speaking. It’s something that comes with the territory of working in a tight team. And while the closeness can be tricky at times, there’s something unique about a workplace sibling bond. Fist fights aren’t a thing, but we certainly tell it how it is.

THERE’S MORE TO WRITING THAN WORDS.

Words are easy to write. Mostly. But the big picture, make it feel simple stuff is equally important. It took a while for this mantra to sink in. And it’s not as simple as it sounds. Rather than spending countless hours buried in words and synonyms of those words, it’s about whittling your understanding down to one simple idea, then the ‘genius’ falls off the bone.

DIFFERENT PEOPLE DO DIFFERENT JOBS.

There’s always a useful fiction between suites and creatives. It’s a song and dance that can split agencies down the middle. But contrary to popular belief, my experience is that this tug of war can do more good than harm. Creatives have the sole objective of wanting to do the best job possible, while suits want to keep relationships hunky-dory – and actually deliver on time. The way I see it, we’re using different tools to fight for the same thing.

IDEAS ARE FUN. AND SCARY. BUT MOSTLY FUN.

Being a creative means you’ve got to have ideas. And ways to solve problems. Whether that’s with words, art direction, or by waving a magic wand. What they don’t tell you is that you’ll feel judged. And it hurts. And eventually, you’ll get over it. The thing about ideas is that they’re all so subjective. And there’s no real rhyme or reason as to what’s right and wrong. Time and practice is one way to get better, faster and more confident. But punching yourself in the face, deep breaths and excessive cups of coffee are also great coping mechanisms.

THAT’S IT FROM ME FOR 2018.

Blogs were the enemy for me a while back. But somewhere along the way, they’ve turned into a passion. So I suspect you’ll hear from me on the regular next year. Until then, I’m signing out from blog stuff and powering through till Christmas. Chat in 2019.