Advertising is Fun...Again.

The other day on a drive back from a shoot in southern Ohio, I was on the phone with a friend, who's also in the advertising business, and he was giving me grief about how much I work. He mentioned that he believes I prefer making money over actually spending it. And I have to say, I agree with him. But it's actually much deeper than that.

I started college as a drawing and painting major. But gravitated to graphic design and photography. Growing up in a small town, I didn't know what options were available to me in the creative field, I just knew I liked to draw. A wise professor told me that I'd never make a living painting and steered me toward graphic design. From there, she actually hired me at her advertising agency as a designer.. .but really... I was the errand boy. It's ok though, it looked great on a resume.

After moving to Columbus, I landed a job as a graphic designer for one of the largest homebuilders in the country. After 6 years, I moved on to an agency for a while, only to be lured back to the homebuilder as their Creative Director. Then on to another agency. This period of my life really helped me understand the opportunities available in the advertising industry. Designer, writer, photographer, videographer... the creative options were almost endless, and I relished in the opportunities that were awarded to me.

I then moved on to a Director of Advertising role for a major national brand, and was given a nice, big fat advertising budget. This was gonna be great. At one point I had the opportunity to work side by side with one of the largest advertising agencies in the country to develop a national campaign. The creative collaboration was great, the campaign was great, we won a ton of awards and one of the spots even appeared during the Superbowl. The pinnacle of my career. And that's when it hit me... "I'm really not into this anymore".

I wasn't creating anymore, I had lost the passion, and I was mostly hiring people to do the work. It was no longer fun... it was....work!

It was about this time when my wife and I bought a winery. But I was still working full time in advertising. I quit my full time gig and deciding to start my own agency and get back to actually doing the work. So yeah, basically starting two small businesses at the same time. But they really complimented each other. And owning the winery made me understand how badly small businesses need advertising help. So my focus for the agency was to insert myself where I was most needed, as long as I was able to contribute creatively. And I had to be serving a purpose.

Fortunately, the gamble paid off. I've been lucky to continue to grow my business with clients that have a purpose. I'm literally helping to save lives, getting seniors into affordable housing, helping people find jobs and creating awareness for underserved trades. And the best part is, I'm contributing creatively. My clients have allowed me to push the creative envelope. I love creating art for clients that make a difference. I've learned more about photography and video production in the last year than I learned in the previous 20 and when I'm out on a job I'm not just working.. I'm having fun again!