Thank You For Your Support

  When I was a kid, I always loved watching commercials. When my family sat down in front of the TV, they would pay close attention to the show/movie that was on at the time, and then get up and do whatever for the 3 minutes that commercials were on. I was the opposite. I would go in my room, go to the bathroom, whatever, during the main show. Then I would come back to watch the commercials. At the end of each commercial I would always have ideas on how each one could have been better. The doctor could have said this instead of that, the housewife could have been here instead of there. It was no surprise, then, that by the time high school came around, I had already figured out what my college major was going to be: Advertising. I dreamed of using my natural love of all things advertising and creating brilliant pieces of print and broadcast work. I felt very fortunate to be one of the few high school kids who actually knew exactly what they were going to do with their life.

By the time college came around, I was way excited and focused. Not only was I moving out of my parents’ house, I was also learning about the history of commercials and ads, and how many different kinds of jobs there are in the business. It was one of the best times of my life. I even got to participate in a national advertising competition sponsored by Hallmark. Our school placed 4th, the slutty girls from UCLA won first place. I still say it was their short skirts and blonde hair that won over the all-male judges, but that’s a separate blog post all in itself.

  My first job out of college met my criteria of a great resume builder: to work at an agency on a nationally-recognized account. Jelly Belly turned out to be that account. This was such a great learning process for me. It was a small agency, so I got exposure to lots of areas of the industry. My 2nd job met my 2nd criteria of a great resume builder: to work at a well-known agency that had done lots of famous commercials. Remember the Bartles & Jaymes wine cooler commercials? “We thank you for your support.” They also did the very first ads for Saturn when the cars first came out. Right now they do the 24 Hour Fitness commercials with the people who wear t-shirts that say things like “To lose my baby weight”, etc. That job was absolute hell. Not only did I have a 90 minute commute everyday, I worked ridiculous hours. I ate 3 meals there every single day. When somebody would leave after a 9 hour day they would say, “Sorry I’m leaving early, but I have a doctor’s appointment.” That shit was ridiculous. I burned out after a year.

After a couple more jobs, I got really skilled in the business, but all of a sudden things started to change. I became jaded. I realized that, yes, I was living the dream of my childhood. I was using the skills I had learned, I was a big part of some really good, creative work. But I was doing it all for other people, the client. Well what good is that? I got very tired of constantly doing things just to make other people happy.

Recently, I went through a life-altering experience that completely changed my perspective on my career. I have achieved what I wanted to in my advertising career, but now it’s time to focus on something else. Ever since I have known Ben, we have always talked about opening up our own restaurant. He is such a great cook, and makes a variety of multi-cultural dishes. I have the business and marketing (and bartending) skills that could make it all come together. So now the focus has shifted. I spent my 20s in advertising. It was awesome and I wouldn’t change that for the world. What I learned in my 20s helped to make a decision: my 30s will be spent saving. Saving for my 40s, which is when we plan on opening up the restaurant.

It’s funny, when I was younger I thought that I was so lucky. I thought that I was blessed with the ability to know what I want to do with the rest of my life while other people my age wandered around trying to find it. Instead, it was just a stepping stone into something else. Something I had never even thought of. Now there is a new dream.