You lucky bastard.
You caught me at my best.

But let me tell you what you’re missing out on. You don’t have to sit through me fighting tooth and nail for the last shitty subheadline. You don’t have to wait ten years while I figure out digital. You don’t have to pay for the years it took me to learn the difference between an “idea” and a “thought.” You won’t see me hungover and unusable in your meeting. And I no longer believe a good presentation only starts at slide 100. Or that sexiness and efficiency are somehow in conflict.

You don’t have to watch me defend my ego instead of the idea. You won’t get the creative who walks out when the brief comes back. Who sulks when strategy wins.

I know the client isn’t the enemy. I know silence in a presentation isn’t weakness. I know one good question beats ten good answers.

And I know — because I’ve been there — that the best work doesn’t happen when everyone’s comfortable. It happens when someone is brave enough to say: this isn’t it yet.

So yes.
You’re getting someone who already took the hits. Who won’t learn on your budget what cultural resonance means, what a real human truth looks like, or why viral and relevant are not the same f**king thing.

You’re getting someone for whom it physically hurts when the work isn’t good enough. Not because of the award.

Because when we do it right, advertising doesn’t just ask.
It gives.