Mentees:
Dionie Tanada, Creative Director, GIGIL, Makati City, Jule Fuhrmann, Copywriter, Accenture Song (Kolle Rebbe), Hamburg, Ronak Ramraje, Group Head (Art), DDB Mudra Group, Mumbai
I only fully realised just how important the LIA creative coaching program was for young talent after I met my three mentees. All three were completely different, as were the discussions we had, but the one overriding theme throughout was how they all wanted to better themselves.
All our conversations focused around our own stories and how we ended up where we are in our lives, and they were keen to get advice on how they achieve their goals.
You could see how much it meant to them to be able to talk to someone who had been down the path that they were wanting to carve out for themselves.
And I absolutely learned as much from them as they may have from me. The entire process was so reflective and inspiring to see just how much thought young talent today puts into their futures. I’m looking forward to catching up with them all again to see how they have progressed on their journeys.
Mentees:
Mawie Borja, Art Director, Hemisphere Leo Burnett, Makati City; Neko Wang, Senior Creative Copywriter, Blue Focus, Shanghai; Dhiren Sonawane, Group Creative Partner, DDB Mudra (22feet Tribal WW), Mumbai
These young bloods from the LIA - London International Awards #CreativeLIAison programme certainly inspired me with their hunger to do great work. In return, I fed them with these food for thought:
HONE YOUR CRAFT, SHARPEN YOUR THINKING.
We’ll never beat machines in crunching copy and vomiting visuals.
DON'T MAKE COOL ADS. MAKE BRANDS COOL.
Unless your ideas are relevant to brands, you won’t be relevant to clients.
KNOW THY CLIENTS.
Understand what keeps them awake at night. Surprise them with ideas that help solve their business problems.
REMEMBER TO BUILD YOUR PORTFOLIO.
Don’t lose yourself in the daily grind. Make time to do work that you’ll be proud of.
Thank you Mawie Borja, Neko Wang, Dhiren Sonawane & Laurissa Levy of #LIA #LIAawards #CreativeLIAisons #CreativeCoaching