As students flood campuses for the new schoolyear, I’m reflecting on my education and how I ended up in the marketing and branding industry.
Coming from the small town of Prineville, Oregon, I enrolled in 1983 at the University of Oregon. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, but, since I was good at art, I declared fine art as my major. I had a passion for business too but just wasn’t sure how I could merge these two loves: creativity and business.
That all changed during my second term.
I was in a life-drawing class working on a charcoal sketch of the model. The professor passed behind everyone and paused to look at each student’s work. When he came to me, he stopped but didn’t move on for what seemed like an eternity. I started to sweat. What was he going to say about my drawing?
“I think you’re in the wrong school” were his words.
My heart dropped. Then my blood boiled. I wasn’t Picasso, but I didn’t think my drawing was that bad. He could sense I was upset.
“No, don’t get upset,” he continued. “Your drawing is great. It looks almost exactly like the model. And that’s the problem. You’re not interpreting what you see; you’re replicating what you see. I think you might be more satisfied in a field like graphic arts, commercial art, or advertising.”
Advertising? What was that? The small town in which I grew up did not expose me to anything related to advertising. That great teacher took his own time to set up a counseling session between me and an academic advisor in the university’s advertising program. That’s when I learned all about this great field – one that blended my passionate love of creativity and the rigorous discipline of the business world. Creativity specifically harnessed to cause effective results for businesses.
I was hooked.
That started a lifetime journey. After 15 years in advertising – developing strategies, serving clients throughout the Pacific Northwest, and joining creative teams producing amazing work – I moved into corporate marketing and communications.
On this corporate side, I quickly realized that now I could have an impact on so much more than just the promotional side of brands. Consumer experience. Customer satisfaction. Internal communications. Integrated marketing. Brand development. As my experience grew, my ability expanded to build powerful brands generating successful results.
It’s been an amazing 32 years, and counting, that all started with a dedicated teacher who invested in his students.
With back-to-school season officially underway, invest in students around you. A small piece of advice or encouragement today can make a huge impact tomorrow.
