6 reasons to love the advertising business, whether starting out or wondering why you’re still here

Do the young people in our industry know how much fun working in advertising is? I’m worried they don’t. And if they aren’t having fun, then why would they stay?

Here are a few things I’ve learned after almost 20 (!) super fun years in this biz. So, if you’re thinking of starting out, or wondering why you’re still here, please read:

Best friends

When an agency gets it right, you will meet your best friends for life. Who did I have dinner with last week? Two people I worked with in 2017. Whose wedding did I just attend? A client I met in my first job in advertising in 2005. These are people I still talk to all the time. All because we went through it together—late nights, rounds of feedback, big wins. Whatever it was, we did it together with the same goals and senses of humor. The shared experience is what made showing up so fun.

Dumb games 

At my last agency, every single person that worked on my floor took a running jump to touch the ceiling beam. This would happen on a daily basis, until almost everyone accomplished this critical goal. Once we all did that, we turned our attention to a game that one of the art directors made up: flipping and catching as many coasters as possible without dropping them. There were people who were very good at this made-up, never-to-be-played-again game. And they were praised for it. These drove culture and camaraderie, and they were extremely stupid. But fun. So much fun.

Dumb ideas 

Not to be outdone by dumb games, tossing out a dumb idea to the person sitting next to you and laughing releases actual dopamine in your brain. We bond over them. And sometimes, the really dumb ones spark a thought that turns into an actual good idea. And that’s almost even more fun than laughing at the dumb one.

Office romance

If you don’t get to know each other, you’re definitely not going to make out. I’m talking peer-to-peer, consensual make-outs here. The fun ones that they think are a secret, but everyone knows they like each other, and then they finally tell the whole office—and everyone cheers. I can name at least seven couples that met at work and are still together today. And they’ve made other humans. Many children exist today all because their parents had a little fun at work. 

Sharing the stress

You are not alone, my friends. Being in a crazy meeting that you can laugh about after and unpack together, instead of just stepping away from your laptop and heading to the kitchen to refill your water? Huge. One-liners in a meeting become tomorrow’s hilarious call backs.

Sharing success

Sometimes we create work that people love. And, in very special cases, those people will even tell you they like it. And on even rarer occasions, your uncle will text you to tell you he likes the work you’ve done. That feeling of creating something special with a team of other talented individuals who all just want to make great work? That might be the most fun of all.   

I’m not saying that you have to make out or make up a stupid game to have fun. And of course, you can decide that work does not equal fun. But I’m here to tell you that it can. And it will make work less worky. And you’ll have friends, and entertaining stories that will last forever. Like the time three of our writers showed up with black eyes after playing catch with a pumpkin. It was funny—I swear.