Class is in Session.
Our team decided each week I should answer at least one, and up to three commonly asked questions. Questions ranging from a former colleague reaching out for help (not knowing her challenges that feel so unique are shared by so many) or a customer asking for a POV (not knowing how many other customers have asked for the same thing). If you have a question for me or anyone here at School, write getsmart@thestrategyschool.com
Look - some topics really do require a Novel, but we can at least skim the surface here and get some good fodder for interviews with the real experts.
Question 1
“I can’t believe you had ‘the guts’ to start your own Agency. I could never take a risk like that. How did you do it?”
9 times out of 10 there is implied judgement in that. It’s not “I am so impressed” its “You might be a flake” But that’s okay. I get it. We all have varying tolerance for risk, and varying definitions of risk. We should not assume that traditional employment, or staying at your day job is “risk free”. Your day job? There is a risk in staying. Maybe you are missing out on something amazing that is right outside your comfort zone. Maybe you’ve stopped growing intellectually, creatively, emotionally? I think there is a risk in staying. There is also risk in leaving for another job. The last in can be the first to be let go. The devil that you know and all that.
Is the flip side of risk, bravery? Maybe it's because nothing in my life has ever been handed to me that “brave” is in my DNA. And now bravery has become a tenet of our Agency ideology. One doesn’t require bravery to repeat what has already been tested by other brands. One requires bravery to try something new.
After developing the core idea for School, I landed at the inevitable intersection of “to do or not to do”. I needed reinforcements and held a family meeting. After running through the litany of potential pitfalls and perceived risks, my Husband said “If all that happens and you fail, couldn't you just get another job?” …… mich drop. After that moment, the agency didn’t scare me. The status quo did. The agency concept became my lifeboat. Like anything else, its perspective. For me, leaping to Agency ownership was just a different kind of risk, with the potential for a much bigger pay off.
So how did I do it?
Lesson #1
I invested in help. It’s obvious to invest in talent for the skills you don’t have, but you should also invest in experts to do the work you don’t enjoy. For me that means taxes, bookkeeping, the dreaded timesheets. That's why I hired my girls Stephanie Tyler + Maria Levin + Brad and Laura at Broad Cove. These are people I trust and people that give me back my time. Doing work you don’t love, even if technically you can do it, is the death of creativity and innovation. That energy is bad. Let it go.
Lesson #2
I (eventually) drank my own Kool Aid.
It’s been just over a year since School was created and we are just now starting to market for ourselves. I should have invested sooner. I should have “put myself out there” in higher volumes, under the cover of a vetted brand. I excuse myself by thinking “I don’t have the time” but the truth is, I’ve just never given a good interview. When we are not playing the victim, we make the time for the things that matter to us. I am good at. the. work. I can stand up and stand behind the work - but the personal part? Putting the Me behind the brand part? Despite appearances, I find that extremely difficult. And most of us do.
It's akin to going organic.
The second you try to make your home and your life Green, you expose all the hypocrisy. You are using the green laundry detergent (we use Charlie's Soap - it actually works) but then you wash your clothes on hot, you have too many clothes, too many loads and every once in a while, you bleach the towels. You are wasting energy and adding toxins to the water supply. You, my friend, are a hypocrite.
The second you publish your personal POV, or even when you publish your face, your body, a photo…. etc …. you are at risk to be called out for your hypocrisy. I mean if social abuse from stranger can happen to Brene Brown, who is a fucking hero, it can happen to me and to you. You will be raked over the coals for shitty behavior that deserves criticism and for a host of other reasons that do not. In other words, putting yourself out there is hard and it should give you pause. The world needs more pause. Pause is smart. (That's a blog for another time).
How does a person publish their opinions when they have so many flaws? How do you take yourself seriously as a thought leader when you are painfully aware how limited your knowledge is? This is the thinking that held me back from today. But the biggest one - hands down the number one reason it took a full year to blog, is the voice that says “No one cares what you think, and why should they?” And the truth is, I don’t know that anyone does care. But I do know these words are helping my SEO and driving people to my website. So, here I am. #strategy
That's all the time I have for today.
In summary
Risk means different things to different people. Know your threshold. Be bold.
Pay people to do the work you don’t enjoy , not just the work you can’t do.
You’re going to get the shit kicked out of you. You are a hypocrite. There are 37 typos in this work. Publish anyway.