Today is retirement day. This milestone, after 45 years in advertising and marketing, has been a goal for sometime but suddenly it feels like it’s galloped up on the far rail and overtaken me.
I want to mark this day with some memories and some words of thanks. I didn’t take this journey alone after all.
Wind back the clock 45 years to a nervous 20 year old, dressed, I clearly recall, in a lilac linen dress and matching heels - perfect for an interview in Leeds in December! I had been applying for jobs in advertising agencies, marketing departments of blue chip companies and similar businesses to no avail for some time. My carefully hand-written letters with cv had not a jot of relevant experience and in consequence this was only my second interview reaped from a lot of effort!
Quite what the then managing director of this advertising agency saw in me, I have no idea, but I walked out with a job and a start date of January 2nd 1977. I had wrestled a job as the lowest form of human life in the agency - though I’m sure they called it something more prestigious - maybe even with a two word title!
Despite the fact that I was, from day 1, the butt of everyone’s jokes in the creative department being a) posh (by their standards) and b) a southerner (the next most southern employee coming from Doncaster), by the end of the week, I absolutely knew that I was in the right place. I loved it. And I remain convinced that no one who works in advertising in this century has as much fun as we did back then. We worked hard, played harder and, in the words of Ronan Keating, life truly was “a rollercoaster”. I made friends for life, even in that first week. My dearest friend from that time died a while ago but he was a top godfather to child number 2. I learnt more from the legend that was Hank Howe, who seemed at 60 like the oldest person on the planet, than anyone else but lots of folks took time to teach me stuff, especially the tatty typographer from Doncaster with whom I shared an office for a while. He increased my vocabulary in all sorts of interesting ways.
Back then, typesetting came from Manchester to Leeds in a van from a company called Gask and Hawley which apparently still exists but was more usually called Grasp and Crawley. Huge parcels of artwork were shipped every day to national newspapers and the air was perfumed with magic markers and cow gum spray.
From lowest form of life to director in 8 years. I was definitely in the right place. I had wonderful colleagues who made even the hard stuff fun (mostly), met all sorts of great people who did other jobs in the industry from photographers and film producers to graphic designers, illustrators, media reps and everything in between. I had brave clients (sometimes) who would take a risk and buy into the creative dream, and conservative clients who wanted - and usually got - their pound of flesh. Best of all, I met a young man who worked in the family coach travel business who was also a client. “Reader, I married him.”
Intending to retire once we started a family, it somehow never quite happened, though in the early years, I worked only on and off. Could I help with a pitch, work on an exhibition stand, do a really horrible cold calling campaign? Yes I did all those things and more.
Then a few years on, with four under 11, I went back into the business properly, working first for a public relations consultancy and then setting up on my own. Looking back, it was quite brave/rash but it worked out ok. I started on day 1 with one client and by day 5, I had two and so it went on. As a one-man-band, I always said I could do stuff, even if I had no idea how I was going to achieve it. And fortunately it usually worked, though sleep was definitely lost on the way.
I won an IPR Gold in 2002 (I’ve just looked - it needs dusting!) and got shortlisted for another award. Not bad for a sole trader. I’ve worked for some great clients, my mantra always being that I would only work for people that I could recommend in whatever field they worked in. I’ve had the pleasure of working for some businesses for in excess of 17 years and loved being accepted as part of the team, rather than an outside supplier.
A few years ago, I had breast cancer and I was pretty poorly for nearly a year. I told each of my clients the awful news, saying I quite understood if they went elsewhere but that I intended to work as much as I could. Every single one assured me that I should do what I could when I could and that they would continue to pay me regardless. I cannot thank them enough to this day.
I was lucky enough to work through the pandemic for businesses that continued to operate through very tough circumstances. I think in some ways they went above and beyond to keep me on, but I hope that I justified their support. I certainly tried.
Finally, as one of my last hurrahs, last month I went to an awards ceremony in Leeds with my last remaining client. We had been shortlisted for an award and it would have been a fairytale ending for me if we had won. We didn’t but I got to meet David Flatman who is something of a hero of mine. I looked around the room at all the bright young things at the start of their careers and wished them all the fun, excitement, great friends and the buzz of it all that I have enjoyed over the years. Definitely time for me to go.
Postscript: I saw a friend on Saturday night with whom I have worked quite a few times over the years. He confidently said that if I retired today, I’d be bored by Thursday and looking for work. I think I’ll last longer than that but I’ll keep you posted!
