“A Jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one”

It's hard to know where to start when faced with penning a bio that sums up my work life.

One of the only advantages of maturing in this industry is becoming pretty accustomed to industry change, be it technology or culture. Having deeply enjoyed and flourished for over three decades, over the last five years, the rate of upheaval and pace of change has exponentially increased. Pandemics, mammoth technological advances, cultural shifts, and ever-increasing budget squeezes have made surviving and thriving a lot harder, particularly for aging in an industry that is youth-obsessed.

Prior to the last five years, writing a bio was pretty straightforward. Starting as an illustrator in '88, my career traversed pretty much every creative agency type, from branding to advertising to pure-play digital to experiential, PR & Social-focused agencies. I progressed from being a very hands-on illustrator to APAC regional ECD roles, steadily progressing over three decades.

Tallulah the wonder dog

However, back to recent history. Riding the wave of recent turmoil amidst long-term contracts, sporadic freelance gigs, and agency closures during the pandemic, many of us have had to rethink our value to top agencies and pivot or reinvent ourselves to help ensure we can remain employable.

I have embraced all types of jobs in the creative field. These range from concept creation and management, product development, pure art direction jobs, to very hands-on design, production design, and illustration work. I have also been involved in formatting government tender proposals and presentation documentation, video editing and motion graphics, as well as website and app design UX projects. I've invested a lot of time up-skilling with the Google UX course through https://www.coursera.org/. I have delved deep into Figma, After Effects, and Premiere to be able to take on pretty much any job. It's been a survival strategy, enabling me to break away from being typecast solely in the concepting and creative management realm.

The first thing I have learned about trying to sell yourself differently as a creative is that people who receive the news of your reinvention find it harder to believe than the work you yourself have actually gone through to reshape your skills and reposition yourself, which makes it hard to convince people. Nevertheless, here we are… a 53-year-old creative with over three decades of top-flight international experience, who is able to and loves working on everything from concept creation and pitching, with the hands-on skills to carry that through to completion. Truly hybrid & hands-on!

I never thought I'd sell on individual skills again; however, in order to be completely transparent about my 'on-the-tools' skill levels, it feels pretty appropriate.

“A Jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one”

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