Several months ago we asked you, our creative peers, to share creative work, news, trends, stories or insights with us. Joshua Clark, Senior Creative Director at PepsiCo’s in house studio shared his story and video to inspire us to always persevere.
This is My Layoff Story by Joshua Clark
In light of all the recent layoffs, I want to share the story of how I bounced back after being laid off almost a decade ago.
CHAPTER 1: THE LAYOFF
Many years ago, I was working as a CD at a small ad tech start up in New York City. The job was great. I was learning a ton. Building my reel. Life was good. I soon realized that even the best companies can hit hard times. As a result, a number of talented people were laid off – myself included. It was depressing, to say the least. 
CHAPTER 2: THE QUEST FOR OPPORTUNITY
The job hunt was grueling. A total rat race. Despite a solid portfolio, interviews were scarce, and call-backs even rarer. Determined to stand out, I redesigned my website, updated my resume, tweaked my LinkedIn page – over and over again. Still, nothing. Crickets… Whatever I was doing (or not doing), simply wasn’t working. 
CHAPTER 3: THE PIVOT
I needed to do something. Something unexpected. Take a different approach. I asked myself: “What can I do to set myself apart?” 
My answer: Create something that highlights my skills with personal touch. Send it out. Make a wish. Hope for the best. 
I’m in the storytelling business and figured the best way to showcase my storytelling ability was to tell my own with a short film. 
I had a lifetime of content to pull from. I collected all my work, sifted through family photo albums, dusted and digitized old VHS tapes, recorded VO on my iPhone inside my state-of-the-art recording studio (aka my closet), and jumped into the edit. No guardrails. No deadlines. It just had to be good. The only KPI was getting hired. After 20 gallons of coffee, 6 weeks of work and a case of delicious ice cold refreshing zero sugar #Pepsi 
, my story was ready for launch. 
CHAPTER 4: THE HAIL MARY
Armed with my creation, I cast a wide net, sending it to potential employers far and wide. To my amazement, it actually worked. I was landing interviews, getting callbacks and eventually offers. I took a job and was back in the game. 
In the face of adversity, I learned the power of innovation and perseverance.
My message to you: When traditional methods falter, think differently. Tackle the problem from a new angle. Make something. Take a swing. Stay positive, stay focused, and dare to redefine the status quo.
REFLECTIONS FROM CREATIVE LIAISONS
What the Creative LIAisons Program Made Possible By Yashaswini Singh
To look in the camera of your company MacBook Pro and be talking with the legends of the industry is an act of war. What greater provocation is there than to be confronted by excellence.
My Creative LIAisons journey began on the hills of California where Cassie Roma took a morning hike as I questioned her about the vague and the precise. To my blank ramblings, Cassie’s inquires remained consistent— kindness, was her answer. This led, then, to a conversation aimed at debunking what kindness really means in a time when it is a buzzword. Cassie agreed. A look at CR & Co. makes apparent that curiosity, honesty, and courage truly are the nuts and bolts of Cassie’s modus operandi.
For my second call, Marius Radu told me wise men believe in gamers. He didn’t use the word wise, and, fittingly so. In an industry as sleek, big words conjure up all sorts of old-fashioned images. I asked him if e-sport would ever truly acquire the prestige that is accorded to sport. Would there ever be a Bernabéu for something like a video game console? The conclusion of our call left me with a notably less simplistic understanding of the gaming industry and advertising’s future therein. Perhaps my biggest takeaway was that brands must not mistake the ephemeralness of an adrenaline rush for a fleeting chance at luck. Gaming is not a bubble. It is a reliable infrastructure. A postmodern sort of brick and mortar, which promises brands a new manner of existence.My final lesson was with Matthias Storath.
Mr. Storath gets democracy as he does flowers, houses as he does the Playstation, Coke as he does sports cars, and the future as he does the great artists of the past. We talked about typography, Berlin, persistence, the impossible daily routines of politicians, shots in the dark, and architecture, among other things. When I asked him silly questions, Mr. Storath answered them with seriousness. When serious, Mr. Storath quashed my seriousness with a levity fitting of a genius in a tee shirt. Magic, he said, is what one must strive for.
Without, of course, striving for it.
It is safe to say that the conclusion of the Creative LIAisons Coaching Program was not an ending, but a beginning. How else do you describe that feeling of the sudden limitlessness of the horizon? The words of my mentors now get to be my confessions, their courage gets to be my souvenir, and their open heartedness makes for an infinite resource.
Our world has long been conflicted with the morals of promises on billboards. Advertising continues to be a force of culture and the shaper of our belief systems and even— our moral codes. Today, it is arguably what the railroad used to be back when actors scuffled between Hollywood and the circus and ambitious monopolists were pioneers of one half of the world. Its power to create positive change and negative change – in equal measure – lies 2 in either palm. And as members of this great industry, what we choose to do with our power lies in our hands. We must not underestimate the change we are capable of, and we must not take our positions of privilege for granted.As long as we have leaders like Sambit Mohanty, Cassie Roma, Marius Radu, and Matthias Storath at the fore of our industry, a new era is always beginning. Every second is a chance at a new dawn, an old dusk, and the infinity of the present moment. One must only stand back, accept the cast of their shadows, and lead from the act of following.
