Never give up

I am preparing a feature, Who’s Next, for the Annual. Creative bubs, you are on mind. This post is for you.

Being born with a creative bent is both heaven’s gift and hell’s torment. Some of you will buckle under the blows inflicted on you while you’re trying to become.

Others will soar.

It depends a little on talent. A little on luck. And very, very much on tenacity – or what I call grit, guts and gumption.
It also depends on how you handle being shredded by criticism.  Do listen. Don’t absorb all of it. Eventually you will be able to pick out what is justified. And what isn’t.

Keep this man’s story in your heart. Bring it out when you need it.

“The Art Directors Club mourns the loss of Stephen Frankfurt, esteemed member of the ADC Hall of Fame and pioneer of advertising.

In the spring of 1953, Stephen O. Frankfurt went to Hollywood. He was 22 years of age and had three years of study at Pratt Institute behind him. He visited every major studio and ad agency in Tinseltown, and not one of them had any interest in either him or his talent. Fifteen years later his name earned international recognition when he was made president of Young & Rubicam Advertising, the youngest man in history to hold such office.

Frankfurt’s ability to see things with fresh, enthusiastic eyes is an attribute cited by everyone with whom he has been associated with over the years. Tony Schwartz has been quoted as saying, “he thinks in much broader terms than the average person”. Time correspondent, Richard Clurman, has commented that, “Frankfurt has 12 ideas on any subject, 10 of them that no one should have thought of, and two that are brilliant”.”

Never give up.

And biggies, never forget where you came from.