May 2018

Credit: @sanddiary

Here is a case of being willing to help, if only the “ask” considered how much the process informs the outcome.

Like you, I am sometimes on the receiving end of a résumé emailed from a recent college grad, usually following an introduction by the sender’s parent. Along comes the résumé with a closing line that says, “let me know if you hear of anything!”

Let the eye roll begin (I’ve tried to control it with no success.)

This kind of open-ended request leaves me wondering if I should be honest, and tell them how fruitless this approach really is, or just smile and respond, “Will do!”

Asking favors of friends, or even strangers for that matter, is best met by being as specific as possible about what is needed, wanted or required. We’ll forgive our youth for not yet knowing this, but I have a hard time extending this same slack toward legit grown-ups.

Recently, an email was forwarded to me that kindly requested “design and messaging feedback” on a handful of packaging layouts. In this instance, the final sentence asked recipients to vote for their favorites. While I understand the desire to assemble an impromptu focus group, what surprised me was how willing the creator of the product was to hand over her creative offspring to the collective whim of a disparate, and clueless (I’m referring to myself) group. So rather than enlisting qualified help from someone with specific experience or any understanding of the product/audience, this author chose to outsource these essential skills to her “list” – of how many, I don’t know, but it’s safe to say – a whole lotta opinions.

The point of having expert eyes slash and burn your work is to bring a specific perspective you can’t see to a mission that unites message with the end user, and product with the customer. I say “slash and burn” because that’s sort of how it feels (as a creative) to have something redlined. But it’s essential. The best editors rely on discipline and objectivity (not personal preference) and are able to spot and remove anything that dilutes the narrative. To ask dozens of people to do this simultaneously, and without sufficient context, misunderstands both the task and endgame. Why generate a variety of different opinions that do nothing to move the needle closer to a more refined, focused end product? What does one even do with all of the ‘feedback’ that comes from an indiscriminate inquiry?

The term “email blast” really rings true in situations like these. We can no more connect a graduate with the appropriate gig based on a few data points than help a new author get more clarity on her target audience and message by casting such wide, unqualified nets.

This is true in so many cases; from circulating possible brand names or logo design to friends, to running new business ideas by strangers on airplanes, or my favorite, posting taglines to chat groups for votes. Without context, feedback loses its value.

If you really want to kill your darlings, enlist a qualified assassin. Most people are happy to help if you give them a target.

Everyone's vision is limited. Bring the view when you can.

Wife. Of. The Owner.

Isn’t it interesting that in 2018, the woman in a partnership could still be considered a plus-one to the boss?

I actually don’t think anyone using this title means any harm, but when I was on the receiving end of it the other day, I was reminded of how ubiquitous these unintended slights really are.

As the co-owner of a new business, I was in a delightful conversation with a new employee who, at the end of the conversation, gave me a compliment that included her excitement at talking to “the wife of the owner.” I offered an alternate title for myself to her which was, “I think you mean the co-owner.”

While I wasn’t upset, something changed in me. In that moment, I became personally invested in stopping the marginalization of anyone – from the subtle gestures to the more glaring ones. If a 23-year old, financially independent, highly educated, engaged citizen-of-the-world can make this mistake, it can happen to anyone.

I know our antennae are all rather “up” lately on this – but I don’t think there is any stance that is too vigilant on this topic. As someone who works behind the scenes for brands, I’ve gotten very used to seeing my work out in the public, on Instagram, in the communal zeitgeist – with zero attribution. Such is a life in brand strategy and advertising- -often invisible to the majority of the world. And that’s okay. But when I see that same standard applied to the woman behind the work in a myriad of other situations, it strikes a nerve. Maybe it even lights a fire.

If anyone has ever wondered why women (or anyone who feels unseen) “seem so angry,” it’s because we are so ducking tired of holding 15 balls in the air and still delivering high caliber work, only to be treated as a side dish to the main one. This comes in too many formats and contexts to list, from domestic and family contributions to vocational and professional ones – but I can assume that anyone reading this has been that person at least once, if not dozens of times. Feeling invisible, when you’re hauling a load, is one of the worst kinds of slights.

To those who find themselves in positions to change this, course correct or otherwise give credit where it is due, please do it. This is not a directive to men or women but to all of us – to acknowledge work (and workload) and to celebrate where it’s earned.

In a different situation that swirls at the center of my orbit lately, someone did that for me. And I won’t soon forget it. Thanks, Doug.