Take Long Walks. And Other Mindblowing Creativity Tips from Normals in the Advertising World.

Here’s something of a truth: ‘normal’ people don’t make commercials for a living. They don’t write 30-second spots featuring Muppets talking on a Facebook Portal, they don’t have their words read by Arnold Schwarzeneggar, they don’t direct actors in Romania over Zoom, and they definitely don’t have their work seen by millions of people watching March Madness. 

Husband and wife duo, Andy and Elly Holdeman, are two normals that do these very things. They market some of the most recognizable brands in the world–AirBNB, Facebook, XBOX–and, not surprisingly (given what we learned about their job to find human truth), they shared some very recognizable (even normal) facets about their lives: insecurity about your ideas, struggles for inspiration, frustration with clients, bosses/coworkers who just don’t get it.

As Andy and Elly share bits of their creative process, they drop truth bombs (as Andy is wont to call them) that are accessible and useful no matter what you do. Take “Underthink”, which is salve to the weary souls of we anxious, neurotic, or perfectionistic types; sometimes, we just need to take a “less is more” approach. Another pearl of wisdom was “If you’re going to do it, you better enjoy it” because…life’s too short, man.                                                                              

Finally, everyone should take heed to the Holdemans’ #1 axiom: “Take long walks.” So, download this pod, get your sneaks on, and take that stroll these creative genius normals ordered up.

You can find the transcript for this episode here. Find transcripts for all episodes here.