Everybody Knows Everybody: Life In A Small Agency
Working at an ad agency over the last year and a half with less than 15 people, I find myself a helluva lot closer to my coworkers than I ever anticipated. And I don’t just mean during the day-to-day of photo shoots, campaign strategies and lunch outings, but also after work hangouts and weekend events … I am almost constantly surrounded by these people. Why, you ask? Let me explain.
When I was a post-grad wanderluster, I wasn’t just looking for a place to make money. I was searching for my career soulmate, if you will. I wanted a job that didn’t base my starting worth on how many years of experience I had in advertising (being that I was a psych major) or have a strict dress code (minus no crop tops we’re pretty easygoing). What I wanted out of a “job” was to learn every day and make cool things with cool people. And that’s exactly what I do at Adjective & Co.
The thing is though, when you put these cool people in the same place without a Human Resources Department, you create a slew of best friends. Don’t take this as a stab at HR or assume we’re a bunch of crude individuals. All I’m saying is we have the freedom to create raw, original content together, and with that comes more freedom to be yourself. It’s what truly excites me about our agency’s culture.
Another aspect of working with your friends are the opportunities to be brutally honest with one another. (If you’re looking to join the world of advertising, keep your sensitive pants at home.) Constructive criticism turns us from cubs into wolves (another ADJ &CO reference). Anyone can join the pack if you are willing to work your butt off and put out the best work you possibly can. We push each other to be best we can be, and with that attitude progress as a team, with or without an office for almost a year.
When I joined the Adjective & Co team in 2014, the team joked our mission was to take over the world. Little did I know it wasn’t a joke, but exactly what drives us each and every day. From a social post to holiday invites, we work like every deliverable is Super Bowl ad to be see by one … hundred … BILLION PEOPLE! (Sidenote: If you don’t pick up on random movie quotes, you probably won’t understand us a lot of the time.) But, I digress. Hey, did you know running on tangents can lead to really cool ideas? I learned that here too. Okay, I’m really done now. For more information on Adjective, give Jimmy Larkin a call.