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July 08|2008
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Dear Jancy: Hi from Australia. Firstly, I love your book, Pick Me. It made me enthused and creatively petrified at the same time.
I recently finished an undergrad degree in Advertising. And yes, after reading your book, I still want to be a copywriter. However, I'm in my early 30s. "Egad!", I hear you gasp (dont worry I've already picked out my zimmerframe).
Despite my age I still believe there's a place for me, my quirks, and my zimmerframe.
So my question is, if most people leave the Ad Industry by 40, and it's left to the Y-Gen's to solve the world's advertising problems, isn't there going to be a massive lack of insight and connection to the baby boomers and even us X-gens consumers? I mean collectively us semi-old farts have massive spending power. Shouldn't agencies be worried losing the kind of quirky insights that only decades of living life's up and downs (not to mention surviving the Madonna "I've got to wear my bra on the outside" years) can bring?
Secondly, if it takes a 20-something til her 40's to get burned out, wouldn't that mean that a semi-fresh faced 30-something still has til her 50s to build her advertising career?
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 We know plenty of people who came into advertising relatively late and have thriving careers into their 40's with no end in sight. Heavily awarded Joe DeSouza of Fallon London was a librarian in his last job. Alan Russell started his CD job at always-hot DDB Vancouver at 50. And of course we're, well, uh, over 40. So we may have nodded to the average experience, but that doesn't mean it will be your experience. The main reason people leave is lack of interest. That can lead to taking yourself out of the game or being shown out. Those who continue to love it are still driven and their age isn't really an issue if the work is terrific. Others keep going up the management ladder, like we did--- another way to extend one's stay. So be not afraid, and know that if you do find you don't love this gig forever, you will then go on to discover something else.
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