*Typing*

To make it as a creative in advertising, you must be both tenacious and diplomatic.

When I was in my twenties, I was an absolute tyrant to work with. I was unwavering when it came to my creative vision. As Honey Copy has matured into an agency that works with Fortune 500 enterprises, it has forced me to learn diplomacy.

I'm just as tenacious as I've always been. I'm just more diplomatic about it. Brands hire us for our conviction. They hire us for our point of view. They hire us for our ability to create audacious work. They hire us to show them what "eleven" looks like.

However, once we've done our job, it's ultimately up to the enterprise to decide if the creative risk is worth the commercial reward. While my answer to this question is always a resounding "yes", I'm also off the hook if the campaign implodes. This is diplomacy. It's recognizing your creative work has both good and bad consequences. It's taking that resposibility seriously.

Most of us fall into one of two categories. We are either a freelancer or an entrepreneur. The freelancer focuses on specializing while the entrepreneur focuses on scaling. They are both extraordinarily fulfilling vocations. But, in very different ways.

As a freelancer, you commit your life––or a portion of your life––to becoming the best in the world at a very specific skill. You get paid to show up and create magic in the only way that you know how. Actors are freelancers, as are writers, designers and artists of any kind. You job is to remain in flow.

As an entrepreneur, you commit your life––or a portion of your life––to creating something bigger than yourself. You get paid to find a problem, create a solution and then scale this solution to infinity. This requires you to be a generalist. Your job is to wake up each day and remove the biggest problem your eneterprise is facing.

If you are truly a contender, you know it is not enough to have done it. Nor is it enough to have done it a thousand times over. You must do it again and again and again. And, once you do it again, it will only count the moment it is done. After this fleeting moment has passed, the scoreboard is cleared and you must do it again. And, each time that you do it again, you must not think of the previous time that you did it. For the previous time does not matter. It does not exist. It does not count.

You become your competition. Even if you win, you will inevitably become who you compete with. And so you must be very careful about who you choose to compete with.

Most of the work you see produced today isn't worth competing with. It lacks quality. It lacks care. It lacks intention. It lacks originality. Furthermore, it has yet to stand the test of time. Unless a work has endured for more than a decade, you can't know whether or not it is any good.

This is why it's far better to compete with dead writers, artists and entrepreneurs. Compete with Virginia Woolf. Compete with James Baldwin. Compete with Georgia O'Keeffe. Compete with Jean-Michel Basquiat. Compete with Coco Chanel. Compete with Steve Jobs.

But, whatever you do, don't compete with those alive today. There are exceptions, of course. But, most of those who claim to be writers, artists and entrepreneurs are nothing more than influencers, content creators and AI-puppets playing dress-up.

One of Lil Wayne's most beloved music videos was shot behind-the-scenes of another music video.

While Lil Wayne was filming "Got Money", he decided to shoot another music video for his song "A Milli". It was shot on the very same day and in under an hour.

Unlike its big-budget counterpart, it was filmed for next to nothing on a hand-held camcorder. It was raw. It was uncut. It was unpolished. It was human.

A lot of times, the behind-the-scenes footage is as good as the actual footage. Not because it's perfect, but because it's flawed.