Trust me: Jo Arscott
Trust’ is a bloody crafty word. Not to be trusted at all really.
Those 5-little-letters seduce, reward, devastate, deceive, illuminate and transform a creative’s life before they know it.
(And that’s just the start of it.)
I’ve been quite naive about the power of ‘trust’ in my career. 99% of the time my instincts have led me down the right path. Well actually 100%, and that 1% where I’ve gone against it - is where I’ve totally fucked up.
But I can tell you straight, without trust there is nothing.
In the early days, I trusted blindly as I entered advertising’s “white men’s club” in London for them to accept me as a mixed-race female copywriter - and they did.
If I went to work dressed in a gold evening gown or with a feather boa, I expected my team not to blink twice and carry on working as normal – and they did.
I trusted my art directors, agency colleagues, clients to have the same passion and drive as I did to succeed and win awards - and they did.
I trusted my boss Dave Droga at Saatchi & Saatchi to stay true to his word and push our entrepreneurial spirit and every passionate left-field idea I brought to him away from briefs – and he did.
And in return, they demanded that I work my arse off, over-deliver on every brief, promote the agency with PR, judging awards,
looking after interns and sitting on internal agency councils about anything - and I did.
I hope you get to experience that more than once; working for a creative agency that you trust implicitly with your physical safety, mental care and financial security. To be accepted as your true authentic self. It’s the way work should be.
As I grew through the ranks I had to get braver. Trust was mingled with a lot of “leaps of faith”. I left London, (never planned it, my nickname was “Soho Jo” for Christ sake!) moved to the USA. First, Atlanta, Georgia for Coca-Cola HQ and Momentum Worldwide. Then Bentonville/Fayetteville/Chicago for P&G/Walmart and Saatchi X. Then, 10 years later I was in MENA across UAE, Saudi, Iraq, Egypt and Qatar for JWT Dubai.
Trusting something unknown is a whole other ball game, both exciting and terrifying. And it’s Ok to be scared. But what I’ve learnt is that, even through my bad times in this industry, the people in it never cease to surprise me with their kindness and support.
Also as I’ve matured as a creative, I understand the true power of client partnerships. And they can be a joy. When you’re “the one meeting they look forward to most in the week”. When you show proactive ideas and ‘test & learn’ concepts and they trust you implicitly in delivering on their business needs. “We trust Jo’s vision.”
Now ok...let’s get real, advertising is no fairy tale, although for me it’s actually come fairly close.
It’s not invincible to “fuck ups”. Trusts broken. But experience has taught me, you can fuck up. Everyone can fuck up. We’re human. So I give everybody a second chance and a third. As I would sincerely hope to be treated myself. Then.
It’s funny; you can Google a lot of “Trust quotes” out there (558,000,000 results to be precise) but only one emotionally engages me:
‘NEVER LIE TO SOMEONE WHO TRUSTS YOU AND NEVER TRUST SOMEONE WHO LIES TO YOU.‘
I’ve learnt the truth of that the hard way. Both ways round. Years in this industry will do that to you. But when it comes down to it, I trust most people until they give me reason not to.
In the end, advertising has given me the greatest gift of life experiences, personal growth and professional lessons you can’t imagine.
And now I’m back here in England, for now, it’s funny to think how ‘trust’ can survive and thrive in an industry like ours. When our foundations are based on “enhancements of the truth”.
But it does.
And YOU have to trust your gut with it.
Because the consequences of ‘trust’ that you practice daily WILL come back to haunt you at some point...like an apocalyptical advertising judgment day!
So yes, ‘trust’ is a very small 5-letter-word with the utmost importance. You’ve got to respect it. Demand it. Earn it. And most importantly live a creative life based around it.
I trust you to do that.
