hi, i’m stephen kent.
i was almost named clark,
and then I was born and my parents thought otherwise.
And then (much later) I had a kid.
And I named her clarke.
Make of that what you will.
Much later than that, I had another kid, Winston. Probably should have stuck to the bit and went with Lex, or Lewis for that matter, but that felt too on the nose. Also, the possibility of manifestation did give me pause. Prior to that and the other that, I was a young writer, navigating big agencies, independent agencies, and in-house. I learned a lot. Mostly by mistakes. That may feel trite, and it may be, but I dunno—sometimes on the nose is in the right. Here’s a quick summary of my findings: edit less from the get-go, pivot more on-the-go, and be resolute when it’s time to go-go. Here’s a quicker summary: Intern | Copywriter | Senior Copywriter | Copy Director.
If I did the math, I believe my calculations would prove I’ve hit my 10,000 hours. But I don’t really need the arithmetics to know that I know what to know when it comes to writing and concepting for advertising. That may feel audacious, and it may be, but I do know—when you spend enough time with imposter syndrome, and you keep doing the work, you’ll shake it till you make it. I’m nearing 40, which in ad-project age, I’m far from picture lock, but well outside of post-its. And even after all those hours, apparently thousands, I still love me a bad idea that if you tilt it ever-so-slightly, it’s so good it scares you into making it great.
-Stephen with a PH