Wednesday, January 21

What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?

I started in the Advertising Industry early. Earlier than most. While my high school classmates were partaking in the freedoms and wealth of knowledge that college life offers, I came down with mono and had to withdrawl from my classes. That was in November of 2000, by March of 2001 I was working in a Baltimore Agency as the Receptionist/Advertising Assistant. That is after I did a short stint as a short order cook. My second day on the job, the CEO sat me down and said "Julianna this is a business you will either love or hate. There is no in between. If you find that you don't like this business, you need to let me know." I'll never forget that conversation. I was scared to death. Here I was this 18 year old kid, and I just had entered the real workforce. At that moment it became all too clear to me; I had a lot to learn. Six months later, I knew exactly what he was talking about. Advertising is a industry that you will either love or hate, there is no "It's okay."

Advertising chose me. Sure, after high school I was pretty sure that I would pursue a career where I could be a graphic designer. Advertising is certainly the main industry to be in for that kind of work. I never ended up in the graphic design position though. Hence, why I say Advertising chose me.

I never gave much serious thought to the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?" It is one of the questions that I now ask everyone I interview. It is a question that really gets people to stop and think about the path they are on. Especially when you are asking a grown adult. I love advertising. I do, however, ask myself at times "If money wasn't a issue what would my imagination lead me to do?"

A good friend reminds me often that anything is possible as long as you have Money and Imagination. So I ask you, What do you want to be when you grow up? or If money wasn't a issue what would your imagination have you do?

Here is a short list of my possibilities:

  1. Elementary School Art Teacher
  2. Beach Bum
  3. Philanthropist
  4. Wetlands activist
  5. Creative Brothel Owner
  6. Motorcycle Dealer

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, I've always known that I wanted to work with people in the medical field or animals... I decided people because to be truthfull I much rather hurt a human being vs. an animal. People have the ability to understand what is going on (well besides the infants) and well the fury creatures are just so damn cute and are unable to control their environment. I can honestly say that I love my job, not to many people out there can say that, there is actually meaning to what I do every day.

Julianna Hawk Wittig said...

we are lucky. Not so many people are.