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Two names: Curtis Joseph and Brian Lawton.

Curtis Joseph is one of the most successful goaltenders in NHL


history, an Olympic gold medalist and was a mainstay for the Toronto
Maple Leafs both on and off the ice.

Brian Lawton is a former professional hockey player who bummed


around the NHL, AHL and IHL without any real relative success.

Curtis Joseph didn’t start playing hockey until high school, and went
undrafted. Brian Lawton’s name was often used in comparisons to
hallowed hockey legends like Howe and Gretzky. He was drafted #1
overall in 1983 and is considered one of the greatest busts in NHL
history.

Now I know what you’re thinking: “Trev, have you been sniffing paint?
You know this is The Big Orange Slide and not Bar Stool Sports,
right?”. I have not, and I do.

The moral of this NHL history lesson is that even the highest
expectations and the greatest of potential does not a superstar make.
Similarly, some of the greats have come from the most unsuspecting
and unassuming origins.

When I first set out to crack the advertising industry, I was dogged by
an overwhelming unease: I didn’t go to a portfolio school or even
graduate from an advertising program. I felt like I wouldn’t even get
the time of day from an industry that I perceived to value such
education as the be all end all, and that any other experience was
tantamount to being raised by wolves.

This conclusion, as I now know, couldn’t be farther from the truth.


Some of the greatest creative directors went to school for chemical
engineering, or physical education, or didn’t go to school at all. A quick
look at any agency’s LinkedIn network further illustrates the diversity
of the educational and experiential backgrounds of their employees.
Great ideas, and hard work, and a sense for the industry do not abide
by the compartmentalized nature of formal education. The reality is
that the right balance of effort, creativity, and charisma are the
common bonds of advertisers, not a pre-prescribed diploma that acts
as your permanent and immediate passkey.

I should make it clear, this is not meant to knock advertising


programs, the instructors and curriculum are in place to let talented
people become truly great. Nor do I suggest that the next ad superstar
is going to be a dark horse from some seemingly unrelated discipline.
Sidney Crosby has been lighting it up since he could skate, obliterated
his expectations and is one of the most dominant players in the league
today. And me? Well I peaked around age 7 while playing for the blue
team, and don’t expect to get the nod from Ron Wilson anytime soon.

And maybe this is the much rumoured over future of advertising. The
background of employees is going to continue to diversify - what
benefits will creative industries reap from these changes? The Slide
has talked before about the changing face of the CW/AD partnership,
what happens when the partnership is between an anthropologist, an
ergonomic engineer and a thesis candidate in Russian lit? So often,
advertisers look for thinkers from outside of the box. What happens
when we get thinkers from a whole different warehouse?

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