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My first day working in an ad agency. Assistant Account Executive. BBDO Direct. 1986.

I hadn’t studied advertising. I was in love with ideas, and that was my window in to brands. All my searching, comparing and contrasting – without any plan at all – led to the day I started my advertising career, and from the first I was full of opinions, convictions, relevant knowledge and confidence.

I was far from finished. I could write, but I couldn’t spell. I knew greatness, but I didn’t know if I could produce it. On my first day, the client ignored my boss and quizzed me for a half hour on what his strategy should be. He seemed quite comfortable with my answers.

Until my boss took advantage of a pause in the conversation to say, “And then you’ll route this mechanical, right Mark?”

“Mechanical what?” I asked, ignorantly.