Maddie Fiorante
“Wow, you sound sooo American.”
I shudder. Yikes, I think. Here I am, the south of France, at a party I shouldn’t even be
allowed to attend, surrounded by creative thinkers with real jobs. My Type A personality kicks in, anxiety is rising, telling me I don’t belong here and already look an idiot. I turn my student badge around.
“It’s okay, I am too.” Thank God.
This moment begins a conversation leading to some of the most insightful career advice
I could ever receive. Despite the buckets of rosé, giant pool with flamingo floaties, and people mostly under the age of 30 years old, I discovered more about the industry from those up and coming than I ever thought possible.
The person who recognized my American-ness, Austin Campbell, went on to entertain me by answering every question I had. Why are you American but your badge says Germany? (Ohmygod Maddie, you can’t just ask people why they’re white!) What is your company like? What is Germany like? What are you competing in? How did you get the idea? Where did you go to ad school? Was it helpful? Are you single? Etc.
Austin not only let me annoy him with my questions while leisurely swimming at the pool, but continued to give me advice unprompted and recruit advice from his friends around him. When asked why, he said, “Because if I was a student here I would have died to hear from anyone.”
He had two main pieces of advice: 1) Find a good mentor before finding a good company. It doesn’t matter where you work, but who you work for that will teach you the most. 2) If everything fails, sell fake IDs. You’ll make $4,000 a month.
“Wow, you sound sooo American.”
I shudder. Yikes, I think. Here I am, the south of France, at a party I shouldn’t even be
allowed to attend, surrounded by creative thinkers with real jobs. My Type A personality kicks in, anxiety is rising, telling me I don’t belong here and already look an idiot. I turn my student badge around.
“It’s okay, I am too.” Thank God.
This moment begins a conversation leading to some of the most insightful career advice
I could ever receive. Despite the buckets of rosé, giant pool with flamingo floaties, and people mostly under the age of 30 years old, I discovered more about the industry from those up and coming than I ever thought possible.
The person who recognized my American-ness, Austin Campbell, went on to entertain me by answering every question I had. Why are you American but your badge says Germany? (Ohmygod Maddie, you can’t just ask people why they’re white!) What is your company like? What is Germany like? What are you competing in? How did you get the idea? Where did you go to ad school? Was it helpful? Are you single? Etc.
Austin not only let me annoy him with my questions while leisurely swimming at the pool, but continued to give me advice unprompted and recruit advice from his friends around him. When asked why, he said, “Because if I was a student here I would have died to hear from anyone.”
He had two main pieces of advice: 1) Find a good mentor before finding a good company. It doesn’t matter where you work, but who you work for that will teach you the most. 2) If everything fails, sell fake IDs. You’ll make $4,000 a month.
I thought a lot about what Austin said. I’ve been obsessed with Wieden + Kennedy since
I was in high school, but now, I don’t feel this insane pressure to be WK material as soon as I
graduate. Instead, I can do the very thing I’ve loved about Cannes: learn. After being inspired by
this festival and all the creative people I met, the one thing I most want to do is learn all that I
can about the industry.
Meeting another American who now works abroad, and just won a Lion for his own incredible idea (!!!) opened me up to a new life I never thought possible. Now, I’m inspired to live and work abroad, something I never would have thought to do before this trip.
When I first moved from Portland to Athens, everything felt unpredictable and confusing. I don’t like sweet tea, have never been fishing, I drive a Prius, and prefer rain boots over cowboy boots. Since the move, I have learned to adapt my life and love being in such a weird place. And now, after learning to seek out mentor opportunities rather than dream jobs right away, and after pushing myself to embrace a new culture and get excited about other ones, I am overwhelmed with possibility and desire to come back to Cannes in the hopes of winning a Lion.
Meeting another American who now works abroad, and just won a Lion for his own incredible idea (!!!) opened me up to a new life I never thought possible. Now, I’m inspired to live and work abroad, something I never would have thought to do before this trip.
When I first moved from Portland to Athens, everything felt unpredictable and confusing. I don’t like sweet tea, have never been fishing, I drive a Prius, and prefer rain boots over cowboy boots. Since the move, I have learned to adapt my life and love being in such a weird place. And now, after learning to seek out mentor opportunities rather than dream jobs right away, and after pushing myself to embrace a new culture and get excited about other ones, I am overwhelmed with possibility and desire to come back to Cannes in the hopes of winning a Lion.
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