Copywriter, at KINETIC DESIGN AND ADVERTISING, SINGAPORE
Jun 2010 - June 2013

Great agencies smell funny. Sharp with the sheer potency of possibility. Acrid with anticipation, like a fuse burning. Charged with inevitable greatness, like air just before lightning. It’s a wicked aura.

But the air at Kinetic was so full of it, that instead of energising me,

it sapped the living hope out of me. Surely I wasn’t good enough to join the ranks of what was Singapore’s most award-winning shop.

So when my application as junior creative was rejected, I wasn’t completely gutted, but resigned. Taking pity —  and a rather extreme gamble —on me, they offered me an account executive job instead. I took my chances.

I’d like to think I made an okay account executive, but I was pretty lousy. The troubles began when I started working on creative briefs for my Nike client in secret. One day, my client actually bought one of my ideas, and made it to the creative team.

Under his tutelage, I ran campaigns for Nike, Mini, Hasbro, and Canon, built the worlds’ best worst website that led to my first Cannes Lion, and that, was truly, where it all began.

Copywriter, at CHEIL WORLDWIDE, SEOUL
Jul 2013 - Jul 2014

“Let me get this straight,” I asked the recruiter,  “you want me to re-locate to a city I’ve never been to, don’t speak the language, and don’t know anyone?” 

“Well, yes,” she replied. “but you get a free apartment”.

“Sign me up,” I said.

So began my journey into the great unknown. This opportunity came at a time when I was keen on a change from the boutique environment I had known. I wanted to experience Big Corporate, to swim with the big sharks. I wanted to be a Mad Man, goddamnit. 

And I got what I asked for.

Cheil is a behemoth owned by Samsung, their client, and all we ever did was Samsung. Samsung Mobile. Samsung Electric. Samsung LED. Samsung Insurance. The work came with budgets and opportunities larger than I had ever experienced.

I tried my best, but after one year, I still couldn’t shake the feeling that Cheil was more of a vendor than an agency, and concluded the role wasn’t quite right for me.

I made a promise to never jump into a new role so hastily again.

One I immediately broke.

Senior Creative, at FRED AND FARID, SHANGHAI
Aug 2014 - Jul 2016

The work sounded interesting. The office looked really nice. I speak Mandarin decently. So I took the job, and began two incredible years in Shanghai which I cannot recall without a mix of nostalgia and a slight wince.

Fred and Farid SH was the brainchild of L’enfant terrible of French advertising, Fred Raillard. Sensing the insatiable demand for luxury goods by the nouveau riche would create a demand for advertising with a French touch, he opened an outpost in Shanghai. It was an obscene success.

Such success, however, had the agency spinning in an inevitable chaotic maelstrom. Its walls breathed with mad hope and unassailable expectations. 

The lingua franca would flit from French, English to Mandarin in diabolically Babylonian meetings. We slept under desks, ate rubbish, and pulled all-nighters (nuits blanches) before going into pitches the next morning. Briefs came in hard and fast, creating a Cambrian explosion of opportunity. 

In other words, it an adman’s dream, and I loved every moment of it.

I worked on Tencent and Alibaba — while they were still a whisper outside of China — Amazon Kindle, Porsche, Skoda, Puma, Audi, Nestle, and HP, for whom I wrote a web series — in Mandarin (which improved greatly).

Sitting high on my list though, is the work for The North Face. Not only were these fun to make, but went on to win some awards. 

One definitely leads to the other.

Senior Creative, at Grow, Virginia & Brooklyn Brothers, London
Oct 2016 - Feb 2017

After a break, I freelanced at Grow, in West Virginia. They had just put out some incredible work for EA and Google and I am attracted to small agencies punching about their weight. A highlight was when my idea got presented to, and chosen by, Luc Besson to activate his new film. 

Senior Creative, at AKQA, LONDON
Feb 2017 - Oct 2019

Up til this point, my journey had been pretty haphazard. I made some rash choices, but have been fortunate to come out the other end with some decent experiences. But moving around can also be pretty exhausting. I was ready for an established, brand name institution with a pedigree of thoughtful and well-crafted work. 

As a writer,  I also wanted to be in a city where writing is not only appreciated, but enshrined. So when I had the opportunity to freelance, then subsequently go permanent at AKQA London, I leapt.

I worked on Nike Running, Nike Football, Facebook, Apple (China), HP Omen, IBM, Volvo, Activision, Ford, Riot Games, Inter Miami FC, VSCO, and Coca Cola. One of the highlights was winning over Minecraft as a client.

Having been 10 years in the business, I have learned a few things, and now I’m learning to teach. I mentored a team at D&AD New Blood 2019 to victory.

Associate Creative Director, at AKQA, LONDON
Oct 2019 - Today

Today I lead creative work for VSCO, Coca-Cola, and Minecraft, as well as run pitches.
It’s been great.