Alumni Spotlight – Todd Slutzky
Creative Circus Alum - Director of Strategic Opportunities at Nebo Agency
#AlumniSpotlight The Creative Circus graduates the most sought after creatives in the industry. Take a moment to read about the lives, careers & personal stories of some of our fantastic alumni.
Todd Slutzky – Director of Strategic Opportunities at Nebo Agency
Creative Circus Alumnus- Copywriting (2001)
Portfolio
Advice to the Graduating Class:
If you stay in it long enough, your career in advertising will take you into incredibly interesting and unexpected places. Be it cities. Jobs. Industries. Be open to the opportunities.After being a CD for many years, I moved over to “lead digital in the SE” at a giant tech company. (Turns out that job really sucked.) Now I lead biz dev at a great agency here in Atlanta. Sure as hell never saw that coming, but to my utter surprise I find it very meaningful.Recent Press: Longtime Creative Director Todd Slutzky Moves into Business Development, Lives to Tell the Tale.
Advice to the Incoming Class:
Look for the most talented people in your class and try to partner with them. (I sure as hell wish I had figured out a way to partner with Ari Weiss while he was here and not just drank beer with him.) You’ll learn more, and you and your book will be all the better for it.
What do you wish you knew in school?:
When I first got here, I wish i had been easier to work with and hadn’t taken it all (especially myself) so damn seriously. Without meaning to be – and even worse – realizing it, I was an asshole my first few quarters at the Circus. And who wants to partner with an asshole? Learning that at the Circus changed how I have worked the rest of my career. (Or at least I hope and think so.)
Best Advice He Has Ever Been Given:
Put palm trees in any script you write. If they chose the idea, you’ll get to go shoot it somewhere where there actually are palm trees.
Favorite Project this Year:
Few years back when I was at VML, my team and I created achoo.com for Kleenex. It was a cold and flu prediction tool that truly worked. It was innovative and useful and beautiful. One of the most challenging and rewarding things I’ve ever had the pleasure to create. Won two Webbys. http://toddslutzky.com/achoo-by-kleenex
Parting Thoughts:
Work hard and strive to do great work. But value family and yourself more. While there are certainly examples of great work out there that will live on, most of what we all create is not that. So go to the concert. The date. The trip. Watch your kid’s game. Better yet, coach their team. The famous adage is incredibly true: on your death bed no one ever says they wish they had worked more.
Look for fun, fame and money through work. But it can be dangerous to look for meaning. So find it in yourself. In your life. You will probably get laid-off at some point. Maybe even fired. To quote Tyler Durden, you are not your job. So just know that you are so much more than what any one ad, job, award or “whatever” may be.