Knotch connected with Todd Needle, Social Media Strategist at Bespoke Post for our "Own Your Voice" series to hear his story, and to learn what drives Todd in his career.
My story began with a one-way ticket to San Francisco. I began my career in sales at Yelp, connecting with small businesses around California. I learned a lot about finding common ground with people I'd never met, and about how to ask smart questions to figure out what was really going on with them. Also, admittedly, how to grow a thicker skin. I've carried those skills with me ever since.
I was working at a coding boot camp in SF when I woke up one morning and realized that a career in sales wasn't my long-term goal. I'd always been fascinated with storytelling, and wanted to tap back into my creative side. So, I took a leap (and another plane, back to NYC) and started over in a career in advertising. It felt like the right choice from the get-go. It wasn't quite the Mad Men experience I'd envisioned (probably for the best), but that feeling of waking up and seeing your work out there in the world? Pretty neat.
I had a manager who taught me that I should be putting a million ideas on the board. Not all of them are going to be good. In fact, most of them are probably going to be wacky. But he reminded me that you really never know what the client's going to like, and that pitching a really out-there idea means you just might see it happen. You might even get to strap a pizza into an airplane seat and watch it travel cross country (are you seeing a theme here?).
I don't think brands need to have a gut reaction to every trend on social media. Sometimes it's okay to sit back and let the internet take care of itself. Once you get a better idea of what's really going on, you can decide to dig in.
Take chances, make mistakes, get messy. Miss Frizzle had it right.
