A Story

I'm going to tell you a story.

Back 25 years ago, when I started my agency, I was schlepping my portfolio around trying to get some work.
I got a meeting with a guy named Shell Alpert, who at the time was a very famous copywriter.
I went into his office where he was sitting at a typewriter with a cigarette dangling from his lips and an ashtray that had an 8 inch pile of cigarette butts in it.
I sat down in front of his desk and he looked up at me and said, "Kid, do you know who I am?" "No sir", I said. He picked up a magazine and tossed it across the desk to me. "That's me", he said. On the cover of the magazine was Shell's picture with a six page article inside.
I look up in awe and said, "Mr. Alpert, how do I get to be as famous as you?"
"Do you really want to know the secret", he asked? I nodded and said, "Yes sir, I do."
He leaned forward and looked me right in the eyes and said, "Just stick around, if you're still here in five years, you'll be as famous as me."

Of course, he never told me how hard it is to stick around! But it was good advice, and anytime things got tough I remembered his advice and stuck around.

Jon