Insecurities

I first met Steve O’Leary in October 2017 on the third floor of Allen Hall at the University of Oregon. I was with a group of young advertising professionals who were in the room to learn from a man with a wealth of advertising experience. After going through introductions, we were prompted by Steve to list our greatest fear. When it was my turn to share, I explained my long standing fear of my disability prohibiting me from being successful in advertising. O’Leary’s response echoed a version of what my professors had told me before.  He said, “Ben, Look at me. What do you see?” “A man with a lot of advertising experience,” I answered. “Yes, but I’m also short, fat and bald.” he added. He continued, saying he had been that way for a long time. But he didn’t let his insecurities slow him down. Since then, our conversations turned to resumes and internship applications. But on May 1, 2018, our conversation circled back to that fall day. “How can I articulate my insecurity as a strength when talking with people in New York?” I asked. He told me to use my insecurity to explain how I can help the agencies reach new audiences. My two takeaways from our conversation about New York: 1) Let my insecurities help me answer “why advertising?” 2) Get a Sabrett hot dog from a street vendor.

- Ben Knauer | 5/2/18 | #UONYC2018