BroxtenDigital
Getting into advertising with no experience does not require a portfolio of ads or a marketing degree. Fran Westbrooks walked in off the street and left with a job title he had never even heard of.
I asked Fran Westbrooks, who runs the Detroit creative agency Boulevard and is the incoming president of Adcraft Detroit, to walk through it because his path is the least traditional one I've heard on this show.
How do you get into advertising with no experience?
Fran was producing music videos in LA, then he relocated east. A friend mentioned there was a copywriter job available, but he couldn't take it. Fran didn't know what a copywriter even was. "I literally walked off the streets, so to speak," he told me.
He showed up and had just the one thing on him, a portfolio of music video treatments. The creative director looked through it and asked if he knew Photoshop. He didn't. Could he draw at all? He didn't have a way to do that either.
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How do you become a copywriter with no experience?
When the art skills ran out, the creative director still had one more question. Fran already knew what he wanted to say, he just needed someone to teach him how to write it down. That sealed it for him: "I'll teach you how to write. You'll be a copywriter." Fran became a junior copywriter that same day, with no writing samples and no agency experience.
He points to that hire as proof of the larger trend in breaking into the space right now. Agencies used to be so stuck in their ways that almost nobody got hired if they didn't check a standard job title box. That rigidity is mostly gone, which means the specific thing you're already good at can be the door you walk through instead of a title you have to wait to be offered.
What should you build while you're job hunting?
Fran would tell you that piling up rejections means you need to move, not wait. "The best time to look for a job is while you have one," he said. If you don't have one yet, the move is simple: build something now instead of just applying.
His phrase for it: create your own space while you're getting into your space. Show up with something you made, whether that's content, a project, or work for a cause you care about, and you walk in already more valuable than a resume with a degree and nothing else on it.
Which skills matter more than the tools?
When I asked what hard skill matters most right now, Fran didn't point to a platform or a certification. He said writing is where it counts, being able to take a plan or copy and actually articulate it. "Don't lean into the devices. Don't lean into the shortcuts," he said.
The soft skill he paired with it was listening. You get the full picture before you try to add your voice to it. He handwrites in Moleskine notebooks, has for about 15 years, and still goes back to reread what he was thinking in his twenties and thirties.
Watch the full conversation
Watch the full episode with Fran Westbrooks on YouTube for the story behind the name Boulevard and how he learned to manage people without ever chasing the title.
Watch next: A Media VP On How To Get Into The Advertising Industry
Trying to land your first role in advertising or marketing? Every episode is someone who built a career in this industry sharing what works. Subscribe on YouTube.