Answer the Fu￠king Call

I wish I would’ve saved that voicemail from James Hitchcock back in July of 2008. I can still hear those four words very clearly blasting through my blackberry. In full disclosure, James said, “You know what I would do if I was a freelancer? I would answer the fu￠king call!” 

At the time, James was the EVP of Creative and Marketing at Discovery Channel, but less than 6 months prior he was my Executive Creative Director at Country Music Television. I (and several others) had also left CMT shortly after he did. I was ready to pursue my freelance career and the world was my oyster. It was also in the middle of a devastating financial crisis. Anyone with half a brain would have advised against jumping ship during a recession, but I was noticing a trend unfolding in the creative field and I knew it was the right time. 

I had only been in the creative industry for 8-years, but it felt like 20+ with the number of hours I had put in. I’m not complaining, I was young and full of piss and vinegar. I wanted to immerse myself in the design and animation world, so I was mopping up whatever I could with my little sponge. The other key ingredient was just the sheer number of creatives I was collaborating with and learning from. Leo Burnett and Barkley were certainly not small shops, so there wasn’t a shortage of like-minded creatives to connect with.  

In late 2007, I was starting to get calls from past colleagues, inquiring if I might be available to take on freelance work. The answer was always, “Yes!” At that time, I was still working at CMT, but moonlighting started to become a regular thing. The interesting thing about this was the fact that these past colleagues were no longer at LB or Barkley, they were in brand new positions at different companies. As the Great Recession progressively became more volatile and disruptive, the more the phone rang. 

Okay, fast forward back to the call I missed from James. I’m sure at the time that I missed his call, I was simply refueling on coffee, changing a diaper, or taking a five-minute break from my basement foxhole. Nevertheless, I missed the call. In retrospect, I’m glad I did. Obviously answering every unscheduled phone call that comes in is unrealistic, but as a freelancer, you never want to miss “that” call. Especially in the midst of a global economic downturn. The entire world was in crisis mode, but I couldn’t have picked a better time to jump ship and I truly believe that the current pandemic will result in the same likeness for the creative that’s willing to take the leap. 

If you are in the creative industry, the game board has been radically reset and the rules are still being redefined. It’s very likely that you know several very talented folks who won’t be back in the office in the coming weeks. In fact, if the bigger the agency and disruption, the better opportunity you have as a freelancer. They (your colleagues) are scattered to the four winds. Eventually, they will land somewhere and if you are a talented and likable human being whom they respect and trust, those ex-colleagues will all be potential clients to catapult your freelance career. In my case, over 90% of gigs landed over the last 12 years were based solely on prior relationships. 

One could argue that number proves that I haven’t been very effective at landing new business. While this may be true, I’ve remained focused on flourishing those prior relationships and kindling the new ones that spawned from those opportunities. Don’t forget your ex-colleague now has a new Project Manager, Art Director, Creative Director, Producer, and the list can go on and on based on the size of the company or agency. Those introductions are priceless, as long as you are willing to be a valuable (outside) asset and produce great work, on time and on budget. Not being an asshole also helps. 

Keep in mind these opportunities have a shelf life. You need to act fairly quickly, It doesn’t take much time to be out of sight, out of mind. Everyone knows the uneasy feeling of starting a new job, it can be gut-wrenching for the first few months. As creatives, we long for our prior relationships because we find comfort in working with people we trust and their ability to create great work. It’s much easier to default back to what we know rather than starting over and hoping the new in-house creative team has what it takes. 

Don’t forget that the higher they sit on the pedestal, the higher the risks are for them to work with new people. They are being judged right out of the gate on the first few projects and their overwhelming desire is to exceed expectations. This is indeed the time to make a move. Forget about trying to beat the streets and find new work, it’s tough. Really tough. Instead, pick up the phone and call your friend, they are eagerly awaiting your call. Just make sure when it’s your turn, you answer the fu￠king call.