BECKY BRINKERHOFF

What’s your best hack for overcoming a creative block?

Regimented creativity.

I used the pomodoro technique. 25 minutes on, 5 minute break. Over and over until I get somewhere. I make myself write down (in a physical notebook) everything that comes up. Everything. I pick words in the brief and then write everything that reminds me of that world. Then pick a word in that list and write down everything that reminds me of that word.

Every time, every single time, the synapses fire and get me to something I can work with. I don’t allow myself to look at my phone or be on my computer. I sit away from both while that timer is running. And when my brain wanders I can remind her that we can do that in (checks timer) 14 minutes.

Also weed.

What’s a creative project outside of work that’s taught you something about yourself?

I’ve never admitted this publicly before. But, what the hell. Why not! Back when Twitter was Twitter and niche novelty character accounts ran the internet, I started a persona called Female Copywriter.

I was in the throws of being managed by a man who assaulted me at an agency that claimed to be progressive. The hypocrisy made me lose my mind a little. Okay, a lot. I was going through it, okay? I needed somewhere to express everything I was seeing and experiencing.

Enter my Peggy Olson profile picture and @femalcopywriter. Lots of people thought that the lack of e was intentional; it wasn’t. Just didn’t have enough characters to fully spell it out. I tapped my work bestie (and now longterm real-life bestie) Karina Zack who was going through some similar things to tweet with me.

It was sardonic, sarcastic, scathing, satirical, and spissed off (sorry, felt like I had to keep the s words going). I was in my early twenties, e-beefing with industry titans and directly tweeting about things I was dealing with at work. Ya girl was on a tear. Mostly done through jokes and memes. But under every joke was a painful moment at work. Or something we were watching our friends go through.

There were some things I wish I had done differently. Hills I shouldn’t have died on. People I should have been nicer to. But femalcopywriter taught me how to channel my workplace hurt into creativity, how to defend people around me, and how to make the industry uncomfortable through humor.

“Femalcopywriter taught me how to channel my workplace hurt into creativity, how to defend people around me, and how to make the industry uncomfortable through humor.”

How do you navigate being your authentic self in corporate creative spaces?

Like a bull in a china shop with a chip on it’s shoulder. But like, in a fun way?

I learned a long time ago that I cannot help but be myself. There’s truly nothing I can do about it. I’ve tried to tone myself down but she always ends up coming to the surface. And I’ve found that it’s a good thing. Being unabashedly yourself in a corporate creative space helps you figure out pretty quickly who is for you and who isn’t a good fit.

Some people won’t like me. And that’s okay.

(Please like me, actually).

What’s your breaking into advertising story?

During my first agency interview, I asked, so is copywriting a majority male thing? I asked for two reasons. 1. All but one previous resident were male. 2. I wanted to know why. Was that a wise decision? Nah. But did I land the job? Yes. This is pretty par for the course in my career. I say the thing even if the thing might cost.

That was pretty bold of me considering I had no advertising experience and barely knew what a creative department was. I was an acting major who figured out she was way too materialistic to be a starving artist. Post-realization, I double majored in marketing.

So I showed up to this residency interview with a portfolio I made with a photoshop knockoff with a Monistat spec campaign with a bunch of bread puns.

I got the job.

“I showed up to this residency interview with a portfolio I made with a photoshop knockoff with a Monistat spec campaign with a bunch of bread puns.”

What’s one piece of advice you wish someone had given you early in your career?

Sometimes, you have to decide what hills are worth dying on and what hills are worth quietly seething over for a short amount of time and then moving on.

For example, I won’t work with an all-male production team. One of my big three has to be a woman or non-binary person. Big three meaning Director, DP, or Editor. I make that very clear upfront and simply do not budge on it, no matter the circumstances. That’s a hill I will die on.

“I won’t work with an all-male production team. One of my big three has to be a woman or non-binary person.”

My mind is blank when it comes to hills not to die on. So maybe I still need to learn this lesson, too. Now that I think of it, I was given this advice. I don’t think I listened.