This week I hosted Paulina from GrantTree for my Female Founders lunch. I left my lunch with Paulina feeling both inspired and as if I had learnt considerable lessons both for life, and in startups. Paulina is exhilarating to be around and made me feel giddy with anticipation for what my entrepreneurial journey may have in store.
..after I completed my MA I decided I really wanted to get into an advertising agency to be in an environment, I thought, where the most wacky and creative folks hang around. Back then I had no real idea about the startup scene. I remember going to bars in advertising clusters with a large copy of the Campaign, hoping to be chatted up by a Saatchi MD, hilarious. I would sit all evening sipping one drink because the bars were posh and I could only afford one. Finally one night in Canary Wharf a random 'suit' came up and asked me why his beers hadn't arrived yet and I had to explain I didn't really work there. My god, was I let down. It got to me though that perhaps the tactic wasn't right. I decided to go through a standard interview process after all. I almost got into Ogilvy but my feedback after the interview (which I got via the 'back door' as I knew someone I could ask) was “half of the people think that you’re a genius, and the other half argue it doesn't really matter since you’re completely unmanageable - so it’s a no”.
