Yousuf Afridi’s whirlwind career involves a stint as a freelance web designer, fashion show photography director, racetrack videographer, international business broker, business development consultant and client-facing strategist at top Canadian agencies. Today he’s the second-in-command on Taxi 2’s Koodo Mobile account. He credits much of his success to others: his mentors, like Taxi’s Matt Shoom-Kirsch and Compass360’s Karl Thomson.
At 27, he’s already started mentoring. He champions Taxi 2’s FUEL educational speaker series and is a member of the OCAD University Alumni Mentoring Program. “I’m so impressed by how much is being accomplished by so many young people—much younger than me, and much more accomplished than I am.” He offers some hard-earned wisdom for young professionals looking to launch a career in advertising.
BE A SMALL FISH IN A BIG POND
Own, love and do whatever you’re assigned with pride. As an intern at Saatchi & Saatchi, I was in the print production department. I didn’t come in knowing how to use spray glue and mount paper on foamcore, but I did it like it was my job. I identified who was working on interesting brands and I asked them to walk me through what they did or let me shadow them at a convenient time. I took the initiative to write down ideas and share my point of view politely and tactfully, just so I was top of mind if they needed me. Even if they just wanted me to spray glue some of their projects.
GET INVOLVED
One thing I notice with young account managers… is they don’t share an opinion. When they’re first hired, they’re really nervous and they just want to make sure they do a great job. But they were hired because they saw things from an interesting point of view, so they shouldn’t shy away from sharing their opinions. And not only internally with their team—share their opinion with the client, too.
LEARN NEW SKILLS
When I went to Pakistan in 2008 to shoot a documentary on violence against women, I wasn’t looking at world-famous documentarians as competition. I wasn’t saying, ‘My work’s so amateur compared to theirs.’ I just did it, and I learned so much. I would be up days at a time trying to figure out why Final Cut Pro wouldn’t render certain things. If you really feel you can do something, like filmmaking, then go out and invest in the camera equipment and start today. If you don’t reach your goal, you’ll still apply the knowledge elsewhere in your career.
BE T-SHAPED
T-shaped people have a deep knowledge of one subject matter, but an extensive breadth of knowledge of a variety of other subjects. I think T-shaped people are important in today’s market. If agencies are looking for advertising program grads, specialized in account management, then that’s what they’re going to get. But if they’re open to people who have a degree, let’s say, in social science with transferable skills from another career path, they may find a more insightful employee than someone who’s gone to school to learn how to write briefs. You can learn that kind of skill on the job.
For profiles on each our of 30 Under Thirty finalists, one-on-one conversations and insights from the brightest young minds in the industry, visit the 30 Under Thirty microsite.
