While sitting on this thought-leadership panel recently, I described myself as a recovering agency creative.

But the truth is, for people like myself who really love advertising; who’ve been lifelong students of the work celebrated by The One Show and Cannes and D&AD; and who still see every blank page or screen as an opportunity to achieve greatness, there is no recovery.

Whether you work in-house. Freelance. Or simply decide to start your own brand.

So while I’ve left the agency world for the moment to work for an incredible tech company, I’m still very much an ad guy at heart.

Which is to say that, for me, the creative struggle is still about helping brands stand out through simplicity, by revealing human truths, and by doubling down on surprise and delight.