Months ago we got a request from a celebrated, multi-billion dollar corporation who, at the very end of a very good selection process, asked us to do one more final, extra meeting. They had an unexpected twist: Please bring a creative pitch for us. "Yes, we know you were not expecting this. Sorry. But we want to see how your creative ideas stack up against one other firm we also asked to do the same thing. No, there is no fee. So, by next week?” I do not blame these clients. They are good, smart, well-meaning people. They only treat us all like exotic menials because, as a profession, we taught them it’s okay to treat us all like exotic menials. So it's time to help un-train them. How? To remind everyone they have a choice. And us? We chose to decline. Deliberately. Kindly. Politely. Which is why this essay from the creative director of Liquid Death resonated with me. shorturl.at/pEHLQ It's the story that pushed Andy Pearson to change his life. Here he is decidedly un-polite. "We have a choice, too," Andy said. "None of us have a gun to our heads demanding we make award-winning ads for an energy drink or telecom conglomerate – even if it feels like it sometimes. "I spent a year as creative director on the Pizza Hut account. I always refer to it as The Worst Year of My Life. I was absolutely miserable, killing myself doing bad work for a bad client to sell bad pizza. I’d work, and only sometimes sleep, in weird corporate hotels in weird corporate parks in weird corporate Plano, Texas, writing $6 promo deal scripts that made my eyes bleed and put me off my dinner. Then came the moment I finally lifted my head up and finally said those magic words, “What the actual fuck am I doing?” ----- Sure, Pizza Hut may be tough to work with. Got that. It’s a tough category. Someone from their PR team or their good agency may even swing into action to proclaim that working with them is like working with Mother Teresa and The Missionaries of Charity. All cool. It may even be true. But that's still the real question, isn't it? "What The Actual Fuck Am I Doing?" That question led us to decline a client who expected free work. (No, thank you.) The next day, an even bigger client hired us. (No pitch.) "What The Actual Fuck Am I Doing?" That question led my colleagues and me to launch our own company. We have never looked back. "What The Actual Fuck Am I Doing?" That question led me to leave my hometown in New England for a career in New York City. I never looked back. "What The Actual Fuck Am I Doing?" That will be the theme of our next CoffeeHaus talk at COLLINS in New York. You can sign up for an invitation here: lnkd.in/eZvk-SMx Until then, may I suggest placing that sentence on a mirror to remind yourself to keep asking it. "WTAFAID?" Tell me what happens. At our office. Over coffee. Or over a Pizza Hut Original Pan® Pizza. (Pepperoni, please.) Just don’t let Andy know.