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Degree and Year: BJ '02 (Advertising) Company: NKH&W, Inc. Company Web Site: http://www.nicholsonkovac.com/ Title: Copywriter City and State: Kansas City, Mo. What do you do? I work in a full-service advertising agency that is actually growing during these tough economic times - and I think that says a lot about us. I look forward to going to work each day because the people are fun and the atmosphere is usually lighthearted. One of NKH&W's beliefs is in the seriousness of fun... what a great philosophy! I love that I get paid to think and create. How did you get your job? I got hired at a time when most agencies were on hiring freezes and I owe that to the mentors I had through the Kansas City Ad Club. Apply for their foundation scholarship! I won one and I'm from St. Louis. As a scholarship recipient you also receive a mentor in the KC ad world that helps you with your career path. My first mentor was a founding member of NKH&W and my second mentor is still on staff here. They recognized my talent, started me as an intern when I graduated and I got hired on full-time shortly after. The moral of the story is don't be afraid to take low-paying, post-graduate internships, they can lead to bigger and better things. Best professional lesson learned at the J-School? The opportunity for client contact through my capstone course and some other electives I took, really took the edge off of my first client presentations in the "real world," and I think it impressed my creative supervisors as well. What would be your best advice to current students? Never be afraid to start small and dream big. If you are truly talented and devoted to finding work in your field, everything will work out for you. What are you working on currently? I have recently written and produced some radio spots for two different Sprint products and I have also done a few radio spots for Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield. I just finished working on some ad concepts for 3M Health Care and a large Sprint campaign. On a day-to-day basis I mainly write copy for direct mail and print pieces. I work mostly on jobs for our Sprint client; however, I have gotten to do a small amount of writing for most of our other clients here as well. What makes you good at your job? I guess I would have to say that my ability to think both creatively and strategically makes me valuable as a copywriter. Where would you most like to work? Why? Wherever the wind takes me. I have lived in Missouri all of my life, but I would not be opposed to living and working in other parts of the country, eventually. My main objective is to continue to grow as a copywriter; thus, I will stay at, or move to, any agency whose philosophy allows me to flex my creative muscles and continually sharpen my skills. What are your next career steps? I want to grow as a writer and I think NKH&W allows me to do this. Once I get more agency experience, I would love to eventually become a creative supervisor or creative director somewhere. And when I have a family, I can even imagine myself getting a teacher's certificate and teaching high school English, journalism and yearbook courses. The hours and time-off would enable me to spend more time with my family. And since I got a lot of my creative inspiration from my high school yearbook teacher, I would love to give back and inspire other young creative people. What did you want to be as a kid? I really was an interesting child and I always wanted to "make commercials." I memorized jingles and made up my own for products we had around the house. I even made my friends act out commercials we'd create. Needless to say, I think I was born to be in advertising. 
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| Revised: 23 April 2007. Copyright © 2008 The Curators of the University of Missouri | Contact the J-School | |
