eROI Days Email Agency

Kate Ertmann, Executive Producer and Owner of Portland-based animation agency, ADi, shared her Commencement Address with Jerry Ketel (owner of Leo Ketel + Partners) and me.  I was so inspired, I felt compelled to share it with you.  Here goes:

“Thank you very much, Cassandra, and I want to first say congratulations to the women and men who are graduating – after some long days and nights of hard work, your determination has shown through and propelled you to this day. I also want to say congratulations to the families and friends who have been a support system for you – be it monetarily or emotionally or whatever, I’m really glad to see all of you here today too. And I don’t want to leave out the faculty and staff at the Art Institute who were also certainly a part of making this day possible for everyone graduating today.

As Cassandra said when she introduced me, I am the owner of ADi, an animation company here in Portland. When I graduated from Ohio University with a Bachelors of Science in Radio / Television broadcasting, I had no plans at that time to be involved with animation, let alone own an animation company.

I grew up in television. My parents met at CBS in the 1950’s where my mom was a Producer and my dad was Director. I grew up in NY and from the ages of about 8yrs old till I was about 16, I had a pretty successful career as a child actor. I was in commercials, I was on All My Children, I was in a Broadway play.”

And during that time, I met a lot of kids that were having fun doing this as I was, but I also met some kids doing it because their parents wanted them to do it. Isnt that crazy? 10yr olds, living out their parent’s dreams. And my mom always always said to me ‘We’ll stop doing this when it isn’t fun anymore.”
So, I got to be about 16, and it wasn’t fun anymore. I wanted to be hanging out with other kids my age, getting into some trouble like teenagers get into, and going out on dates. And my mom – though I’m certain she was disappointed in some way when I essentially quit being a professional actor - she never made me feel like I had made a mistake by making that choice.

And I know I’m lucky in that respect – we all have made choices that perhaps our parents weren’t too happy about it. That’s par for the course. And I suspect that you might have made some choices that they might have thought were good choices too – but they might not have been as vocal about their approval as they were about any disapprovals; I mean, ain’t it always the bad things that people are more vocal about? Trust me, that doesn’t change. I cant tell you how many clients – when you hand to them something that you put blood, sweat and tears into, you make their deadline, you deliver their final product, and they say thanks …..and then you don’t hear anything more…..for days, or weeks. And you shrug it off, and think “well, no news is good news.” But damn, they’ll track you down by phone, email, posting on your Facebook page or on Twitter if they aren’t happy.
And the tornado of activity that goes on when someone isn’t happy is this stuff you end up taking to heart as opposed to those quiet moments when things go well and there isn’t a lot of drama involved – but in reality, the quiet times may be the times when you have actually had great success. You just gotta remember to congratulate yourself – and your team – with the same if not more energy as you put forth when you’re upset and frustrated at something going wrong. We always remember the bad, but it’s up to you to remember the good.

So I left acting and being in front of the camera when I was in my teens and I had decided that I wanted to be behind the camera- - just like my parents had done. I figured that I wanted to be on the Producer side of things rather than be a Director. I felt at the time that I didn’t quite have the confidence in my creative outlook and vision to be a Director, though when I look back now I know I choose to be a Producer because it felt in my comfort zone – which I equate with my gut. Folks, trust your gut, I’m sure you’ve been told that a thousand times but no truer words have been spoken – trust your gut. There’s a reason when you are making a decision - be it what color should I choose for this part of my project or what length should this part of my animation be – that you can feel this little pebble sized something in your belly that is either in place and you feel balanced or it is off and your gut is making noise because something in your equilibrium is off and you need to abort mission right there and so you should speak up and don’t leave that moment or conversation till you have gotten the balance back to where it needs to be. You have to trust your gut and believe in yourself. The fact that you are graduating today means you have what it takes. Trust yourself. Believe in your gut.

So as I am sure you guys all discovered in school – all of sudden, you had people around you are focused in the same sort of art and disciplines that you are focused in. And…maybe…you are seeing some talent that is blowing your mind, — and it isn’t yours. Now you can either choose to push that aside and consider it a challenge that you’re going to be the best out there or you can talk to those folks, gain inspiration from them, and give each other respect and maybe even make them a part of your lifelong team. In the creative industry you are only as good as your team, — you will only succeed if your network succeeds. Because you know what? You’ll bump into them again. OR you’ll meet someone – 5 years, 10years down the road – that will connect you back to that person. I’m sure you’ve heard not to burn any bridges? Well…
A couple of months ago at my company we interviewed for a contract position, and there were a couple of candidates that rose to the top of the selection process, and because being able to work on a team is kinda sorta everywhere in the creative industry – if you plan on getting paid for your work – I asked the staff if they knew any of the people interviewed. Well, they did. And in particular, two staff members had experience working with one of those really talented candidates – everyone at ADi is an AI alumni, by the way– and they said that that person did not work well with others, they had worked on class projects with that person and though they had a good portfolio they were not good with criticism nor good with actively being able to work under production timelines. And that was all I needed to hear – and I crossed that person right off of the list without further thought.
The creative community, whether it be in Portland, or the US, or honestly – in the World – the longer you are in it the smaller it gets. You have to be good to people – you have to respect the people you choose to work with – you gotta be good to your team.
Speaking of teams, this is a good time for me to bring up one particular point that I think I have unique insight on – being a successful female in an otherwise male dominated industry. And not just a successful woman, but a woman who is in the position of leading and giving direction to a lot of guys. Now before half of this audience tunes out because you don’t think this part of my speech is directed at you – I really suggest that you do stay tuned in. Remember that part just a moment ago when I mentioned how important it is to be able to work in a team, respect your team, support your team members?
For all the ladies out there – Never leave a meeting without saying out loud what you came in there to say, AND make sure you are Heard. Prepare to participate! It doesn’t count if you quickly mumble something as everyone is packing their stuff up. One of my favorite quotes in the world is from Eleanor Roosevelt, and it hangs next to my desk: “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” You’re the one in charge of being heard, and realize that outside of school and in a business environment – (and as creative as the folks may be who are gathered around the table, if money is being exchanged for the work you are doing, it IS a business environment) - realize you may not be asked for your opinion or thoughts directly. You have to speak up. Show confidence. Don’t betray your gut.

So here’s the crux of what I want to share with you today. And this will sound dramatic, but much like those bad critiques from people in our lives that stick to you more than the good critiques…I want to make sure you understand the breadth of what I want to share and not blow it off, because it is really important you hear it.
It – the planning, the problem solving, the design, the creative, the vision, the goal - IT will all go BAD. You are going to fail. I don’t mean ‘you’ll run out of time before a deadline’ or you have a client who isn’t happy with what you delivered to them’ or something just doesn’t turn out the way you envisioned that end product to look like’ but I mean you’re going to cry like the most dearest and sweetest and closest person in the world to you died. You’re going to feel like — and this is my personal experience – you’re going to feel like something inside you, like…a vital organ of some sort – is tearing and you cant breath. And you’ll feel very very alone.

But, and here’s the key thing, - you’re going to get through it. At the time of the failure you wont see even a pinprick of light, not a odor of success will be in your midst, and it really makes you feel like you want to - nay, you should – throw the towel in.
But you’re going to get through it. Because of all the things I’ve been talking about, - of building a team where you trust those closest around you, because you respect not just those other people but because you respect and trust yourself. You believe in yourself.
I’ve seen brilliant, passionate people around me go through this very thing – this IS going to happen. And I want to make sure you hear me when I tell you – you’re going to survive it.

Alright, the rough, heavy stuff is over. Here’s the part of my speech where I commend you for being the creative individuals that you are. Let me see a show of hands — Who here has been told ‘You really think you can make a living doing THAT?’ or ‘with all of those tattoos no one is going to hire you for anything more than being a busboy’ or, my personal favorite, ‘Wow, you’re really creative. So…, what are you going to do for a real job?’ … Yeah, well, make sure you go back to those folks who said that to you and, very politely since, as I recently mentioned, it’s all about relationships and who you know and the creative industry is a small and chatty and gossipy one, – and go back to them and give them the FYI that you have graduated with a degree from the Art Institute of Portland and you’re about to prove them wrong.

At the end of the day, people may forget your words, but they will never ever forget how you make them feel.

Thank you everyone, — have a fantastic day, have a fantastic life, really truly listen to your gut and show confidence, celebrate the successes no matter how small, build trust and respect in your relationships and teams – and above all — respect and trust yourself.