Being recognized for GRIT? There's really no bigger honor.
Update: October 13, 2020
Pink Petro announced the 2020 GRIT Awards winners, and I am proud to be among them! ConocoPhillips did a nice write up - congratulations to my fellow winners on their great work, and to ConocoPhillips for creating a culture that celebrates grittiness among its employees and business partners!
September 22, 2020 - Today I learned that I am a finalist for the Experience Energy 2020 GRIT Awards, established to honor “the people, affinity groups and workplaces who are creating the new future for energy.” I was nominated and had the humbling experience of receiving recommendations from my colleagues for my work with ConocoPhillips and ChampionX, but my affinity for the energy industry stretches back to my time on the Texaco/Havoline account, when I learned more than I could have imagined about lubes and motor oil.
“Individual GRIT Awards may go to any person who has demonstrated growth, resilience, innovation and talent in the workplace in a leadership, technical, or any other type of industry role. They have accepted challenges, learned from them, and developed new and creative ways to solve problems. They show up each day, do their best, and inspire others to do the same.”
I didn’t come into advertising with a plan to work in the energy space, but I did come into advertising with a hunger for being challenged and a desire to make a difference where others couldn’t or wouldn’t. My first victory as a copywriter came from a brochure I wrote for a manufacturer of industrial drums. I realized then and there that it wasn’t the product that made the work matter - it was being curious, invested and thoughtful about the people and the stories behind the product, whatever that product may be.
Working with energy clients has helped me understand the more complex story behind headlines and soundbites. To experience the interconnectedness of countries and peoples. To see the benefit of technology on reducing environmental impact. To realize how energy access can lift families in developing countries out of poverty and increase opportunities for women. To partner with a diverse group of international colleagues.
In my application for the award, I was asked to give an example of a time I demonstrated grit.
Crying in my car, I didn’t feel very gritty.
I’d been laid off in a dive restaurant on the border of the UT campus. I’d been told my severance was the past two weeks I’d worked for the agency, which soon went under alongside so many others during the financial crisis a few years back.
The vagaries of advertising are very similar to the booms and busts those in the energy industry grow accustomed to. So that’s who I called first. Those energy contacts led to work. That work led to this business. That work is, actually, the reward.
But this recognition is the icing.
See the 2020 GRIT Award and Best Energy Workplace finalists.
