Meet Sucheta Shankar

We recently connected with Sucheta Shankar and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Sucheta, so excited to talk about all sorts of important topics with you today. The first one we want to jump into is about being the only one in the room – for some that’s being the only person of color or the only non-native English speaker or the only non-MBA, etc Can you talk to us about how you have managed to be successful even when you were the only one in the room that looked like you?

I won’t mince words – being the only one in the room that looks like you is hard. You are constantly trying to figure out if you are an outsider or not. It also means that sometimes you might believe in some idea or concept (like MissType) that others may not see or even understand. It’s taken me a while (and a lot of not listening to my instincts) to finally stand my ground or fight for something I believe is true. Often when you ‘stand out’ from the crowd, you’ll want to blend in or follow the crowd’s instinct for what is good or bad. And as cliche as it is to say, what makes you unique is exactly what you should prize and maintain in your perspective. Groupthink in this case doesn’t help anyone. So this is a very long winded way of saying that being effective/successful largely depends on a trait that I’ve always had – persistence. I keep finding new ways to make my point heard/known even if means personally collecting data to prove it. When you are that persistent, you do have to learn the subtle art of how to tactfully communicate your points without sounding forceful. I’ve rarely found forcefulness to be effective and perhaps that’s because Canadians don’t handle it too well – it reads too much like confrontation.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I had one of those funny starts in advertising/copywriting where I never considered it at first. I thought everyone could write or draw and it wasn’t a particularly unique skill. It took me years (and a brief stint in pursuing medicine via biology) to realize I do enjoy being creative. Sometimes you need a course load full of sciences with art history as your only relief to realize that what made learning so much biology easy was having hands on studio time with art or writing courses. Since I took a longer path to get to copywriting, I appreciate what I get to do for a living in a different way than if I always knew I wanted to be creative.

I do think being creative is a skill and it can be learned. There are those who start an advertising course and you can tell they understand what ‘an idea’ means and for some it takes time working in a job and practicing it daily to understand that very same thing. What, however, can’t be learned is your voice/aesthetic. While you rarely exercise your own voice when working for a brand (they have their own guidelines), I do think you need to cultivate your own creative voice or aesthetic. It will largely define who you are to yourself and also help you recognize what you are personally attracted to and want to create. In advertising, it will largely inform the pro bono work you do.

I have found that I enjoy bringing awareness to social causes and issues. I’m not sure I knew this when I started in the industry but it became apparent as I started to work on such projects. The project I felt that really started it for me was League of Legislators – it was in response to Donald Trump’s statement about video games affecting gun violence. Making that project taught me a lot about managing a team, the craft involved in making a micro video game, talking to clients and selling an idea. It prepared me for working on MissType – an email editor designed to point out the inherent language bias we have in professional environments (surprise surprise it doesn’t favour feminine speech).

In hindsight, I realize more and more that working in advertising really suits my temperament. I enjoy new challenges, creating work that could make a difference, irregular work schedules, a fast paced work environment, and days that don’t look the same (some days you are typing away at your desk and others you’ll find yourself at a radio recording session). I enjoy a constant change of pace and can get bored easily when it feels like there’s nothing new to learn and I can say that with advertising, my my day to day is exciting. I also It also helps that the offices are generally more casual than other corporations.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

The qualities that were most impactful in my journey was being opinionated, persistent, and helpful. I have found that for better or worse I have something to say and I don’t hesitate to say it. But I’ve done it enough times to know how to do it better. There are two things I take into consideration when I share an opinion – the timing and is what I’m saying helping better the work. What you’re saying have the power to affect people so timing is key. Sometimes it’s great you said something and sometimes you’ll find you didn’t know key information.

I have learned later on that being persistent means everything in this industry. Previously I used to just work very hard at what I was given. I have now learnt that it’s equally important to push for ideas you want to do as well. Make the work happen because you believe in it. Do you need to get the client yourself? Do it. Do you need to spend that extra time finessing it because no one else can help? Do it. If you care about the project enough, push for it and get it to the finish line yourself. It’s rare that someone will do that for you because no one will be as passionate about an idea you believe in like yourself.

I have found that this industry rarely makes good managers – just good creative thinkers. However, everyone starts somewhere and all those someones need help becoming better at their craft. Do them a favour and help out. Take those calls with students, spend the time explaining the ask/project, train people. Yes, it’s a lot of work upfront but you’ll be glad you did it. Nothing gives me greater pleasure than seeing people succeed and learn to become a stronger creative.

Looking back over the past 12 months or so, what do you think has been your biggest area of improvement or growth?

As a kid, I really struggled in classes that required a more self-starter approach; where the expectation was you did the learning yourself and there were no milestones to hit or parameters set. I’m happy to say that I’ve really grown in this aspect and I think a lot of it had to do with building MissType.

I was very passionate about the insight and the idea itself: A lot of women spend a lot of time making sure their emails sound professional, assertive, sure and succinct. It makes more sense why they do so when you realize how many articles in the internet focus on how much women should and shouldn’t apologize when they email at work.

This project was a huge undertaking but I didn’t want to let this get lost in a graveyard of ideas that never saw the light of day. It forced me to find the best way to be a self starter – I set myself mini goals of what I needed to accomplish week by week to get this project to the finish line. It taught me how to handle clients, talk to people, work collaboratively while supervising a project and maintaining a timeline. To see that project come to life makes me so proud of what I accomplished. Two years ago, I would have just left it alone and said ‘well if no one pushing for it then maybe it isn’t good or worth it’.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://suchetashankar.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/suchetashankar/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suchetashankar/

Image Credits

Designed by Mike Butler