#7 Ground Floor, Going Up: Mentoring Advertising’s Next Gen.    

During Covid, Trent Thompson and a small group of collaborators asked themselves how they could support the next generation of advertising creatives at a time when agency doors were locked. The idea morphed into Ground Floor, a mentoring and connecting platform that would connect young people, aspiring to work in advertising, with industry mentors. Early on Trent assumed that there was a similar platform out there, but to his surprise none existed as envisioned.  

Even if you don’t work in advertising, the importance of building out one’s professional network is an inherent truth in many professions. For Trent helping young creatives build out their networks was also personal because as he says every job in his career started with someone he knew. Now a Group Creative Director at Cossette, Trent instinctively understands that connections get meetings; however it is one’s book, advertising speak for portfolio, and work ethic that lands the job.

In addition to his day job at Cossette, Trent teaches advertising at Humber Polytechnic and helps instill these lessons learned on the next generation of advertising professionals. With a career spanning six Toronto agencies, Trent knows that today’s creatives are graduating into an industry where there are fewer opportunities and fewer agencies than before. For him, Gen Z is hardwired to adapt and he and his fifty plus mentors at Ground Floor are there to help.  Booking a meeting with a Ground Floor mentor is simple and often mentees are looking for someone to review their book, and help connect them to opportunities in the industry. As Trent says the industry in Canada is small so personal connections take on heightened importance.

When pressed for advice for those graduating into the workforce, Trent quotes a friend saying, “Be brave enough to be bad at something new.” Adding that young people should find what they are good at, be willing to adapt and grow and most of all, be curious.

 

About:

Trent Thompson is the co-founder of the Ground Floor, a mentoring and connecting platform, and Group Creative Director at Cossette.

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#6 A Global Perspective on Marketing with Some Collective Help