Interview

Q: What’ s a quote that speaks to you?

“TOO TRAVEL IS SOMETIMES BETTER TO ARRIVE!” - Ryan Loc hte

MEGHANA INDURTI Q: Tell me a bout a time you actively disa gr eed with a superior or collea gue.

(Ogilvy & Mather)

Which time? The most striking example is my dad...which I know is typical but hear me out... My dad was raised super conservatively by his grandma. He had a bit of a narrow mind about what girls could and couldn’t do and where they could go.

So basically all through middle school and high school, I was always in a state of rebellion.

I remember the biggest argument was about me going to the mall without my parents and with my friends. I fought for that for almost a year. I didn’t even want to go to the mall, but it was the idea that I couldn’t go if I wanted to that got to me...and for a completely sexist reason. When he finally gave in, I felt like I had just won a World War.

Q: What’s your pet pee ve?

(BBH NY) I can’t stand people that over generalize. “Girls are all whiny” or “Iguanas are all assholes”.

I don’t think it’s respectful to the many personalities, interests, and circumstances of a group to do that.

You don’t know what that iguana’s been through.

Q: What intimidates you? How do you handle it? (DDB NY) I get pretty intimidated when someone disagrees with me and stars spewing out facts about why they’re right. Just because I suddenly feel like I’m in The Hunger Games and have to battle for my honor or something.

But I usually listen quietly to their points and try to tell them my point of view. I I don’t like it when people get hot-headed and intellectual all at once.

Q: What song best describes your wor k ethic? (DELL) “Run the world” by Beyoncé.

Q: Jef f Bezos w alks into your of fice and says you can have a million dollar s to launc h your best entr e pr eneurial idea.

What is it? (AMAZON) I would build a progressive sustainable school for women from rural India. And with that kind of money, I could provide them all with scholarships.

They would be given a world-class education in areas they normally wouldn’t have as much access to - like engineering, biology, and sexual health.

Q: What ar e you tr uly passionate a bout mor e than anything else? (GOOGLE) Telling stories, and creating characters. I’m really good at making up a character, adding idiosyncrasies, and describing all the minute things that go into their personality. And I love dynamic characters and their role in a group.

I’m literally just obsessed with writing fiction with strong characters.

Q: W hy do you w ant to wor k in ad v er tising?

I like how well the str ate g y and creative clash, how it can be pr edicta ble and unpr edicta ble, or how ther e’s no “right answer”.

I’m alw ays br ainstor ming stories and ideas. I’m liter ally alw ays on a tangent of some sor t. So I am good at the cr eative. I just love a c le ver ad, that under stands its audience and sells the pr oduct concisely. I w ant to do that. I know I can do that.

But I also like the fr ustr ation, the c h a l l e n ge , t h e l o n g n i g h t s yo u spend with other cr eati ves and liter s of cof fee, just fixated on a pr oblem.

Adver tising to me is creative pr oblem solving. So for me, it has the spar k, the incentive, the r eason for me to get up and go full for ce.

But it also has the uncer tainty, which is honestly so fun, and involves me having to dig dee p into myself, kee p lear ning, and kee p being insane. I think there’s innov ation in insanity.

Q: Shar e an example of how you wer e a ble to motiv ate co-wor ker s. (BUTLER, SHINE, STERN & PARTNERS) I’ve found that when motivation is low and stress is high in a group, the best thing to do is take a break from intensive thinking and do some sort of task that is not very difficult but also probably easier than what we’re doing. It gives a sense of accomplishment.

For example, I think it was my Entrepreneurship group and it was 4:30 in the morning and we were all getting on each other’s nerves to finish this business plan. So I just closed my laptop and tried to toss beads out the window to fall onto to the tree nearby.

It was winter at that time so there were no leaves on it. It was like a game of ring toss and we had fun for almost an hour just throwing these colorful beads onto this tree and laughing. Our presentation was in 2 hours by the time we were done messing around but we all felt more relaxed and creative.

Motivation is so tricky for creative things but what really works for me is to remind people to relax and take it easy. And it’s very nice to be on a team made up of people who will do the same for me when I get too close to the problem.

Someone who’ll just be like, “Meg, relax. This problem will still here here in 20 minutes, let’s listen to some Taylor Swift and eat popcorn.”

Q: What do you consider your most significant str ength? (TWBA\Chiat Day) I’m really proud of my ability to empower other people and bring them together around one vision.

I know I can’t do everything. I know my strengths and i know my weaknesses. But I’m good at building a network of people with different assets who can make certain things happen.

For example, I started this “Art of Mental Health” campaign. I could make the website and do the concepting and copywriting. But I’m not an art director, I’m not a mental health expert, and I don’t have the power of the student government or the art department. But I knew people who did, and I sought them out for their passion and strengths and gave them the autonomy to do it well by selling them my passion for the project.

Q: What’ s something weird you did recently? (MULLEN) For this golf fundr aiser spring semester of senior year, my best friends and I all decided to dr ess up as old gr andmas.

It w as super hilarious. We got all the stuf f fr om Good will for like $5.

I put a pillow behind my tights to look like I have a ginor mous butt.

And we blasted swing music on our iPad, car ried ar ound yar n, and yelled at people to “cover themselves up” because they wer e exposing their le gs, or to “enjoy your youth”.

Ever yone w as laughing and it w as hilarious. We also had this “Life Aler t” button with us and e ver y hour or so, one of us fell onto the f loor and scr eamed for someone to help us get up or call Life Aler t.

Q: Why do you like comed y? (SECOND CITY) I come fr om a gig antic f amily that is c haos and c lutter and unc les playing car ds and aunts cooking spic y food and my goober cousins c hasing eac h other and sister s yelling at eac h other to get out of the bathr oom and br other s tr ying to fight eac h other for the TV r emote and me tr ying to find something and accidentally ste pping on the fir e tr uc k my niece is tr ying to eat. We ar e “Cheaper by the Dozen” multiplied by a 100.

Gr owing up with all that noise and hilarity, I w as alw ays natur ally dr awn to the cr aziness and the community of comedy. For as long as I could r emember, I w anted to be in or write a sitcom. I w atc h them obsessively.

It does something to me...it’s my outlet, its my safety box, its ter rifying, and exhilar ating all at once. But ther e’s also nothing that br eaks down a bar rier better than a joke.

And making people laugh? Nothing feels better. T hat’s w hen I know I r eac hed them. Nothing is sweeter to my ear s than loud laughter that r e verber ates ar ound the r oom.

Q: Why do you w ant to be a copywriter?

(T he Mar tin Agency)

Because I like to think in hyperboles.

Its more fun that way. This means the hour I spend in traffic will turn into a sitcom. Maybe I’ll sneak biscuits to the cute puppy in the car next to me.

Maybe I just went grocery shopping and decide to start selling the pints of ice cream before they melt. Or maybe I start an a capella group with the children on the school bus on the way to a museum. The possibilities are endless.

I also like to make people cry. When my AP English teacher in high school told me that my college essay made him cry, I grinned like a true sadist.

But before I scare you, I love making people laugh even more.

Copywriting is art and commerce connected. I like to condense what a brand is trying to say and say it in the proper tone to elicit the right response.

My strongest talent has always been my ability to channel my imagination with writing. I have a love affair with words and the stain they leave on people. In advertising, I want to tell stories that have staying power.

Q: How do you sell a pencil to someone w ho does not need one? (Leo Bur nett) You sell it as more than a pencil. Its not about what the pencil is now but what it could be for you in the future.

You could use it to write down an extra tip for your amazing waiter, sign your very first checking account, write down that awesome thought you had in the middle of the night, The pencil is more.

Q: If you could get cof fee with anyone, w ho would it be?

J.K. Rowling definitely but after that it would be Amy Poehler. Can it be both?