Why I Love my Yaybies

It’s quite amazing, actually, how much of a fraud I am. To those who come into my acquaintance only briefly, I seem to be a highly knowledgeable person in advertising; one who knows of hip trends, clever new media executions, and insider Internet/technology news. But NEWSFLASH: most of this façade comes not from my own searching and learning, but from the people that I care about most who stand beside me and supply me with everything I might need to know.

Do I keep Libby, Erin, and the other yaybies in my pocket at all times? I wish.

No, I am just fortunate enough to share Google Reader items with them. It makes me think of the old adage: “It’s not about what you know, but WHOM you know.” I like to think that whom you know leads to what you know. My friends are the most intelligent people that I know, and therefore I become more intelligent by sharing information with them and vice versa.

Lindsay has great fashion sense, unlike me, and her sharing of high-fashion photography and the like offers me loads of inspiration as an art director. Libby is a media wizard, which is a field of advertising that I am quite obtuse in. Through her, I am able to understand more and more about the subject. Erin updates me on SEO and other dealings with the Interwebs that I would never research by myself. These women, and many more, mold me into a more well rounded advertising professional each day, and for that I am forever grateful.

Long story short, this is just a love letter to all of my smart friends, and a warning to all of you who have yet to start sharing. Start sharing, keep sharing, and continuously surround yourself with people whom you admire, because they can shape your mind into one that is unimaginably better.