I’ve spent my career—spanning more than four decades—in advertising. One thing that consistently surprises me is how resistant agencies are to hiring untraditional talent—candidates without a portfolio school on their resumes. Considering the decline in portfolio school, graduates and the industry’s desperate need for more diverse talent, as well as interested applicants in general, that’s a problem.

It’s time for agency leaders to look beyond portfolio schools and get involved in higher education—not only to source and develop the next wave of brilliant advertisers before they’re lost to another career, but to keep the industry alive and well.

Aside from providing a great pool of talent, higher education offers ad leaders the opportunity to give back. I firmly believe that it’s my duty to share what I can from my years in the industry, whether that’s wisdom, connections or resources. So, for the past four years, I’ve taught advertising creativity and strategy classes at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It’s been incredibly rewarding, both for me personally and for my agency. If you’re a fellow executive in the world of advertising, here’s my advice to you:

Get out of the office and into the classroom

​​If you’re an ad exec, chances are you love the industry and have wisdom to share with the world. My call to you: Be generous enough to be a teacher. With fewer people graduating from portfolio schools and more people choosing to pursue careers outside of agencies, we need you to champion advertising in the classroom at universities. Treat teaching the next generation like it’s part of your job description—because it is.

Make advertising astonishing again

Most of the ad executives I know have been around to see the ebbs and flows of the industry. They know how glamorous and intriguing it used to be, and how unappealing it’s become to both talent and consumers. As passionate champions of our work and clients, leaders have a responsibility to show the next generation what advertising is and what it’s not. The classroom opens that door. 

In every lesson I teach, my goal is to show the class that advertising isn’t just gimmicky sales and promos, but creativity in every form. From films and documentaries to events and virtual games and podcasts to poems, it’s an industry that accepts and encourages great imagination and out-of-the-box thinking. And it’s open to everybody, so long as they’re passionate about solving problems with unconventional solutions.

Discover diamonds in the rough

Speaking of unconventional, books that come out of portfolio schools are typically scrubbed and homogenized. Now, that’s certainly not to disparage the many wonderful portfolio school graduates or students in the business today. It’s simply to say that there’s a benefit in being willing to hire alternative candidates.

Ad talent sourced from universities hasn’t been taught a specific look or method, and that can be a very good thing. In other words, by hiring people from untraditional educational backgrounds (literature majors, architecture minors and everything in between), you can build teams capable of producing fresh, unique work that breaks the rules of our industry in the best ways.  

It’s been my pleasure to see students who are not on the advertising track bring wild and wonderful concepts to class and complete projects that have actually sparked real campaigns. Offbeat thinkers promise to deliver award-winning work. But they need interactions with people like you and me to see how they can be useful to our business.

Fuel better business

It’s no secret that the better part of the world today values working with selfless leaders and companies that do good. Giving eager students your time, your ear and your mentorship is an excellent way to start. And it allows you to set an example of what being a leader in advertising means—by sharing your resources and connections and learning as much as you teach by being humble enough to be a student yourself. The world outside of the office has much to offer, especially in the classroom, where you’ll hear and see things in a new light.

I can’t emphasize enough how remarkable today’s young students are. They’re worth investing in and worth taking a chance on. Give it a try. You might be surprised by what you find.