Entering a new creative space…gone wrong

You know that feeling when you start a new job and everything feels exciting at first? The buzz of a fresh opportunity, the chance to prove yourself, get your name out there, and all that. But then, after a little while, something doesn’t sit right. The work wasn’t quite what it was made out to be, the gossip is a big role of getting along with people, and you start realising that this isn’t the inclusive, creative space you thought it would be.

It starts small. You get pushed to pick up more, help this person out, but it doesn’t feel like you’re being valued. Not a soul seems to care a newbie and you are just thrown right in the deep end from the get go. Everyone’s stuck in their old ways, and it feels like there’s a type of person you have to be to work there, and I don’t think I’m that type. You’re told that it’ll be worth it in the end when it bulks up the CV, and it’ll help for the next job. But after a short while, you begin to wonder if it reallyyyyy is worth it.

In a role that is promoted as working in the studio and communicating between people and helping others, how could things be so isolating. On my first day being told what to do without much explanation, and then finding out I was supposed to be introduced to people that day, a thoughtless “whoops” from the perpetrator and I’m starting to question the space day 1. There were some glimmers of hope, the occasional diamond in the ruff who made me feel less alone, the campaign days where it felt like a proper creative job; but unfortunately the bag outweighed the good. But is this how it’s meant to be? Suffer for the experience because things could ‘get better’? If this is how one big company runs, then isn’t there a chance that they are all like this- if so I know where I don’t want to work then.

To give so much of yourself for a shot at recognition, even if it’s at the cost of your mental health, is that what we have to deliberate as young creatives? No amount of exposure can replace the feeling of being respected, valued, and in a space where you can actually grow. At the end of the day, it’s about finding a balance—getting opportunities without losing yourself along the way.

Exposure doesn’t mean anything if you’ve lost what made you want to create in the first place.