How a Fool Fooled Youaka “How failing is the best thing I ever did”

Sam Ismail

What Saatchi&Saatchi Asked For

What I Came Up With

I wanted to do something no-one would think of and no-one would believe was fake..

What I Did With It

I put an auction on eBay for the job at Saatchis and seeded it shamelessly..

What Happened Without Me

Bloggers started talking about how Saatchis were being clever and putting a job ad on eBay.

I wanted to tell them it was me, but I didn’t. Good job as well, because..

Then...

Campaign magazine emailed ‘Saatchi Recruitment’ saying they knew it wasn’t the ‘real’ Saatchi&Saatchi - so I told them what the real deal was..

Then The Not So Good Part

I got a call from a scary lady from Saatchi legal, telling me if I didn’t stop this, they’d sue me.

I told her she should check her facts and that I was really working for Saatchis.

She told me that was impossible.

I told her nothing is.

She didn’t get the joke.

The Best Part

It really was, I’ll tell you why

What Came From Rejection

I got to go to meet a ton of cool people, and started AdGrads, which is awesome (trust me on this one) - None of which I would have been able to do if I had got the Saatchi Scholarship

What (more) Came From Rejection

I met some of the most amazing people that I know. And for some reason, they put up with me..

And I learnt more than I ever could possibly have thought I would.

The Next Challenge

This is the tallest building in the world. I’ll be working there (when it’s finished I hope).

So What I Learnt Is..

“It is inevitable that some defeat will enter even the most victorious life. The human spirit is never finished when it is defeated...it is finished when it surrenders.”

Ben SteinThis is my favorite quote ever. Sometimes I use it when it’s really not relevant. I think it fits here.

And Finally..

Keep on keeping on. Always.

Sam

www.samismail.com