Dollah introduced himself as a fit sixty-three year old man, having worked in SPH for as long as thirty years. I knew him personally because he was my boss during my internship back in my diploma days and also because he is a family friend. There were a few moments at work where I gained immense experience from working under him but he showed me a new side of him during his talk.

 

Dollah had by far, the most experience in working in the media industry as compared to Charles and Stephanie, having worked with traditional media for a good portion of his career before the emergence of the modern media. His experience was evident when he showed us the various advertisement works he was familiar to, works that we had never seen before such as the Daisy Ad for a presidential election and one of Mac’s very first advertisement videos as well. It was fascinating to learn about the history of ads from him, knowing wholly that he was a man that knew his career inside and out.

 

Following that, he shared with us about his career path, how he had wanted to be an architect rather than a Creative Director in SPH. His application to enroll in a university was declined and his path delved into ITE, where he studied in the arts, where he was taught under famous names such as Neil French. There was a twinkle in his eye at the mention of his mentor and I surmised that he held his mentor with great respect and gratitude.

 

Though his style may seem old-school, there were a few values he emphasized that were a key factor in succeeding in the media industry. Confidence seemed to be a very popular trait to have, it after all being an important trait to do anything in life. He implored us to be confident in our works and to learn to find a voice when we want to express ourselves to either our boss or to our clients.

 

He shared that life is always full of surprises and opportunity. The goal that we set up for today may not be the same for tomorrow’s and he implored us to always be open to new challenges, no matter how small they may be.

 

There was something reassuring in the way he conducted his talk. I was sure that he knew how difficult and daunting it was to start in a media industry with next to little knowledge but he puts our worries at ease, encouraging us to stay passionate in this line of work as he did for many years.