The Business of Creativity and Criticism
Jim Thompson offers a rich legacy of creative leadership, strategic insight, and compelling storytelling that fuels brand growth and inspires meaningful connections across industries.
I am a writer. I always have been. I fell in love with books as a kid and have spent most of my life in storytelling either as a creative voice or passionate consumer of stories. I majored in English as an undergraduate and earned my MA in Writing, and have spent much of my adult life parlaying my passion for storytelling into a paycheck that would allow me to stay in this creative headspace. As most professional artists will tell you, some years were better than others, but that’s just how life works in general, too.
Over time my career evolved. I published a couple of nonfiction books with Random House while developing as a copywriter in the advertising, branding, and marketing industries. I eventually was promoted to roles such Editor in Chief, Content/Creative Director, and Strategy Director, which means I no longer was in the writing trenches but now managing teams of writers and associated creatives.
I think any good Director is able to jump into the work and pull it out of a tailspin if needed. And that can’t be done unless you’ve lived in those trenches yourself and understand the challenges that can undermine seemingly straightforward projects. That ability only comes with experience and grit. Not even AI can replicate the beauty of perseverance that all creatives must internalize.
That’s what I look for in my peers and teammates: that look of having overcome the disappointment of creative failure–which is often the result of poor timing, which none of us can control. Some would call that maturity, I guess. Creativity, like life, is a process of elimination, and being able to create with abandonment but also objectively edit your work (slay your darlings) is the hallmark of a professional who understands the intersection of art and business.
As Creatives, we’re all in the business of having other people–and technology–critique the efficacy of our work, which means not taking anything personally (at least not in public). All creatives share that bond. That willingness to be exposed, to be vulnerable, to fail in public–whether it be standup comedy, publishing a book, or having your content criticized by an unhappy Zoom call of clients.
Creativity takes guts. And I enjoy working with, and leading, those types of people.