Paul Birkhead is a creative partner at Syn, a Leeds-based creative agency.
Recently named as a new entry to Prolific North’s Top 50 Integrated Agencies for 2024, Syn started out in 2019 armed with an old iMac.
Now the agency has around 34 staff working with major clients such as Dr. Martens, Adidas, Eastpak and Life Fitness.
Here, Birkhead shares his career journey and words of advice…
How did you first get into your industry?
My route into the industry was pretty straight forward, I got my degree and progressed straight into a job putting those skills to use. The biggest shock was the pace at which industry works versus the education. Once I navigated that it was fairly painless.
What do you love about your job?
The thing I most love about working in this industry is the ability to create something and solve problems through collaborating with people. Seeing something you have brought to life, fought for and nurtured out in market and being engaged with is a real sense of achievement. I also love / hate the pace, no days are the same and you have to think fast. The weeks tend to fly by.
Who – or what – has inspired you in your career?
Most recently I get inspired by the team that I’m surrounded by; the ideas they bring to the table, the passion they have and the way in which they approach things.
What are the biggest challenges about your job?
I think the biggest challenge working in the creative industry is always the deadlines, sometimes its exciting sometimes its scary but its always challenging. Alongside deadlines I would also put budgets. Post pandemic brands need to make their budgets work harder and go further, when you couple this with cost of living crisis it leaves agencies in a tough position. The team need more money to live and the brands need more work for their money.
What skills have been the most crucial to you succeeding in your career so far?
Outside of the obvious skill-sets associated with being a creative, I think the most crucial skill has been the ability to quickly join dots. Listening and understanding the ask, seeing the bigger picture and then being able to define a direction of travel.
What was your first salary and what could someone getting into the industry expect to earn nowadays?
My first salary was £12k, it was that low that I had to take bar jobs to live. I think as a junior creative £23-25k is now a realistic starting point.
What education or training would be most useful for someone looking to follow your career path?
Although I went to university I wouldn’t say its a requirement. We regularly recruit people that haven’t worked within or studied brand marketing, to us its more about how they think and how they can apply that thinking. A good portfolio is far more beneficial than a degree.
What advice would you have for someone looking to follow your path?
Care about what you are doing. This industry requires passion. It is hard work and the hours can be unforgiving but if you want to work with big brands and do the kind of work you can be really excited by then you have to have that passion.
