Tom Lines is head of copy at integrated marketing agency Jaywing.
In his 25-year career, Lines has turned his writing talent to pen almost anything from luxury car brochures to Ainsley Harriott’s blog. At Jaywing, he leads a team of copywriters working across clients including Goodyear, first direct, ADT and Yorkshire Tea.
He is also the author of seven children’s books and was runner-up on the Weakest Link in 2002 following a controversial sudden-death playoff.
From lucky breaks to best failures, he shares all the lessons he’s learnt in life and across his career so far…
Which single daily habit or practice could you not do without?
I’m going to buck the trend here and not talk about my love of cold water swimming and hot yoga. Sorry. In the morning, I like doing Wordle and having a cup of tea with my wife. Followed by a quick 10K and an hour with Miguel, my contemporary pilates instructor.
What’s been your luckiest break?
Starting an application letter with the line “I haven’t killed anyone” and still getting an interview for a graduate trainee position at Cogent in 1996. Reader, I got the job.
What’s your best failure?
Following my traineeship, I became an account exec. I was a terrible account handler. I mean spectacularly, toe-curlingly bad. But I had a plan. I started doing the copy jobs that nobody else in the creative department wanted to do. Remarkably, the creative director offered me a junior copywriting job just before I was fired.
What is the best investment you’ve ever made, either financial or time?
The thirty seconds I spent on the phone to my father-in-law asking him whether he would mind if I married his daughter. Me: “Hello John, it’s Tom.” Him: “WHO?”
Which podcast or book would you recommend others to read/listen to, and why?
I realise that it’s statistically unlikely, but if you support Walsall FC I would recommend One Pod Beyond, the podcast I started in 2013 which has gone on to become the world’s favourite show for fans of unfashionable West Midlands football clubs. Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole is the funniest book ever written, so I would recommend that, along with One on One by Craig Brown which is the greatest toilet book ever written, or at least it was when people still read books on the toilet rather than looking at their phones.
What one piece of advice would you give your 21-year-old self?
Drink less at your first agency Christmas party. Nobody needs to see that on the dance floor.
Who or what has had the single biggest influence on your working life?
The late Philip Sheldon, MD at Cogent when I joined. Campaign called him “one of Britain’s toughest clients” when he was the marketing director at Bass. Fiercely clever, extremely funny and genuinely principled (he resigned from Bass when the board disagreed with his decision to appoint a new agency for Carling Black Label). A lot of people at Cogent were terrified of him, but he took me under his wing for some reason and was hugely supportive at a time when I didn’t really know what I was doing but knew I wanted to do this.
Tell us something about you that would surprise people.
I am currently the 95th best table tennis player in York.
If there was one thing you could change about your career, what would it be and why?
Please refer back to the advice I would give myself at 21…
What does success look like to you?
Making good work. Having fun doing it.
