After about three and half years, I knew the time had come to take a break from adland.
Standing in my wedding dress in a bridal shop in Farringdon, I answered a call from an agency creative asking me how it was going locking in Dame Barbara Windsor for a voice-over for the anti-supermarket commercial they plan to create.
The directors I was working with were promised the job if we could get the star onboard.
Midway through the call I thought, “I’m not getting paid for this. I really should hang up and make sure I don’t end up buying a dress I will regret.”
Then the seed was sown: “Am I enjoying this anymore?”
Then I thought, “Why should I work for free?”
And, I kept thinking, “I really need a break from it all.”
Straight after, I got married and had my boys.
One day in early 2009, while sitting on the sofa in our flat at red door house.
I was playing with my first born, after colour co-ordinating his toys and clothes again, when I got a call from a friend about producing a commercial.
I thought on it for a bit, then I asked myself, “What will bring me more joy?”
I then had my break from adland.
Six years of it.
Living simply.
Spending most of my days with my two boys in the park, gardening and hanging out at children’s centres in Hackney singing, Row, Row, Row, Your Boat, and Zoom, Zoom, Zoom We’re Going to The Moon.
I also managed the purchase of our new home around the corner, the house we had our eye on for years even though it had a plant growing out of the top.
Then I became a landlady for our first flat, which we then sold a few years later to do the work on our home, which I project managed.
And I did an exhibition at the local museum in Hackney about what life was really like being a parent and invited my friends and family down.
A wonderful time.
After my break I came back and launched, yes, you’ve guessed it, The Pitch Fanzine, Pitch magazine, Pitch TV, Pitch Super People, and Pitch Futures.
And here we are, creating change together.
Five, four, three, two, one, lift-off!
Best wishes,
Sherry Collins, I am her.
