“To me, success is freedom to explore what I find exciting ever y day.” — Mar t y I’ve felt successful from the da y I could pay myself minimum wage with a creation of my own. To me, success is freedom to explore what I find exciting ever y day. At some point in the last few years I realized I’d gone off- course by unwittingly optimizing my career for financial success. I went through an exercise of redefining what success really means to me. And what came out of that was a realization that I build projects because it makes life more exciting. So now I optimize ever y thing in my life around that . When ever y thing’s exciting, I’m successful. Mart y I’m at the point in my career wh ere I can buy those parmesan crisps at Whole Foods and go to exhibitions mid -week , that feels ver y like I’m winning. Not to sound too much like a Silicon Valley CEO, success for me is always about what’s nex t . What’s on the horizon that I’m excited about or anxious about ? I need both those feelings to feel like I’m, erm, growing? Success for me is grow th, not necessarily bigger or louder, but being at the pit of my depth and not drowning —that’s the thrill. R aven Success is doing the best work wi th the best people for the best clients. I define best not by creative awards won or the size 
 of a client's media budget but by people who have strong character and are willing to work hard to bring truly creative ideas to life. And never forget to have fun while doing so and celebrate success together. This has been my modus operandi for t wo decades, and I don't see it changing any time soon. I believe the core function of marketing is to influence behavior. Ever y thing we do is done in an effor t to get people to move—to buy, to watch, to share, to download, to subscribe, to vote, to wear a mask , to get vaccinated, etc. We put things in the world to get people to move. Therefore, success should be determined based upon whether or not people take action. Myr a Marcu s Rewriting romantic my ths of the creative industr y 46 Re alit y check