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“Taco sauce?” she said, bewildered.
“Don’t ask. Let’s just say not all of your classmates took the opportunity as seriously as you did. You obviously did extensive preparation and the QR code with the slide deck really put it over the top. I don’t mind saying I’ve seen job candidates who were less polished in their application materials and portfolios.”
She grinned wider. “Really?”
“Really. It was impressive.”
“Well now I get to rub it in your sister’s face. She told me I was nuts to take it on. She swears I’m stuck in the body of a seventy-year-old woman.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. “You’re responsible, and you’ve got goals. I’m sure not everyone your age is out partying while you make slide decks,” I said.
“It doesn’t matter if they are, and I’m not a traditional student anyway—I started late, took a few years between high school and college to save up some money,” she said a little sheepishly. “So everyone here is several years younger than me. After I left the library with my group one night, they were going out. I was going home. It was after nine and I had an early class,” she laughed. “That’s when Isabel started calling me Mom.”
I looked at her seriously, thinking how hard this must be for her, to have deferred a normal college experience for the reasons Maria had told me about, to spend her time learning all she could and studying and missing out on the fun of being in college.
“For what it’s worth, I think you’ve made the right choices, judging from the work you’ve submitted. It shows a maturity and an eye for nuance that I don’t think your average twenty-year-old would be able to pull off, so I think your age plays to your advantage. You’ve spent your time well, Hailey, if that’s not too personal a remark,” I said, hesitating.
“Thank you. It’s worth—more than you probably think it is, that you said that,” she dropped her eyes. “Thank you again for the opportunity with the pitch. I can’t wait.”
“The meeting is in two days, and I’ll email you the details about time and place and when to meet with the team beforehand so they can fill you in and make sure you feel prepared.”
“I’d definitely appreciate that. I have butterflies in my stomach just thinking of it,” she said, a little nervousness in her voice.
“You have nothing to be worried about. You can’t possibly crash and burn worse than I did with this crew, and I worked on my pitch for three weeks,” I admitted. “Only to be told I’m out of touch and they were hoping for something new. They might as well have given me the number of a nursing home where they’ll puree my food and let me watch reruns of, like, Andy Griffith.”
“Yeah, definitely time to put you out to pasture, old man,” she laughed, and then stopped abruptly. “Sorry.”
I grinned at her, liking how casual, how friendly she was, how easy it was to joke around with her. I almost said it was fine, but I realized she was right. It wasn’t fine for us to banter back and forth and tease each other. We were professor and student, perhaps mentor and apprentice with this pitch. Nothing at all personal. I cleared my throat and told her again I’d send along the details for her.
On the day of the pitch meeting, I was sitting in with my creative team ahead of the presentation, just reviewing the beats of the proposal with them. Hailey walked in, and she looked like she belonged there. She had on a black skirt suit with a green silky top that made her eyes look green. Her hair was pulled up and she looked like she was all business, no nonsense. I wanted to stand up and applaud, and if it had been just the two of us and she’d entered the room with that kind of confidence, ready for war, I would have. Which is another reason why it was good that there was a roomful of people around me.
I stood and introduced her to the other staff working on the project. They shook her hand, praised her ideas, and showed her the final handout for the client.
“We got a lot of clarity from the Zoom, thanks for taking time to do that,” Sean said to her.
“I was glad I could fit it in between classes, thank you for scheduling it that way. I wanted to be part of the process and I appreciate your openness to my input. I realize I’m still a student, while you have had a lot of success and experience,” Hailey said diplomatically. She smiled and Sean and Darcy smiled back at her.
She bent over the screen and reviewed the slides. “Okay, good, you adjusted the color like we discussed on email. Thanks,” she said. She asked a couple of questions and I observed how knowledgeable she was about the pitch, how well she collaborated with the senior creative team. “I asked the team to increase the saturation on the turquoise border for the logo because that color value has been pretty durable in attracting attention and brand loyalty in the consumers who skew younger.”
I nodded. “I noticed the thicker border and the change in saturation. I think it works well. Honestly, I wouldn’t have thought of the angle you approached the young professional demo from. So, hats off to you there. It was definitely a concept that required fresh eyes.”
“I’m grateful for the opportunity,” she said smoothly. I marveled at her poise, her ability to move among my executives and communicate as an equal and also to give her rationale when asking for changes, which was a skill it took me a while to learn in the beginning.
When the clients filed into the conference room and my secretary distributed water and coffee, I welcomed them back. “We here at REM are glad to see you in these chairs again, and you won’t regret taking the time to give us another chance. We’ve taken all of your notes to heart and gone in a new direction with the potential rebranding, enlisting several of my younger employees as well as bringing in a concept that was conceived by one of my marketing students at Berkeley. This is Ms. Hailey Thomas, who will be presenting the first part of the new proposal to you herself,” I said.
“Let’s hope it’s less dusty than last time, Rick,” Meredith Bowman joked. I gave a dry chuckle in response.
“It will be. An infusion of youth and current trends was very much needed, and as personally humbling as I found your feedback, I know you’ll agree that it was exactly the kick in the pants REM needed to update our creative process and address your needs. So, I can’t thank you enough, Meredith, for pointing out the issue with my initial proposal. You’ll find it’s been scrapped completely, and a new approach created from the ground up. So, let’s give the floor to Ms. Thomas,” I said, nodding to her.
Without a trace of nervousness, Hailey went to the foot of the long mahogany table and tapped the keyboard of the laptop, bringing up a newer version of her initial presentation.
“As you can see, I’ve chosen to lead with a close-up shot of a glossy dip powder manicure in an ombre lavender fading into pink with a glittery tip. The text, in a common messaging format, reads, ‘ur nails r’ fire emoji. Cut to the same hand model, same mani, squirting your dish soap liberally into the sink and on her hands as she does dishes. The song is an Olivia Rodrigo bop that was very popular about four months ago, and will catch the attention of your 18-25 demo as very recognizable. Here we have her friend coming into the scene and freaking out that she isn’t wearing rubber gloves---” she clicked the slide and showed the end of the ad. “Now she’s explaining in a voiceover and print on screen, that this isn’t like the old kind of soap that takes the finish off your mani while it cleans the gunk off your kitchen stuff. This formula not only preserves your glossy finish but has an infusion of hyaluronic acid to act as skin care. Take care of yourself, not just your chores. That’s the angle.”
I cut a glance at Meredith, who was transfixed and peeked at her own nails, which were freshly manicured, although I doubted she did dishes herself.
“A twentysomething buys soap because we have to—it’s a basic need, and we can’t always afford Method or Grove or anything trendy on Insta. So if we can get a mass market alternative that’s got post consumer-waste packaging and the soap works well and doesn’t smell awful or tear up our hands, that’s a no-brainer. It’s in our price range, the brand is instantly recognizable but with a few logo adjustments to make it more contemporary.”
“I love it,” Meredith said. “You’ve sold me, and I haven’t even seen the second half. Go ahead and impress me with the rest.”
