10 Years at The Martin Group: Jillian Gallagher

Congratulations on 10 years with The Martin Group. What has been your favorite part about working here?

Jillian Gallagher: Everyone says it but it’s true: no day here is the same, between the variety of clients and the changing nature of our work. I’ve loved having the chance to touch so many different industries and learn about so many topics.

Making friends that are now stuck with me for life hasn’t hurt, either.

How has your typical workday changed over the past decade?

JG: Well, this will make me sound like a dinosaur, but we were actually working in hard copy when I started 10 years ago, complete with terrifying stamps that you had to use for routing a document to other team members. Things are definitely more streamlined these days! That trend extends to the deliverables I’m writing, too—way less traditional print advertising, for instance, but many more digital opportunities.

What’s the biggest challenge in your position, and how do you handle these challenges on a weekly basis?

JG: I think the biggest challenge is writing for different clients in the correct brand voice for them versus your own brand voice as a writer. (I remember complaining to my first boss out of college that no one told Ernest Hemingway to vary his voice, which…LOL.) Every writer has their own style—but all your clients don’t. It’s a challenge to keep things fresh day after day, year after year, client after client. It forces you to be your best and always grow.

The second biggest challenge is evolving my fashion choices, so I’m not an embarrassing mom in an industry that pulls in lots of young people. Skinny jeans were a tough loss, but I’m clinging to my French tuck with both hands.

Do you have a client project or two that made a memorable impression on you? If so, what were they, and why were they so special?

JG: Our Children’s is Moving campaign that led up to the move and opening of Oishei Children’s Hospital stands out as a big moment. It was such an exciting and joyful moment in time for our clients, our team, and, really, our entire Western New York community. Dressing up little kids as doctors and nurses is about as cute as it gets in advertising.

Working on the ASICS campaigns was also a crazy-fun, crazy-hard moment in time. Shooting in heat waves in Miami and Houston in July teaches you something very special about resilience. It was such a cool opportunity to work on something that pushes you out of your comfort zone in every sense.

Is there an industry development you’re particularly excited about? If so, what is it, and why does it interest you?

JG: I suppose “excited” may not be the right word, but the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) certainly has all of us paying attention. It adds a new element of challenge and a push to continue adding a type of value that only we can, while also making room for the technological evolutions that are inevitable.

You’ve had a few days off in your 10 years here. What would your ideal day off look like, wake up to bedtime?

JG: My ideal day off begins the night before, as a day off on the books means I can indulge myself in staying up entirely too late in accordance with my vampiric body clock. No earlier than 3 a.m. I love the quiet of the late-night hours for reading (and perhaps some doom scrolling/binge watching, too).

I’d kick off the next late morning with fresh Butter Block pastries and a cold brew from across the street at Remedy House, sit there with a book, uninterrupted for as long as possible.

If I was feeling ambitious and healthy, maybe a reformer Pilates class in the afternoon, just to feel smug about being slightly productive. Then a late-afternoon nap before grabbing Mexican food with my husband and four-year-old daughter.

Finally, if you met someone who hoped to find success in a position like yours, what’s the one piece of critical advice you’d offer to them?

JG: Remember that a career is not made overnight. Temper your expectations for what those early days will look like—you really do learn a lot in the entry-level years. Be helpful, humble, and never say “no” to an assignment or opportunity.

And please (oh please) never say “that’s not my job.”

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