Jessica Mastorides
(Mass-ter-ee-dees)
Before I knew that copywriting existed, I was a journalism major. For my first ever news assignment during my freshman year at Syracuse University, I had to write a story about an e. coli outbreak in Wegman's apples. I wanted to do a creative lead-in for the article, so I came up with a silly line:
"Many might say that an apple a day keeps the doctor away, but for Wegman's in Syracuse, that's no longer the case."
I thought it was funny and I genuinely expected an A+. Instead, I failed. It was the first F I'd ever gotten. When I went to office hours to ask why, my professor thought it was obvious. He looked me straight in my eyes and said, "It's because you made fun of a public health crisis".
Lol. Oops.
I felt so mortified. I think I even cried. But it turned out journalism was just not my vibe. And now I basically get paid to make fun of things.
Anyways, the point is, that failure was how I found my passion for advertising. And honestly, I haven't stopped failing since. But isn't that how every success story starts?