What’s the secret ingredient to an attention-grabbing brand? Bold thinking, authentic ideas, and an intentional approach to brand identity if you ask our content specialist, Sanam.
With a love for creative storytelling and a knack for bringing brands to life, Sanam’s had a hand in crafting many of the scroll-stopping strategies and campaigns recently produced at Young Folks. When it comes to creative work, she’s always on the lookout for boundary-pushing ideas that go beyond the ordinary.
In this edition of our meet the team series, Sanam shares her dream clients, approach to creative work, and why learning to give up on perfectionism has been the best thing for her career.
If you could describe your approach to content and copywriting in just three words, what would they be?
Original, engaging, and on-brand.
If you could collaborate with any brand or client in the world, who would it be and why?
I’m obsessed with any kind of experiential fashion or beauty brand — think Gentle Monster, Fluff, Jacquemus. I just love brands that understand the value of brand building and out-of-the-box thinking, especially when it comes to campaign creation and content marketing.
I’m a big believer of ‘if you don’t have anything new to say, don’t say it’. It’s an attitude I try to carry across to all aspects of my work, so I appreciate it when brands do more than the stock standard or bare minimum.
If you weren’t working in this field, what do you think you’d be doing instead?
I actually began my career working in the publishing industry before becoming a copywriter. My lifelong dream was to be a cookbook publisher, but there aren’t very many jobs out there for cookbook publishers (trust me, I know). Now I live my publishing dream by buying an unhealthy amount of books that sit on my coffee table and look pretty.
Share a fun or quirky fact about yourself that your colleagues might not be aware of.
I can play the entire Shrek soundtrack on flute. Still waiting for the day I get the chance to play ‘Holding Out for a Hero’ to a crowd of people.
If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self when starting out in your career, what would it be?
It’s okay if you’re not the best at everything. As someone who’s only just getting over my perfectionist tendencies (and healing my inner child), I’ve recently realised how valuable failing is. The best lessons I’ve learnt throughout my career have been through getting things wrong, as hard as it was at the time. It’s okay to admit you don’t know something or that you made a mistake. It’s so much more human and endearing to live life that way, anyway.
I’d also tell my younger self to stop and smell the roses. If I told early-twenties Sanam where late-twenties Sanam is now, she probably wouldn’t believe me. We spend so much of our lives looking forward to the next best thing, we don’t realise we’re currently living through what once was the next best thing. Celebrate the wins — no matter how small or inconsequential they may seem at the time.
