The Writing Career I Didn’t Know I Wanted
by Theo Kountourogiannis | Thought Leadership
I grew up in and around my family’s restaurant, watching my grandfather and dad work in the kitchen. It felt like I was destined to be next…but I wanted something different. I knew I wanted to write, but that’s about all I knew. I was 17 years old, twelfth grade, searching for some career aspiration. At the time, advertising to me was TV commercials, billboards, full two-page spreads in magazines—what I saw in Mad Men. That’s really where I fell in love with it all.
Four years later, I graduated from university with an English degree and no prospective jobs lined up. I sent out hundreds of applications and received only silence in return. Panic set in as I scrambled writing freelance gigs and small jobs here and there. I wrote articles and a column no one read and sweat over web content for pennies and less. The next logical step was to go to grad school.
After graduating, my freelance work slowly limped along, and I started waiting tables fulltime at the restaurant. It wasn’t what I wanted for myself, but I enjoyed connecting with people. I got to know regulars well and met new customers who eventually became regulars. Yet I was still dreaming of that next great commercial, that towering billboard, that printed ad. My optimism was running out however, and I thought I’d never write at an agency.
“We’re not sure you’re going to like it here.”
Two years later, when I was ready to give up and accept my fate, a CRM agency reached out with a pre-interview questionnaire. I quickly filled it out, completed a couple writing samples, and went through rounds and rounds of interviews. I told them about my favourite ads, what inspired me, and the goals I had set for myself. In a final interview, they told me, “We’re not sure you’re going to like it here.”
Here I was, on the verge of finally breaking through, getting a stable writing job, starting my career, and they didn’t think I would like it there? Looking back on it now, they had a point. They specialized in CRM, and I didn’t know what the hell that meant. I imagined car commercials, Coke ads, McDonalds—they were data, email journeys, direct mailers.
They gave me a shot, and I quickly settled into the role. Subject line testing, click through rates, DM production—it was all so new to me, but I got the hang of it. The more emails I wrote, the more natural it felt, and the more I loved it.
I didn’t understand why I enjoyed email copy so much, when all I wanted up until that point was to work on big campaigns. I stripped back the subject lines, intros and CTA buttons, and looked at the very core what I was doing: speaking to customers—new, existing, prospective. It meant something to me. They meant something to me. And there it was: a pang of nostalgia for the connections I had with customers at the restaurant.
Hawkeye
Almost three years went by, and a name made my ears perk up. Hawkeye. I heard about their agency from old coworkers and friends. I met with the creative leads and learned more about how I could continue to grow as a writer. I started three weeks later.
I stepped through a door into a new world full of like-minded people. From the first steps at the brief to the final stages of deployment, the entire team is committed to creating genuine and meaningful connections. Everyone understands the value in getting to know the customer and encouraging them to get to know their brand.
It immediately felt like the team had the same passion for connection I did. It wasn’t about selling a new plan, or a flashy product, this sale or that offer. It was about making every 1:1 communication feel like a helpful moment for the customer along their journey. How can I help you? I want to help you. Let me help you.
And that’s what I love the most about CRM—turning these typically “apersonal” interactions into something truly personal. To me it’s like knowing where a regular customer likes to sit, what their go-to lunch order is, how they take their coffee. Helping customers feel less like numbers in a data chain, and more like the regulars we look forward to speaking with every day.
Now, I think back to where I was at 17, 21, 25…unsure of what to do, where to start, with no clear path forward. I wish I had more faith in myself, but who knew my love for writing and connecting with people would lead me to this world of CRM.