Essays on creative leadership,
culture, and the human side of work.
Becoming
These are personal essays about growing up as a fostered, then adopted child — and about what that does to a person over the course of a life and career. The passivity you develop to survive. The shame that shows up uninvited in elevators and conference rooms decades later. The moment you finally recognize the bully pattern, in a boss, in a father, in yourself.
The most-read piece opens with a meat cleaver. My wife, coming down the hall. Me, curled under the covers at thirty years old, having just been fired and not yet told her. It’s not a comfortable essay. But by the end, it explains — more directly than anything else I’ve written — why I understand what happens to people when they’re made to feel small at work, and why that understanding is the foundation of everything I do professionally.
These essays aren’t separate from my advisory work. They are the source of it.
Advisory Notes
These are essays about the emotional realities of creative professional life — the anxiety of leadership, the psychology of negotiation, the particular ways creative people get in their own way, and the particular ways organizations let them down.
One of the most-read pieces, “Why Creative Firms Break Differently,” argues that creative firms don’t fail from bad strategy — they unravel from the inside, through fatigue, misalignment, and a gradual loss of trust no one can quite name. That piece captures what all of these essays are reaching toward.
I write from four decades of experience inside creative firms, but I write the way I talk: directly, without jargon, with stories. Each piece includes one of my own illustrations. If you work in a creative firm and ever feel like the game is rigged against you, this series is for you.
Fear can be paralyzing. It can make us unable to think, speak, or even stand up. When we’re negotiating, fear can make us completely unable to represent ourselves or our work. It’s a powerhouse of an emotion that triggers our fight, flight, freeze, or surrender response. Any of which is completely appropriate when we’re physically…
I love talking with other creatives about the projects they’re working on, and how they ask for — and get — more money for the valuable services they provide. And it’s rewarding when they follow up to let me how our conversations helped them prepare for their next negotiations. Not long ago, I was in…
It can feel like hiring managers have all the power. But when it comes to questions about salary history, you have more power than you might realize.
Negotiation starts with how you prepare for the meeting. Use my proven method to build confidence, earn respect, and win clients.
You’ve worked with a client to define the project scope, but now there’s pressure to cut your price. Here’s how to keep the contract on your terms.
Apple says, “think different.” I say, change the context — and you’ll win every time.
By Allison Durazzi Oh. My. God. I was about to get my dream job! I aced the interviews, and they said to expect an offer immediately. The job post was for a junior position, but through the interviews it became clear they needed more than that — and I had the skills required. In fact,…
New essays, every week.
With an illustration.
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Also available on Substack.
You never cease to amaze me with your willingness to make your life an open book — especially the more hurtful parts. And I'm amazed by the lessons you draw from all of it.
— Larry Coffman, PublisherYour writing has revealed some very intimate, powerful lessons. You are a source of inspiration both professionally and, increasingly, on a personal level.
— Rick GoreWe can discuss the ugly, uncomfortable truths while always circling back to what matters: the people, the underdogs, the work we get to do, and the magical existence we get to share as creatives.
— Sarah EskandarpourI loved your article about how clients' emotions affect briefs. It's a huge part of the creative industry and it's always good to see somebody so knowledgeable write about it.
— Vuk Bojovic, JKR Account Director, Singapore