Breaking Free: My Escape Journey from the Marketing Industry

Hi,

Throughout my life, I can say that I’ve had a somewhat rebellious personality. In my youth, I criticized the system by joining communist and libertarian political groups, standing by the oppressed. In high school, I even turned my back on my childhood friend because of mistreating a girl I was protecting. Treating people well, ensuring rights, and making work beneficial to the system and humanity have always been some of my fundamental sources of motivation.I won’t delve into too many past stories since I want to write about “Who Am I?”, but in this article, I want to talk about my digital advertising adventures from 2012 to 2018, starting as an intern at the age of 18, then rising to become a junior social media expert, and eventually becoming the head of the social media department. Above all, I will share why I left this industry with a strong resolve and the reasons behind my escape. Plus, there’s the resignation note where I poured out my feelings at the end of the article!

Everything started in 2012, on the Bars Street in Kadıköy/Istanbul when a friend who knew I wanted to work introduced me to his cousin, who had just returned from the US and opened an advertising agency. We were drinking beer in front of Karga Bar, and unlike the formal atmosphere I was used to in job interviews, it was quite informal. The cousin, who turned out to be one of the best managers I’ve ever known (I won’t share his name since I didn’t ask; let’s call him U), invited me to work with him on the spot. I was so surprised that I said something like, “If you say so, I’ll come tomorrow, and you’ll see for yourself.” in a joking manner. U replied, “Okay, work then. Come tomorrow, let’s talk, and then you can start,” giving me the most unexpected job offer of my life.

I was only 18, and my position was an internship. I had no work experience, but starting to work at a digital agency in the middle of Nişantaşı sounded fantastic. I was already staying at my mom’s house at that time; I had no experience with matters like salary, but my priority was to learn a good job and progress in that field. So, I immediately accepted and went to see U’s office.

After passing through a stylishly decorated meeting room, I stepped into a young, dynamic, and fun workspace with dozens of computers, large lights, big screens, where people from a young age group were happily working, not looking stressed at all. Some were even having coffee and chatting in the kitchen. Everything looked very exciting.

After talking to U, they offered me 600₺ + transportation and meal allowance for my position, and I accepted. As I said, I needed experience more than money, and it seemed like a worthwhile environment to work in.

I started working on the 15th of the month, and by the end of the month, I had received half of my salary, which was 300₺. In my novice and insecure state, I thought I misunderstood the salary discussion, and I believed I would only receive 300₺ instead of 600₺. Maybe the 600₺ included all additional payments, I thought. With the Sodexo card they gave me at the beginning of the month, in addition to my 300₺ salary, I convinced myself that it should be a total of 600₺ and continued working without questioning.

When the 15th of the next month came, I hadn’t expected anything since I had already accepted half of the salary, and no one else had entered the office by mid-month. They had also forgotten to pay the other half. Since I had already agreed to half salary and was hesitant to ask, I didn’t say anything.

Within a few days, my boss called me to his office and gave me a lesson that I believe I will never forget in my life.

“Why didn’t you come and tell me that you hadn’t received your salary? I promised you 600₺ and paid half of it. The 15th of the month passed, and you didn’t come to claim your rights. If someone else were in my place, they could take advantage of your behavior. I’m not giving you pocket money or doing you a favor. You are working for me, and I’m paying you the rightful fee. There is nothing wrong with chasing your money; you should demand what is yours,” he said, giving me the remaining 300₺. “If you don’t pursue what is rightfully yours, no one else will. Be aware of that,” he added.

He was absolutely right. The most important lesson I could take from this experience was that our bosses didn’t do us any favors; on the contrary, our efforts brought them significant profits. Our salaries would never be enough compared to the efforts we put in.

During that period, agencies were still in their early years, and our boss had come from America with a progressive vision. We were working on many projects that hadn’t yet reached Turkey, and we had managed to turn the office, which started with 8 people, into a team of 20 within 1.5 years. Instagram wasn’t as active as today; at that time, we were running campaigns through Facebook, placing online ads, organizing events, and managing our social media pages. In a short time, starting with a salary of 1300₺, I was appointed as a Jr. Social Media Expert, then my Jr. label was removed, and my salary went up to 1900₺. The company was very enjoyable; we went on vacation once a year, organized parties, and gathered for buffet breakfasts on Fridays. We could feel the value our boss gave us, and we were experiencing the positive effects of working in a happy environment on our creativity.

For a 19-year-old, I was earning more than my peers and enjoying my work. The happiness that came with this new job and environment excited me so much that I thought I wanted to work in an agency for the rest of my life, and I even thought about opening my own agency one day. (And that’s what happened…) Therefore, I decided to leave the department I was studying at Istanbul University at that time and enter a private university where I could receive education specifically on Media Communication. After all, I was already earning, and the company had promised to pay for part of my education.

But unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned. In 2013, the Gezi Park Protests broke out, and we stood still for months without any projects. In the first few weeks, we used to come to the office and even participate in the protests after work, but over time, the work to be done kept decreasing, and eventually, we started handling small tasks from our homes. During that period, I had my first experience of working from home with this company and quite enjoyed it.

I don’t need to mention that social media is a dynamic and rapidly changing field. At one point, we were creating content for Vine, and the platform we invested most in was Facebook. Instagram was mainly used for our personal accounts, as it only worked on iPhones at that time. However, after a few months, the company decided to close down. They transferred each of us to other agencies they had previously agreed upon, and no one was left in a difficult situation.

New journeys will start in a bigger agency…

For me, challenges began when I joined another agency and encountered different working styles. I’ll continue without mentioning names; because when I transferred to an agency that still has recognition in the industry, the brands I already worked with and had good relationships with also came with me. In this agency, we were a total of 50 people, and there were separate rooms for each department. I worked in a small room with social media specialists.

The friendly atmosphere from my previous agency was not present here; on the contrary, trying to be seen a lot during smoke breaks, leaving work exactly on time, and not staying overtime too often were not appreciated. Although my salary didn’t increase much, I had at least 2–3 more brands, which significantly increased the workload. We didn’t see our bosses properly, and we didn’t have much communication. On Fridays, they organized an event called “happy hour,” and after a few beers, they expected us to stay at least 2 more hours for overtime.

In short, the idea that I would work in this job until the end of my life was slowly fading away, and I began to feel regret. I would gradually start working without enthusiasm, my creativity would decrease, and even due to stress, my escapes to alcohol and similar substances would increase. The agency was located in Kabataş, and on Fridays, like a dog with a dropped leash, I would run to places where I could relieve all the stress of the week. Because I felt like I was ruining my youth in a closed office from 9 am to 6:30 pm every day, just like a job I didn’t want.

Ethically, there was nothing about this job that would satisfy me; on the contrary, I had to prepare an advertising campaign for an insurance company (a well-known brand) that defrauded the elderly with small word games. When I talked about customer complaints, the company policy preferred to talk about luxury brand bags and such in meetings where we should discuss customer satisfaction. I was suffering, and I had no strength left. At the end of this experience, it brought not just a personal but an industry-wide weariness. I didn’t want to do advertising anymore, and in fact, I hated it. I realized that everything was a big lie, and I had no desire to spend even one more day in the agency.

I had already decided to quit my job, and I finally managed to email my bosses. I remember being quite proud when I wrote this email. However, after they told me that I couldn’t leave until I found a replacement and trained that person, I started crying in the bathroom when I realized that I was being forced to stay in a place I didn’t want to be. Still, I accepted because I had to, and after a little over a month, I was able to leave the job.

On the night I left the job, I met with my friends, and the next morning, we decided to hitchhike southward in Turkey. It was May 19th, and I didn’t return to Istanbul until the end of September. I closed my house, started a journey of self-discovery on the road. I settled in Çanakkale to get an education on plants and eventually found myself working in a childcare center in Catalonia. Today, after 10 years, I have started working again in projects related to digital advertising that I believe in.

I want to write about this comeback in another post, as a part 2. For now, I will end this article here.

Before finishing my writing, I would like to ask if you have similar stories in your industries that you have experienced. I would be very happy if you share them as comments.

Thank you very much for coming with me so far, and I hope to see you in the next article!

With my best wishes!