Ad Age is marking Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Heritage Month 2023 with our Honoring Creative Excellence package. (Read the introduction here.) Today, our guest editor Bonnie Wan turns the spotlight to Judy John, global chief creative officer at Edelman. Here, John writes about why she loves creativity.
Creativity
‘Always optimistic/even in the darkest times’—read Judy John’s ode to creativity
Edelman’s global chief creative officer reflects in verse on the journey of a lifetime
Judy John
Credit:
Courtesy of Edelman
Creativity has taken me to places my parents couldn’t have dreamed of
when they came on a boat that took a month to get here
It’s taken me to places
that weren’t in the Encyclopedia Britannica
my parents saved up to buy so we could one day do better than them
Creativity made me feel smart when my grades didn’t
It transported me out of my small town
Out of our Chinese restaurant
It got me jobs
better than the time I was a security guard
(even though I was damn good at it)
Like the one I have now
It’s introduced to me to people I’d read about
Took me to stages I’d seen on TV
Although my parents didn’t understand it
They would claim it was a result of falling down a few flight of stairs
onto the street
while riding my plastic duck
The doctor in emergency said it was a miracle
I still think I got creativity from them
Creativity asks a lot of questions
It wants to know why
Creativity is restless
It’s curious
It’s restlessly curious
Creativity is always optimistic
even in the darkest times
there is no such thing as can’t
or no
or nyet
it believes there is always a way
It doesn’t tell me “that idea is stupid”
It illustrates a business problem
with an actual illustration
Creativity can change outcomes
It can change minds
It can impact societies
It can inspire nations
It has no ceiling
It loves solving problems
Which sometimes creates other problems
Which it happily solves
Creativity sees the potential in everything
It can bridge the digital divide for street kids in Jakarta
With no access to education or computers
Creativity can inspire a client like HP
To find a way to teach them how to code
through the power of print and paper
Creativity can inspire Dove in Thailand
To help change the laws for forced haircuts on girls in school
So they don’t have to have their confidence cut
Creativity is optimism.
It can inspire one
or the many.
Creativity can change the world.
That is why
I
love
creativity
