The first Filipino to be awarded The Creative of the Year for Southeast Asia in Campaign Asia-Pacific Agency of the Year Awards 2013. The only woman in the roster of the top 20 Creative Directors in Asia. The “chairmom” and chief executive officer of a multi-awarded advertising agency, which recently merged with the world’s largest advertising company.
Merlee Cruz-Jayme is one of the prominent names in today’s advertising industry.
She is an inspirational and aspirational figure to the people working in the same field as hers, who also want to achieve the things she has achieved in her 25 years of impressive creative career. But Merlee reveals that even someone who is at the top of the food chain, especially someone who has managed to be at the top of the food chain, had to go through tough times.
“I never had it easy in this industry,” Merlee admits to The Standard Life.
That’s why one day, after 25 years in advertising, she realized that she wanted to share to others how she became better in her craft and got to where she is now.
“The gift of creativity—nurtured by faith, discipline and perseverance—all these I attribute to my past in a far-flung convent. I thought it’s time to share it with others and even to my very own creative daughters,” says the mother of four and former Benedictine Novice.
Yes, the company owner and brains behind some of the most effective campaigns has once left her home and her family to enter a convent. She was restless (and stills is), rebellious and only 13 then.
And from Merlee’s three-year experience inside the solemn confines of the cloister—sleeping in a narrow bed, caring for animals, watering trees and taking care of orphans and the elderly—she acquired valuable lessons that she believes helped her be more creative, among other things.
Those experiences and lessons are what she shared in her first book, Everyone Can Be Creative.
“[In the book] I finally revealed the fact [that] I left at 13 to try it out as a novice in a convent. My friends were shocked!” she discloses. “I also shared my difficulties, mistakes and challenges in my career. How they toughened me up and made me braver.”
Believing that everyone, even a serious finance person or a super square lawyer, can be creative, Merlee dished out habits that can help the “Naturally Creative” and the “Learning Creative” master and fully realize the skill.
“I want readers to embrace the gift of creativity. Understand and develop it,” she says.
In addition, Merlee injected anecdotes and “Creatips” in every chapter.
The said habits and secrets, according to Merlee, are the very habits and secrets that worked well for her.
She shares, “Understanding the brief 100 percent then forgetting it is a good start. I would do chores, walk around the mall, watch a movie, then suddenly the idea comes! There are times when I wake up in the middle of the night with an idea. This is when a pad and a pen come in handy. Another practice that usually works for me is people watching. Somehow, I get to invent stories in my mind by just watching strangers.”
One of the tips she shared is to “Commit to giving yourself some silent time,” as this leads to a simpler, and more powerful output. But even she admits to struggling with this habit, considering today’s super-connected, fast-paced digital world.
“Disciplining myself from checking my phone too often is admittedly one tough habit to break,” admits Merlee. “But doing this breaks the thought process. So, I know I have to control it.”
Everyone Can Be Creative is an easy-read book, something that a reader can finish, perhaps in one seating, and would read again just to fully absorb its contents. Not everyone may share the same experience as the author had, but the lessons are relatable and can be applied possibly even in a non-creative field.
“I want readers to be inspired that being creative will lead them into thinking solutions. And through this, they can help change the world,” she says.
The book is another feather in her cap, and Merlee, always restless and still stubborn, is not done yet in helping change the world for the better. In fact, she looks forward to writing more books in the future.
“I’d love to write about Filipino women’s secret weapons in the corporate world. I also want to write about the special love between a woman and her BGF: Best Gay Friend,” she shares.
“How I wish I had the time to actually write them.”
Everyone Can Be Creative is now available in bookstores and newsstands nationwide for P295.