MAKATI, PHILIPPINES — Over the past few years, the local creative industry has seen a spurt in new small agencies and design studios opening and joining the highly competitive market. While a couple have had success growing their company, not all can take on the challenges of keeping and maintaining a business.
There was a tinge of sadness when we heard of Labor of Love’s closing up shop. Labor of Love Talent & Content Co., or LOL, was a company where creatives can do the work they love in an environment that nurtures growth. The founders, Tami Acena and Celine Buendia, both wanted to create a different environment for creatives, and approach advertising in a different way from the traditional ad agencies.
adobo Magazine reached out to Tami Acena, the CEO of LOL, to discuss the heavy decision of closing the company and moving forward.
What led to the decision of stopping the operations of Labor of Love as an ad firm?
The decision came from the tension between maintaining the original vision while maintaining funding. Balancing the two is a tough act as a startup. As we evolved, my partners and I saw different versions of the future. Add that with the pressure of more funding, it made sense that we go our separate ways.
I am however, quite proud of the amount of work we’ve done as a company. We accomplished so much as a team. And for me, to have lasted almost 5 years without compromising the vision is our greatest achievement.
What was the biggest challenge of launching and leading your own ad agency? At the same time, what were your most valuable learnings?
The combination of leading people, running a business and being the head creative was the hardest part. I started LOL as a creative at age 28, and turning myself into an entrepreneur overnight without mentors was a struggle. Everything I did was self-taught from my previous start up, and that’s not exactly a very good thing. Young people need to learn from the mistakes of mature, experienced folk, so we can avoid repeating it.
Another difficult realization is that it is very hard to find the right support I needed as a female entrepreneur. You can get a lot of business advice out there: “Follow success! Profit, profit, profit! Authority is power!”, but as a young, sensitive, creative business woman (an intersection of many, nuanced things) in a male-dominated, and sometimes ego-led creative world, all of these advice just didn’t work for me.
I learnt that you have to keep finding mentors who align with your intuition, your values and your vision. It’s been a long search in a world where anyone can parade as an expert and even be a self-proclaimed influencer. But the search has paid off for me, because I feel I finally found one. To stay humble, to surround yourself with people who you can trust for constructive feedback, and to learn how to truly listen to all of your senses are all so important in the creation process.
What’s something you wish you knew when LOL was just starting out?
Business finance. I wish all creatives unlearn their fear of math.
A nugget of wisdom for young creatives thinking of establishing their own agency?
Overcome not just the fear, but the shame of failure. Talk about it. Connect with people who will talk about theirs. Don’t allow failure to paralyze you from starting something, or starting again. A friend told me that “businesses are science experiments”. The scientist in me loved that visual very much. Me in a white coat and an Erlenmeyer flask of ideas and experiences. This new world of opportunity is all about trial and error. All the information, observation and conclusion of every experience you gather, especially when you are failing are the formulas of what makes one an extremely valuable entrepreneur. I am proud of my successes but also failures; the latter gave me hard-earned knowledge.
You hinted on a new chapter for LOL, is there anything more you can share with us about this?
Labor of Love is only the beginning of many other concepts I wish to build. I am happy that the brand has a life of its own, and I am just allowing it to organically shape-shift and evolve alongside my other creative projects. I am currently working on a self-named creative consulting firm, and that to me is exciting. It is where my energy is focused at the moment. I’d like to build a stable business model – then I wish to run it side by side with LOL as a science laboratory. We’ll see. I’m currently listening to what my intuition tells me.
