I am a Mentern

I AM A FASHION MENTERN

My name is Michael Morris, President of the Social Strategy Group.

I was born in 1945 and I consider myself 25 years old, with 48 years of Fashion and Marketing experience.

This Blog  is not about how we did things back in our day. This is about a real concern, an age concern. Let's put things into perspective here. With the recent and very welcome push for sexual equality, the time is also right to address the inequality of blatant ageism in the workplace.

If you're 18 to 30 years old, you may want to look away now. Ideas and creativity are not exclusive to the twenty somethings. You forget, we've been there and done that. In fact, don't look at the grey hair and think we're not still doing it. We are.

This is not a competition between millennials and boomers.

The key argument for the defence?  Simply put: experienced Boomers are still passionate, but with pragmatism and discipline. More importantly, that experience brings a much bigger picture view to a brief. There is definitely a right balance between hiring young and senior talent.

That's where Mentern talent is essential - guiding, mentoring, coaching, and inspiring.

The past decade or so, I have witnessed this inequality first hand both in an agency role and when applying for other permanent or freelance roles, and it's not just me. I hear this every day from my many contemporaries.Just recently an associate of mine told me a story about "A very experienced freelance copywriter he knew, looked after a luxury brand for several months with huge success only to be suddenly replaced by a junior team who pretty quickly realised they were out of their depth. If it ain't broke..."

So my message to corporate community is relook at hiring individuals who are over 50, and think about what they can bring to the table. You will get proven people who can bring experienced understanding and behavioural knowledge to your new technology - surely the perfect complement.

If you would like to join our network of Menterns, sign up  at www.mentern.com