This much I've learned

Camilla Harrisson is CEO of M&C Saatchi [email protected]. This article was taken from the June 2014 issue of Market Leader. Browse the archive here.

The best advice I ever got...
Was from my mum and dad. They always said just work with people you like and respect and do a job you love. It’s obvious but I find it impossible to be my best at work unless I have this right.

The worst advice I ever got...
‘Go to university’. Everyone told me to go but I wanted to get on and work. I moved to London and put an ad for myself in PR Week. By the time I was 21 I had done all sorts of brilliant (and terrible) jobs in communications and learned loads. I’ve never regretted it.

Don’t underestimate…
The value of learning to type fast. I took a speed-typing course aged 18 and it has given me back whole months of my life in terms of time saved.

Don’t overestimate…
Your own importance. Or your ability to sing or dance in public.

The experience that taught me most....
Was selling ad space for commission only. It taught me how to get over my typically British fear of phoning someone I didn’t know and asking them for something.

The most fun I had...
Was a night in the most exclusive, trendy nightclub in Milan with the entire worldwide board of M&C Saatchi. We resembled a coach party of Saga holidaymakers and the club suffered irreversible damage to its status.

The worst moment…
As Dolly Parton says, if you want the rainbow, you’ve got to put up with the rain, though I felt a horrible wave of nausea a few months ago when my laptop was stolen (I hadn’t backed up).

My peak career experience…
Three spring to mind – becoming president of WACL, being promoted to CEO of M&C Saatchi and selling a full page ad (see above) when I was19 years old. I spent all the commission on a night out with my friends, who were penniless students.