Geraldine Newman

My journey into advertising was completely unexpected. After traveling through Europe and the Middle East for two and a half years, I came back to New York and was looking for work. A psychologist who graded my aptitude test told me I came out very high in intelligence, perception, and creativity - he was the first person who told me I was creative. He suggested the creative department of an ad agency would be a great place for me. I started as just a gopher in the creative department, typing scripts and being a Girl Friday. My big break came when an account person knew I wanted to be a writer and gave me the opportunity to write a speech for Pierre Cardin to give at the French consulate introducing his new men's cologne. I threw some French into it, they all liked it, Pierre Cardin liked it and gave my speech, and that was the first actual piece of writing I did. Then they started giving me more things to write and promoted me to writer. I worked at Tinker, Dodge, and Delano, then moved to an agency doing advertising to women, then to Young and Rubicam which was the biggest agency in the world where I started winning all kinds of awards. Then Dacher & Spielvogel, a hot new boutique agency, stole me away - they doubled my salary, gave me a bigger title, and sent me flowers. Eventually I started my own venture, Geraldine Newman Communications, and started doing infomercials as well as commercials and direct response advertising. I put Buns of Steel on the map with their first TV campaign and invented my own exerciser, Zone Pilates, which ran on TV for 2 years. I took the names from the Zone diet and Pilates, found out Pilates wasn't legally protected, and divided the body into zones. Now I want to use my skills to have my own YouTube channel focused on making a difference in the world, addressing polarity and advocating for respect for all life.