My Biggest Lesson: Kevin J. Gordon

Kevin is an account director and executive producer at Across the Pond, a global independent creative agency specializing in tech, where he oversees a team of creatives and producers. Based in North America, he has worked as a producer and director at every step on the supply chain, from production company to agency to brand, on content ranging from 6-second GIFs to feature length films.

LBB> Is there one event / piece of wisdom from your career that's always stayed with you? What is it? 

Kevin> That you can’t plan out your whole career, and you never know where it will take you; chance and opportunity will always play a big role. You can have a long term vision but all you really have control over is your next move. Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu’s version of this is the saying “A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent upon arriving.”

LBB> Set the scene! How old were you when you learned this insight, where were you working, how long had you been there, what year was it, what was your role and how were you feeling generally about your career at this point?

Kevin> I was 24, two years out of college, and I was working as a criminal defense investigator at a non-profit law firm that defended men on death row. The job was always a stop on my way to law school.

LBB> Tell us about the chain of events that led to you learning this insight… be as specific as you can!

Kevin> I was trying to decide if I definitely wanted to go to law school and in the process I was trying to map out my future career as a civil rights attorney. Basically trying to make a 10-15 year plan to see how it would play out, and predict all the financial ramifications, to create certainty that it was the right path.

LBB> And if you got some words on wisdom from a particular person or there’s a key, influential person in this story – tell us about them! What was your relationship to them, what were they like, how did you feel about them (admiration, awe, respect… disrespect)…

Kevin> The advice came from one of my bosses, one of the lawyers I worked with at the time. He was in his late 50s or 60s, an ex-hippie who said “groovy” a lot, and he was like a father figure, soft spoken, gentle, with a great laugh and sense of humor. He had no clue he would go from hippie to lawyer, and no clue he would end up in the narrow niche of capital appeals. He said that knowing how your career would unfold was impossible as chance played such a big role and your ideas about things would change. So the only question I could answer was - did I want to spend the next three years in law school? 

LBB> Why do you think it struck such a chord? 

Kevin> I think it was a relief to hear that. It took the pressure off my decision and allowed me to focus on the more immediate future. 

LBB> How did it change you as a person and in your career?

Kevin> The answer to the question of whether I wanted to go to law school was no. I didn’t want to go to law school. And in fact, I had this creative itch I wanted to explore, documentary filmmaking, where I thought I could maybe achieve the same social justice impact but in a way that excited me. I deferred law school, took a one week crash course in filmmaking which I loved, immediately landed a part time role working on a prison reform documentary, and the rest was history.

LBB> And as you’ve progressed in your career, how have you re-evaluated this piece of advice? 

Kevin> The advice has continued to ring true as my career has pivoted again and again. I’m now in a role I never could have imagined 10 years ago. I work as an account director and executive producer at a creative agency making films that help big tech companies make a better world. I manage and mentor a team of producers but do little filmmaking myself and it’s a perfect fit for my life stage as a new father.

At its core, I think the advice was about getting out of your planning mind and instead trying to listen to what your body/intuition was telling you right now. And if you listen to that, you can’t go wrong. 

It’s also about being comfortable with uncertainty. I have no clue what I’ll be doing in another 10 years time and that’s okay.