7
Kennedy
I was busy responding to an email from a client when there was a knock on the door. I looked up to find Louise, my ever-efficient assistant, smiling in the doorway. “You’re in early,” she noted, taking in the already empty coffee cup on my desk.
“Yeah, I was up early so I figured I’d get a jump on things,” I replied with a smile. There were a lot of projects going on, and I needed to get a handle on them before the workweek officially started.
“Smart move,” she said, glancing at the stack of papers on my desk. “I’m just about to grab some coffee before we go over the schedule. Want another cup?”
“Oh, that would be great, but—” I hesitated, not wanting to make her feel like she needed to fetch me coffee. She was my assistant, not my barista.
She waved me off with a knowing look. “I’m heading there anyway. It’s no trouble.”
“Okay, thanks, Louise,” I said, smiling in relief.
By mid-morning, I’d finished my third cup of coffee, so I was energized when Louise and I were called into a meeting in the conference room.
“Good morning,” my boss, Chuck Weller, greeted us, raising an eyebrow at my unusually cheerful demeanor.
“Good morning,” Louise and I responded in unison. The room was already occupied by four men in suits, none of whom I had met before. They were seated at the conference table with open laptops in front of them. Chuck closed the glass doors behind us and waited for me and Louise to take a seat.
“I’d like to introduce Kennedy Miller and her assistant, Louise,” Chuck said, and then he turned his focus on me.
I smiled and nodded as Chuck continued, clearly directing the meeting toward me.
“As you know, we’ve got several large projects running at the moment: one here in the city for the fashion show, a major national pharma contract, and another in Los Angeles involving their inner-city youth initiative. ”
I nodded along, familiar with those projects. The senior team members had been managing them, while I’d mostly been assigned to recurring clients. The fashion show project had always piqued my interest, but the pharma contract was notorious for being dry, and the LA project required heavy travel.
“We’ve just landed a new project with Men’s Advantage,” Chuck continued with a hint of excitement in his voice. “And I’m assigning Kennedy to take the lead on this one.”
I blinked in surprise as the four men exchanged approving nods. This was huge.
Chuck’s intense focus remained on me as he explained further.
“We’ve been asked to participate in a series of advertorials focused on promoting healthy living.
The campaign will cover all aspects of health—exercise, diet, stress control, and mental well-being.
The primary goal is to raise awareness about the importance of staying active. ”
Louise, quick on the uptake, opened her laptop and began taking notes. Meanwhile, I kept my attention on Chuck, absorbing every word.
“We’re coming into this a bit late,” Chuck continued, “since the campaign has already started. However, the owners of Men’s Advantage were dissatisfied with the initial advertising agency’s approach.
That’s where we come in. Given our resources and expertise, they believe we’re the right fit to take this campaign in the direction they envision. ”
He then gestured toward a tall, thin man with a close-cropped beard seated across from me. “I’ll let John, who’s here on behalf of Men’s Advantage, take over from here.”
As John prepared to speak, I could feel a surge of excitement building inside me.
This was exactly the kind of high-profile opportunity I had been waiting for—the chance to lead a major project, and on such an important campaign.
This was what I’d moved to Manhattan for, and it felt like my moment had finally arrived.
“Thank you, Chuck,” John began, his attention shifting to me and Louise.
“This campaign will run over the course of eight weeks, each week spotlighting a different sport and a prominent athlete. So far, we have six athletes confirmed. If you look here,” he said, sliding a pamphlet across the table, “we have athletes representing swimming, skiing, football, women’s soccer, baseball, and dance. We still need to fill two more slots.”
“Have any athletes been shortlisted for those remaining spots?” I asked. With our tight deadline, it would help to have those details confirmed sooner rather than later.
“Yes.” John nodded. “We’re currently in talks with the agents of New York Empires center Nash Reed as well as Linda Jones, the rising tennis star.”
I could feel my pulse quicken at the mention of Nash. The idea of working with him in a professional capacity . . . I fought the urge to smile too widely, forcing myself to maintain a businesslike demeanor.
“Can you walk us through how the project will work, and what Louise and I will be responsible for?” I asked, keeping the focus where it needed to be.
By the time we got out of the meeting a few hours later, I had the beginning of a headache.
The project was an incredible opportunity for me, but the weight of the responsibility was already settling in.
Louise, meanwhile, was positively buzzing with excitement, talking nonstop about the possibility of meeting famous athletes.
I didn’t have the heart to tell her that our involvement might be limited to reviewing photos and materials after the fact.
I placed the file on my desk and opened up my computer.
All the materials had been sent to our inboxes.
It was going to take hours to sift through everything and catch up on what had been done and what still needed attention.
Although I could have had Louise summarize the key points, I felt the need to go through it myself.
This was my first major project with the company, and I wanted a clear understanding of everything on the table.
After grabbing yet another cup of coffee, I dove into the details.
The more I read, the more ideas started flowing, and I began drafting a summary with suggestions for small changes and strategies to expand the campaign’s visibility.
It was interesting, and I loved the message behind it.
The more I read about the people who had been selected for the project, the more excited I got.
Nash would be a great role model. He would fit right in.