Wellness In A New City

Remember what it was like to embark on a new career, in a new city, in a never before seen new apartment (now that’s faith)? Jaime Walker, our winning Big Ad Gig copywriter, reminds us all that wellness is made up of all kinds of choices, including a very positive attitude.

Enjoy her experiences.

~Helayne Spivak

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After winning the Saatchi and Saatchi Wellness internship at the Big Ad Gig, I was delirious with happiness. On the plane ride home to Atlanta, it became obvious that I was also delirious with a 101-degree fever. I was sweating. I was chilled. My cough sounded more like emphysema than sore throat. Surprisingly, I couldn’t have been happier. I was a portfolio school student in possession of what is now a rarity: a shot in advertising. I crawled into bed for a week, ready to die happy.

Thankfully, I lived. I landed in NYC this week feeling great, ready to see my new digs in Brooklyn. I began settling into my bedroom, the fourth wall of which is a thin, rickety, bamboo curtain. The curtain doesn’t really provide privacy, but at least it amuses my roommate’s obese cats to constantly attack it. Starving, I bought tons of groceries only to discover that we don’t exactly have a stove or an oven. I took a shower to relax and almost killed myself by forgetting the huge step down out of the very raised tub. My home sweet home is a comedy of errors, and yet every night after work I go to bed smiling.

No, I’m not a masochist. I’ve realized that wellness is a mind/body concept. You can be ecstatic with the flu if you have a great job opportunity. You can love your less than comfortable accommodations if they mean that you’re starting a new adventure. In short, you can use your thinking to improve how your body is feeling.

That’s why I’m excited to be starting at an agency that understands wellness and whose approach to health and pharmaceutical branding is the essence of great advertising: appeal to people’s emotions. Make them feel something, then tell them how they can feel better. So I’m settling in here at Saatchi and Saatchi Wellness and I'm feeling well, like I’m ready for anything. But I’m still taking my vitamins and looking into how much it costs to build a fourth wall. Like I said, I’m not a masochist.

Jaime Walker