Be interesting. Be helpful. And be a little bit optimistic.

That’s my personal mantra, and on some level, how I’ve always approached problem solving.

When I started my career at Chiat/Day, I was put on some of the toughest accounts no one else wanted to work on. Par for the course for a junior, but that didn’t stop me. I turned those ads for chemicals that stopped fruit blight in apple orchards into cider, winning best-in-show at the North American Agricultural Marketing Awards.

A few years went by, and I did it again at BBDO. We were pitching the lottery, and no one in the creative department thought we could win it. Well, except for me. Because I once won twenty bucks on a scratch card, so I figured, why not? We pitched the account with my campaign and won the business. Later that year, I was named Employee of the Year.

Then a few more years went by, and by then, I was a creative director at 215 McCann. My philosophy helped us do breakthrough work for HP and Olivari Olive Oil. And then a little later, when I led the creative for the SF office of MRM/McCann, it helped the office win Best in Show at the IAC awards.

Being interesting, helpful and optimistic is how I built my own shop, Cooper, Levy & Partners, and ran it for almost a decade, working with clients of every size and scale, from startups to enterprises.

I think, beyond all the buzzwords people throw around today, it’s the one thing all clients actually want.