the story of merrill
DESCRIPTION
This is what I call my "Un-Resume," a creative, storytelling introduction to who I am in my career, how I got to this place and the skills I learned along the way.TRANSCRIPT
![Page 1: The Story of Merrill](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052619/5568b7ddd8b42a7c7d8b4770/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Hello. My name is
Merrill Burchell.
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I am unique.
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Why?
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Why?Why?Because I’m the only one to
ever live my life.
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But what does that mean to you?
![Page 6: The Story of Merrill](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052619/5568b7ddd8b42a7c7d8b4770/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
But what does that mean to you?
Maybe nothing…
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But what does that mean to you?
Maybe nothing…Maybe everything.
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I’m looking for a creative team out there that I can help make
stronger. Is it yours?
Read my story to find out…
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CHAPTER 1I grew up an only child, with
parents who seemed confused about the concept of “party.”
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So I learned.. .• To apply my imagination to solving problems.There are six invisible friends at this table, laughing with me.
• That words make great company.At age 6, I read Catcher in the Rye. At 7, Mom’s statistics textbook. I read hundreds of books a year. I write a few.
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So I learned.. .• To apply my imagination to solving problems.There are six invisible friends at this table, laughing with me.
• That words make great company.At age 6, I read Catcher in the Rye. At 7, Mom’s statistics textbook. I read hundreds of books a year. I write a few.
![Page 12: The Story of Merrill](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052619/5568b7ddd8b42a7c7d8b4770/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
CHAPTER 2I went to school in a TOUGH inner-city neighborhood. This is how my mother
dressed me. She wasn’t a cruel woman, just a bad marketer.
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So I learned.. .• The importance of tailoring your image and message to your audience.• The fine art of persuading skeptics.“Here’s why I really don’t need to be beat up today…”
• FrenchFor those times when clarity can be less than tactful. “Vous êtes un idiot le babouin.”
• Flexibility.If one strategy doesn’t work, try another. (Like running.)
• Speed.
![Page 14: The Story of Merrill](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052619/5568b7ddd8b42a7c7d8b4770/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
So I learned.. .• The importance of tailoring your image and message to your audience.• The fine art of persuading skeptics.“Here’s why I really don’t need to be beat up today…”
• FrenchFor those times when clarity can be less than tactful. “Vous êtes un idiot le babouin.”
• Flexibility.If one strategy doesn’t work, try another. (Like running.)
• Speed.
![Page 15: The Story of Merrill](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052619/5568b7ddd8b42a7c7d8b4770/html5/thumbnails/15.jpg)
So I learned.. .• The importance of tailoring your image and message to your audience.• The fine art of persuading skeptics.“Here’s why I really don’t need to be beat up today…”
• FrenchFor those times when clarity can be less than tactful. “Vous êtes un idiot le babouin.”
• Flexibility.If one strategy doesn’t work, try another. (Like running.)
• Speed.
![Page 16: The Story of Merrill](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052619/5568b7ddd8b42a7c7d8b4770/html5/thumbnails/16.jpg)
So I learned.. .• The importance of tailoring your image and message to your audience.• The fine art of persuading skeptics.“Here’s why I really don’t need to be beat up today…”
• FrenchFor those times when clarity can be less than tactful. “Vous êtes un idiot le babouin.”
• Flexibility.If one strategy doesn’t work, try another. (Like running.)
• Speed.
![Page 17: The Story of Merrill](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052619/5568b7ddd8b42a7c7d8b4770/html5/thumbnails/17.jpg)
So I learned.. .• The importance of tailoring your image and message to your audience.• The fine art of persuading skeptics.“Here’s why I really don’t need to be beat up today…”
• FrenchFor those times when clarity can be less than tactful. “Vous êtes un idiot le babouin.”
• Flexibility.If one strategy doesn’t work, try another. (Like running.)
• Speed.
![Page 18: The Story of Merrill](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052619/5568b7ddd8b42a7c7d8b4770/html5/thumbnails/18.jpg)
CHAPTER 3I dropped out of high school at 16
(can you blame me?)
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To become the first in my family to go to college.
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At 19, English degree in hand, I won a full scholarship to
Princeton University Graduate School and became an architect.
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So I learned.. .• To regularly quote Wilde’s views on consistency, “the last refuge of the unimaginative.”• That creativity is half the job of building something great. Making sure it does its job is the other half.
• How to talk to all kinds of people. Believe me.
• How to manage teams and projects. Big teams and big projects.
![Page 22: The Story of Merrill](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052619/5568b7ddd8b42a7c7d8b4770/html5/thumbnails/22.jpg)
So I learned.. .• To regularly quote Wilde’s views on consistency, “the last refuge of the unimaginative.”• That creativity is half the job of building something great. Making sure it does its job is the other half.
• How to talk to all kinds of people. Believe me.
• How to manage teams and projects. Big teams and big projects.
![Page 23: The Story of Merrill](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052619/5568b7ddd8b42a7c7d8b4770/html5/thumbnails/23.jpg)
So I learned.. .• To regularly quote Wilde’s views on consistency, “the last refuge of the unimaginative.”• That creativity is half the job of building something great. Making sure it does its job is the other half.
• How to talk to all kinds of people. Believe me.
• How to manage teams and projects. Big teams and big projects.
![Page 24: The Story of Merrill](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052619/5568b7ddd8b42a7c7d8b4770/html5/thumbnails/24.jpg)
So I learned.. .• To regularly quote Wilde’s views on consistency, “the last refuge of the unimaginative.”• That creativity is half the job of building something great. Making sure it does its job is the other half.
• How to talk to all kinds of people. Believe me.
• How to manage teams and projects. Big teams and big projects.
![Page 25: The Story of Merrill](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052619/5568b7ddd8b42a7c7d8b4770/html5/thumbnails/25.jpg)
CHAPTER 4My first job in an advertising
agency was as a founding partner. It seemed reasonable
at the time.
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CHAPTER 4My first job in an advertising
agency was as a founding partner. It seemed reasonable
at the time.
REALLY?
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CHAPTER 4My first job in an advertising
agency was as a founding partner. It seemed reasonable
at the time.
REALLY?YES
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So I learned.. .• That an unconventional career path is the right one, if it works.• How to sell communication skills.Just ask Merck, Johnson & Johnson, Durkee-French Foods and Merrill Lynch.
• How to manage projects with no bricks or mortar.Branding/marketing campaigns; corporate & change communications; traditional (print and broadcast) and interactive media.
![Page 29: The Story of Merrill](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052619/5568b7ddd8b42a7c7d8b4770/html5/thumbnails/29.jpg)
So I learned.. .• That an unconventional career path is the right one, if it works.• How to sell communication skills.Just ask Merck, Johnson & Johnson, Durkee-French Foods and Merrill Lynch.
• How to manage projects with no bricks or mortar.Branding/marketing campaigns; corporate & change communications; traditional (print and broadcast) and interactive media.
![Page 30: The Story of Merrill](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052619/5568b7ddd8b42a7c7d8b4770/html5/thumbnails/30.jpg)
So I learned.. .• That an unconventional career path is the right one, if it works.• How to sell communication skills.Just ask Merck, Johnson & Johnson, Durkee-French Foods and Merrill Lynch.
• How to manage projects with no bricks or mortar.Branding/marketing campaigns; corporate & change communications; traditional (print and broadcast) and interactive media.
![Page 31: The Story of Merrill](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052619/5568b7ddd8b42a7c7d8b4770/html5/thumbnails/31.jpg)
CHAPTER 5When my firm lost a major
partner, Merrill Lynch recruited me. How nice. But going from
queen of my kingdom to “who’s the new woman on 4E?” was…
startling.
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So I learned.. .• That small business has a lot to teach big business.…About efficiency. I cut 1/3+ off the average project time frame within a year, while boosting quality.
• That managing 50 communications projects simultaneously isn’t so hard. …When you’re used to coordinating multi-billion dollar projects and multiple diverse work teams, from engineers to plumbers.
• That viral marketing should never be underestimated.On word-of-mouth alone from Merrill Lynch, I became a six-figure consultant to Fortune 100 and 500 firms.
![Page 33: The Story of Merrill](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052619/5568b7ddd8b42a7c7d8b4770/html5/thumbnails/33.jpg)
So I learned.. .• That small business has a lot to teach big business.…About efficiency. I cut 1/3+ off the average project time frame within a year, while boosting quality.
• That managing 50 communications projects simultaneously isn’t so hard. …When you’re used to coordinating multi-billion dollar projects and multiple diverse work teams, from engineers to plumbers.
• That viral marketing should never be underestimated.On word-of-mouth alone from Merrill Lynch, I became a six-figure consultant to Fortune 100 and 500 firms.
![Page 34: The Story of Merrill](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052619/5568b7ddd8b42a7c7d8b4770/html5/thumbnails/34.jpg)
So I learned.. .• That small business has a lot to teach big business.…About efficiency. I cut 1/3+ off the average project time frame within a year, while boosting quality.
• That managing 50 communications projects simultaneously isn’t so hard. …When you’re used to coordinating multi-billion dollar projects and multiple diverse work teams, from engineers to plumbers.
• That viral marketing should never be underestimated.On word-of-mouth alone from Merrill Lynch, I became a six-figure consultant to Fortune 100 and 500 firms.
![Page 35: The Story of Merrill](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052619/5568b7ddd8b42a7c7d8b4770/html5/thumbnails/35.jpg)
CHAPTER 6Then there were terrorists. The tragedy of 9-11…decline in the
markets…led me to an agency job in Cocoa, FL.
It wasn’t Wall Street.
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So I learned.. .• Less can be more, just like I learned in architecture school.“Less is more.” - Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, master of modern architecture
• How to build an under-recognized client into an acknowledged powerhouse. My branded marketing/pr messaging supported a four-year 45% increase in Port revenue and a sea-change in public perception.
• How to win national awards on a local budget.Our campaigns earned 17 national communications awards.
• To give back to the community.My concept for a first-ever curriculum development partnership between a seaport and a public school system provided learning opportunities for children and national recognition for the client.
![Page 37: The Story of Merrill](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052619/5568b7ddd8b42a7c7d8b4770/html5/thumbnails/37.jpg)
So I learned.. .• Less can be more, just like I learned in architecture school.“Less is more.” - Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, master of modern architecture
• How to build an under-recognized client into an acknowledged powerhouse. My branded marketing/pr messaging supported a four-year 45% increase in Port revenue and a sea-change in public perception.
• How to win national awards on a local budget.Our campaigns earned 17 national communications awards.
• To give back to the community.My concept for a first-ever curriculum development partnership between a seaport and a public school system provided learning opportunities for children and national recognition for the client.
![Page 38: The Story of Merrill](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052619/5568b7ddd8b42a7c7d8b4770/html5/thumbnails/38.jpg)
So I learned.. .• Less can be more, just like I learned in architecture school.“Less is more.” - Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, master of modern architecture
• How to build an under-recognized client into an acknowledged powerhouse. My branded marketing/pr messaging supported a four-year 45% increase in Port revenue and a sea-change in public perception.
• How to win national awards on a local budget.Our campaigns earned 17 national communications awards.
• To give back to the community.My concept for a first-ever curriculum development partnership between a seaport and a public school system provided learning opportunities for children and national recognition for the client.
![Page 39: The Story of Merrill](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052619/5568b7ddd8b42a7c7d8b4770/html5/thumbnails/39.jpg)
So I learned.. .• Less can be more, just like I learned in architecture school.“Less is more.” - Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, master of modern architecture
• How to build an under-recognized client into an acknowledged powerhouse. My branded marketing/pr messaging supported a four-year 45% increase in Port revenue and a sea-change in public perception.
• How to win national awards on a local budget.Our campaigns earned 17 national communications awards.
• To give back to the community.My concept for a first-ever curriculum development partnership between a seaport and a public school system provided learning opportunities for children and national recognition for the client.
![Page 40: The Story of Merrill](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052619/5568b7ddd8b42a7c7d8b4770/html5/thumbnails/40.jpg)
But one day, I stood on aseventh-story roof deck lookingdown at my world and realized
I wasn’t ready to stop climbing.
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It was time to move on.
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CHAPTER 7Today I’m here in Tampa Bay, ready for the next chapter.
Will you be part of it?
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Do you value 20+ years of writing experience, leadership and creativity focused on results?
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Do you value 20+ years of writing experience, leadership and creativity focused on results?
YES.
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Do you value 20+ years of writing experience, leadership and creativity focused on results?
YES.Do you need a copywriter to sit quietly in a corner and write pretty words?
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Do you value 20+ years of writing experience, leadership and creativity focused on results?
YES.Do you need a copywriter to sit quietly in a corner and write pretty words?
No.
![Page 47: The Story of Merrill](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052619/5568b7ddd8b42a7c7d8b4770/html5/thumbnails/47.jpg)
Do you value 20+ years of writing experience, leadership and creativity focused on results?
YES.Do you need a copywriter to sit quietly in a corner and write pretty words?
NO.
GOOD.
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• I research.• I listen.• I collaborate.• I direct, instruct, guide & assist. • I strategize.• I solve problems. Complex problems.
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I persuade.
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And I keep learning.
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You want to influence the world, one campaign at a time.
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You want to influence the world, one campaign at a time.
I want to be there with you.
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You want to influence the world, one campaign at a time.
I want to be there with you.
Full time or Freelance.
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Thank you for reading my story.
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If you want to merge our stories, or just learn more, find me here: [click to email]
321-514-0874
Linkedin Profile
Please share this and help mefind my dream team.