
Imaan Shaikh (Copywriting, 2026)
This is an admission of guilt. If you’re reading this, I’ve already accepted the undeniable truth–I suck at copywriting.
Copywriting! The thing that I’m literally here for. The thing that I thought would be right up my alley as an experienced, avid crafter of pleasing words and sentences.
I’m so bad at it.
It’s funny. During our first semester at Brandcenter, we copywriters take four courses: Business of Branding, Creative Thinking, Visual Storytelling, and Problem Solving for Copywriters. Three of my classes are going well enough–bouncing big ideas back and forth between group members, adding sprinklings of pretty words here and there… it’s all fun and games ‘til you gotta Problem Solve in Problem Solving.
My first day of class was like diving into a raging ocean with nothing but a fish bowl for a helmet. Was it logical? Nope. Did I think I nailed it? Absolutely. You couldn’t tell me otherwise. I was meant to be unapologetically creative– to display that brash creativity to my awe-inspired peers, and to be applauded for my natural inclination towards intelligence. My way was the right way, and I took pride in that. Surely no one else would think of a fish bowl. I thought I knew exactly what I was doing.
That is, until I looked around and saw my peers with lifejackets, scuba gear, and jerry-rigged submersibles.
Suddenly, my fish bowl wasn’t looking so hot, and the prickly shame of failure started clinging onto the back of my neck like a sea urchin.
Every class period, I came in to present my work feeling sure of my success. I walked out feeling sheepish, dejected, and most of all, disappointed in myself.
Everybody loves yapping on about how failure is the only way to learn. No one wants to actually fail. We can talk a big game all we want, but the truth is, the moment we’re in that pit, looking out at our peers succeeding and thriving beyond us, it kinda sucks. It kinda really really really sucks a whole lot.
So how does one get themselves out of that pit? How do I stop sucking?
Well, the answer to that question is one that both brings me peace and stresses me out to no end.
When you’re not performing at your best–when you know you can do better–the key isn’t to magically hunker down and spit out something meaningful, poignant and excellent. The key is to allow yourself to suck.
It’s about accepting that you have many things left to learn, and giving yourself the time and space to learn them. It’s about turning to the community of peers and experts around you to ask for advice and guidance. Brandcenter at its core is designed to be a playground for budding creatives, where we can trip, fall, scrape our knees, and then help each other back up. You are not meant to have all of the solutions the moment you walk into the building. You’re meant to have the tools you need to find solutions the moment you walk out.
The process of learning will spark something within you that can never be satiated–a hunger for more knowledge, a desire to produce better work, a drive to achieve something beyond the spaces you’ve always been comfortable in. The community around you, from fellow students to faculty & staff, is here for that exact purpose–to help you learn!
So, there you have it. I kinda suck at copywriting. My headlines are contrite. My manifestos are garbled. My ideas lack clarity… and that’s okay. I’m no longer forcing brilliance. Instead, I’m giving myself explicit, uninhibited permission to suck really really bad.
Here’s a thought. Find me at this time next year, once I’ve got a few more lessons under my belt. I bet you I’ll suck just a little bit less.