This is For The Firsts, a weekly letter for the “firsts” navigating career, money & life without a roadmap. Let’s get to work.
I just got back from the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in France 🇫🇷
Cannes Lions is a weeklong festival and conference celebrating the best-in-class work of the advertising industry. In recent years (like.. 2 years ago) creators have become a huge part of this conference, since so much of the advertising and marketing industry has shifted our way.
Cannes Lions was made for marketers. But now it’s dominated by the Creator Economy:
There were an estimated 500 creators in attendance (way up from past years)
There was an official creator beach this year, for the first time ever
The hottest party was a creator bash thrown by JT Barnett and Stan
So many of the announcements from this past week were creator-focused
Cannes Lions creator content most likely dominated your feed last week
As a returner to the festival from 2025, I was excited to return to the “Met Gala of the creator economy” and I won’t lie, I had an incredible time!
But when the week was over, and it was just me and my thoughts.. a more emotional realization started to reveal itself
“A giant looks in the mirror and sees nothing”
The last night I spent in Cannes before my flight back, I could barely sleep. I was riding such a high, and the adrenaline, plus the realization that it was coming to an end, had me scrolling through the posts and stories of the other creators here until the early hours of the next morning so I could absorb as much as I could of this incredible experience.
Until I came across an old video of Kanye West.
This video is an old clip of Kanye and his mother celebrating his first major album starting to take shape. You can see the love in her eyes as she celebrates her son’s achievements and delivers some timeless wisdom in their tiny Chicago home. They both know that this moment is about to change everything for them, and you can feel the joy and anticipation in the room.
I’d seen this clip before. But for some reason, this time it hit me like a truck as I considered that, here at Cannes Lions, at one of the biggest moments in my career, my family couldn’t feel further away. Did my Mom even know I was here? Had I texted my sister the view from my Airbnb balcony before I shared it on my story?
At once, I was overcome with a heavy mix of guilt, embarrassment, and loneliness. And as my eyes started to fill, I was reminded that as a first, so often your biggest moments are celebrated alone.
When you get that next promotion or big raise, or reach the next great milestone in your business, you may have to celebrate that accomplishment alone as a first. Because so often, in order to get to that milestone in the first place, we have to change industries, cities, or even countries, in search of a greater opportunity.
Sitting in France as I type this, I’m a perfect example. I met plenty of marketing executives and brands who will just may end up being incredibly important partners of mine in the coming months and years. But to put myself in that position took thousands of dollars (and miles).
So, as I reminded myself in that moment to call and catch up with my family once I landed back stateside, I wanted to share this moment and give the reminder that whatever that milestone is for you, I hope you create the time and space you deserve to celebrate it with your day ones.
First Up: Brianna Callender
What's a "first" you've done, or one you're working toward right now?
I was the first to work in marketing in my family
What's been your favorite moment from an FTF event so far?
Anytime I get the chance to meet new people, I’m happy!
What's something you're a little obsessed with lately?
Cooking a sushi bake
What’s something you’re working on right now that you’re excited about? (Remember, no job titles)
Finishing the marketing school program im in!
‘First Up’ is our member spotlight series, highlighting the many incredible members of the FTF community. Want to be featured in a future spotlight? Fill out this form.
One text used to ruin my entire night
When I was in consulting, I feared that “pls fix” text from my manager more than almost anything.
Didn’t matter if I was on a plane, at dinner, or at the bar. The laptop was coming out and I was on the clock, often working past midnight to get a spreadsheet perfect for a morning client sync.
I was putting in 70-hour weeks, mostly fixing up an Excel file. But today, you’ve got Microsoft 365 Copilot.
How Copilot in Excel can help:
Clean up messy data: Formatting issues, inconsistencies, gaps.. all fixed without touching a formula.
Creating charts and graphs: Turn rows of numbers into visuals that actually make sense to the people in the room.
Add an executive summary: My favorite move is using Copilot to write an overview and recommended next steps, so your manager immediately knows what to do next.
And with how hard it can be to keep up with all the latest models, I like using Copilot because I know that I’ve always got access to the most powerful ones available, so I can choose the right one for the task at hand.
The next time the “pls fix” text comes in, just open Excel and ask Copilot first.
So you can close the laptop sooner, and get back to living your life.
ICYMI
“Juniors want to DREAM, Execs want to REMINISCE” → Instagram Post
Everything can change in a few years → LinkedIn Post
My interview on The Modern Man podcast → YouTube Video
Events I’m looking forward to
I’ll be spending this whole week in Mexico for some much-needed post-Cannes recovery!
Our next For The Firsts meetup is in July. You can register here.
The tools I use everyday
These are affiliate links, but they’re genuinely the tools I rely on everyday
ManyChat helps me send all of my free and low-priced career guides to you all on Instagram and TikTok.
Claude Cowork keeps my desktop organized and helps my conduct research for my content.
Kit is the platform I use for email automation. It’s also where I send out my free Networking course! (comment “Networking” on any of my IG Reels)
Luma is the best event hosting platform I could ask for, and the official home of our community, For The Firsts.
read previous notes here
register for my next For The Firsts event here
host your own community events in NYC and Chicago at Fabrik
have me speak at your organization by filling out my speaker form
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