Got laid off recently and have the opportunity to join my family business instead of trying to hunt for another job in this market. Should I just leave the advertising industry? I love working at an agency but at the same time, I’m tired of feeling undervalued and replaceable. And it’s hard to predict how stable our jobs will be with how quickly AI is progressing…

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Yes. Run. Take as many of your brethren with you as you can.

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Take meeeeee

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Stable family business where you can make a difference, earn a living and provide for your family and future while potentially elevating its brand and differentiating it from competitors? Yes.

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One of the tragedies of life, and adulthood, is sacrificing the person you could be to the person you have to be. That said, what you need to figure out is what you want to do everyday. Like, every. single. day. and if that will make you happy. AI isn’t replacing people (yet). It’s replacing people that don’t know how to use it as a tool. Much like photoshop did to typesetters.

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Get out of this stupid industry, it’s headed for worse times. Shrinking pie but more mouths to feed.

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I would kill for a family business I could be a part of because as I see it, this industry for creatives is gonna be a pale shadow of what it is now, all within the next 5-10 years. AI is moving beyond execution very soon.

likesmart

Family business. You can appoint yourself chief creative officer and run the creative you want to promote said business.

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Depending on what the family business is, you can always go work there while you look for your next advertising job.

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I would 100% join the family business in a heartbeat! Go for it & best of luck!

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That depends. Are you good at it? Is it the only thing you want to do every day? Some of us never lose our passion for this business, and for us the only thing we ever wanna do. But for a lot of people, it’s just a job. You need to decide what you want in your life. And you need to know where your talent lies.

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Passion doesn’t stop this industry from shrinking and having our jobs get taken by AI. Loving this job is not the same as job security. And as much as I would love to prioritize passion over job security, that’s not a financial reality for most of us

likesmart

I could have dropped out and worked with my brother on a thing we started together but got into the allure of international productions and travel in marketing - aged out now hitting off the 401k pipe, no job; while my brother’s business does 2mil in profit annually. Family business all the way- especially w AI looming. Huge majority of people in advertising have no idea what they’ll be doing for income between 55-65.

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It’s a zombie industry.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/03/28/style/gen-x-creative-work.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

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