Bosilkovski: Lockdown in 2021 offered a ‘real point of reflection’
Speaking on yesterday’s Mumbrellacast, Pete Bosilkovski said that the extensive lockdown in the second half of 2021 gave him the time to reflect, resulting in the decision to start up his new agency, It’s Friday.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had that point of time to reflect. I know it might sound silly, but 20-odd years of going in at a hundred miles an hour, loving what you do – the only time you’ve got a break is holidays or whatever, but this was a real point of reflection, and I’ve never had that before.”
He said it allowed him to ask himself “what do I really want?”, in the four or five months not going into the office, with this being the eventual trigger and feeling as though “this is the right time”.
It’s Friday launched last week
“There’s a few indies who have started during this period too. So I don’t know, maybe we were all crazy! I can’t explain it. It just felt right.”
Later in the discussion, Bosilkovski spoke about some of his past experiences, and how they have shaped his approach to life and working today. This included his short-lived stint as VMLY&R co-CEO, after the agency he joined in March 2018, Y&R was merged with VML shortly after by parent company WPP.
On whether he knew this was coming when he took the role, Bosilkovski said “look, it was a very different brief to when I joined”.
He quit as joint CEO, alongside Aden Hepburn just seven months later.
“What I’ve learned in my time in the 20 years in this industry is that I’ve been fiercely loyal to a lot of organizations,” he said, citing his 11 years at Leo Burnett, “I think what you learn is if it doesn’t feel right, and it doesn’t align to what you’ve signed up for, you’re better off leaving.”
“And that was the option that I took because it wasn’t the brief that I signed up for.”
Listen to the full conversation with It’s Friday’s Pete Bosilkovski below, or on all podcast streaming platforms.
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Calum Jaspan was news editor at Mumbrella, based in Melbourne. He was also the producer and host of the Mumbrellacast. He left Mumbrella in May 2023.
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