Ask Stewart Pickard about highlights of his early advertising career

Stewart Pickard

Ask Stewart Pickard about highlights of his early advertising career, and he'll tell you about plastic golf balls. In his six years as an account manager, Stewart gained expertise in every part of the advertising process: from consumer research, to strategy development, right down to the messy little production details... like ensuring the golfer in your client's television spot won't break any windows during filming. As with most of Stewart's ventures, his last-minute run for plastic golf balls paid off. The resulting ad for

Scripps Hospital in San Diego won a Clio Award, as well as a Silver Lion at the International Advertising Festival in Cannes. After these and other successes in the advertising industry, Stewart's desire "to become a more well-rounded professional" led him to pursue a joint MA/MBA degree from the advertising department and business school at the University of Texas. In his coursework, Stewart focused mostly on marketing and interactive advertising, but he says his relationships with professors and peers were the most valuable aspects of his graduate work.

He stresses, "It's the people that matter; they make or break the experience." And according to Stewart, relationships formed during graduate school don't just enhance the UT experience; they can also form a network of opportunities in the job market. As proof of Stewart's theory, his first career opportunity after grad school grew directly out of a relationship that began at UT.

In fall 1999 -- his last semester of school -- a class project brought Stewart into contact with a senior executive at the newly-formed drkoop.com. Soon after Stewart graduated, he was hired as drkoop's E-commerce Product Manager, and over the next year-and-a-half, he established a sales planning department and moved up to Vice President of Sales Strategy. Stewart experienced firsthand e-commerce's notorious ups and downs, starting as one of 40 drkoop.com employees, helping build the company to about 250 employees, and then seeing it scale back to its present workforce, even smaller than when he began.

Ultimately, when drkoop.com relocated to California, Stewart decided to stay in Austin. About his time with drkoop.com, he says, "It was a tremendous learning experience and something that will pay off wherever I go next." Stewart is now enjoying a break between jobs by relaxing with his family. When he's not spending time with his 10-month-old son, you might find Stewart gardening, or planning a trip, or reading histories and biographies ... or maybe rooting for Gonzaga in the NCAA Tournament.

"I'm a sucker for an underdog", he comments. Though his school days are behind him, Stewart does have some words of wisdom for current students. For one thing, he advises a constant effort to do your best work and to make the most of UT's resources. "You have to take an active role in getting the best education. It's all here, but it's your responsibility to take advantage of it." Stewart's primary recommendation, however, is to form and maintain relationships with faculty and fellow students.

Since his graduation, Stewart has clearly followed his own advice by keeping in touch with faculty, serving as a guest speaker for classes, and even recruiting fellow classmates to work with him. All of this seems to prove his main point with regard to both school and work. "A career is a process", he says. "It's always ongoing. ... Have a good working relationship with your professors and peers because they're your best prospects for a job later on."

3/20/2001