Shall I tell you something that might compromise my career back-up plan? Obviously, I should because revealing secrets entertains and attracts. Hence, I will reveal not one, but two secrets. The first, is embarrassing not compromising.

I was obsessed with Mad Man when it came out and I have re-watched the whole series since twice. And, here it comes, I sometimes daydream about being Peggy Olson, a clumsy secretary made copy chief in a major advertising agency. Then, I wake up to realise that I am still a clumsy secretary, currently my own, and although having made myself copy chief, my agency Stephanie Legler PR lacks the iconic prestige of a Don Draper, as of yet.

The “clumsy secretary” is my second truth to tell you. Before setting up Stephanie Legler PR, I trained and worked as an office clerk. I even received fancy piece of paper - with embossed seal and all that - when I qualified as an executive assistant in Switzerland. I was appreciated as a PA, mainly for my sense of humour and initiative. But honestly, I found clerical work a bit, let’s say, “unexciting” and I missed the thrill of being responsible for my own creative output. I thrive, when asked to think of creative solutions and ways to make things happen – preferably but not exclusively with great communication.

Nevertheless, and you might not expect this from a creative, I love bookkeeping and accounting. To calculate prices accurately is the backbone of every project and creates the context embedding creative work in the real world. That is one of the reasons why I chose PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics) for my undergraduate degree. The course covers models to grasp life numerically but also stimulates critical thinking. In a way, the two are the polar opposites that when kept in balance open doors to the exciting world of ingenuity, art, and discovery.

So, there you are – I am a number geek and a clumsy secretary writing visionary copy. Quite the package to eventually publish a book about the aesthetics of pricing, don’t you think?