Richard Mullholland, despite his reputation for being a lively, no-holds barred conference speaker, is constantly being asked by the clients who book him to “tone down” his presentations (which, of course, he never does).
“So you can imagine my surprise when I was invited back to Creative Mornings and asked to speak about sex,” he says.
Every month, a group of interested individuals – I won't call them creatives, lest I raise the ire of Mulholland – gather to listen to a variety of speakers talk about a variety of topics. It's a networking opportunity, a Q&A session, an insight into various creative industries, and at the very least, a chance to grab a free breakfast on the last Friday of every month.
Sex was the starting point for Mulholland's talk, and includied some hilarious and rather colourful stories, before he segued neatly into takeaway lessons for those in the creative industry, and better ways of doing business. Including, not calling yourself a creative.
"IT IS AN ADJECTIVE!" he shouted, while a room full of people who probably go around calling themselves creatives giggled nervously.
The point was this – cut the crap, be proud of what you do (even if it is "selling soap", Mulholland's way of describing the advertising industry) and look for meaning in your work that amounts to more than a "silver bird" (in reference to a certain award popular in this industry) on the mantelpiece.
"Creative Mornings feels like spring-cleaning your head: you break out of your daily grind, get inspired by interesting people, talking about various things ... and in the end you somehow feel ... creative," says Henning Gawrisch, regular attendee and video game graphic designer.
"I enjoy attending Creative Mornings, because it offers the rare opportunity to listen and learn from inspirational speakers hailing from all walks of life," said another regular, graphic designer Jasmin Nagel.
"Big bonus: you get to meet and mingle with like-minded people, snatch a breakfast bite and coffee … and it's all for free."
Creative Mornings currently takes place in 80 cities around the world, including Johannesburg and Cape Town. Get creative – find a reason to miss an hour of work once a month to catch Creative Mornings.