Tom Goodwin is a man with a finger in a lot of pies. He estimates he has around 15 to 20 additional income streams going on in addition to his ‘main’ job at Publicis, from sales from his book to doing a training course.

Tom’s got so much going on outside Publicis HQ that his Shiny New Object – what he thinks is going to be important in the future of marketing – is the side hustle.

While this might all sound like a lot of effort, Tom believes that if you really enjoy what you do, the lines between your job and your life outside of work become blurred. Keep an open and curious mind and realise that learning beyond the defined lines of your job isn’t a waste of time. And it’ll help you cut the crap from your working day. Tom doesn’t tolerate pointless meetings or emails: “I’m not supposed to say no but I do – we need to grow some balls”. 

As with many of those I speak to on this podcast, curiosity is clearly one of Tom’s biggest attributes. His secret to finding out what he should be advising clients on is very simple – he just tries stuff: “I’m quite a normal human being that has slightly more knowledge about how some things work than others, and I’ll try things.” 

He believes in the power of imagination and says he spends more time in ‘dodgy’ shopping malls than Silicon Valley; that’s where reality is being played out, where you can see what normal people are thinking and doing.

And when it comes to tech, he believes we need to focus on what we have now and how we can make the most of it, rather than wishful thinking of what we may have in the future. 

Tom Ollerton is Founder of Automated Creative and host of the Shiny New Object podcast. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or Soundcloud.