We are recording a series of interviews with the 3800 team and our friends to share who we are, why we gather around the same table, and what our work means to us.

For this first interview in the series, we invited Sam Lightfinch to share his passion for cultivating connections through storytelling.

The conversation delved into what makes him akin to a magpie and explored his fearless approach to embracing challenges, even if it means taking a tumble off the surfboard.

Sophie Hill: Could you describe your career journey so far and how that led you to 3800?

Sam Lightfinch: Absolutely. I think the best way to delve into my career journey is to actually talk about the worst part of it and that was when I tried to be the best copywriter I could be.

My experience of work had so many twists and turns in the early days. I'd delivered newspapers, been a journalist, worked in cafes, ran events, put on gigs, managed a pub, i’d been a Chef - and this was all before I was 24.

What that meant was that all these different experiences helped me approach copywriting in different ways. I was thinking in terms of people and ideas rather than words.

About four years into my career, I realised that there was so much ego wrapped up in my work. Every brief was about showing how good I was at writing. So I took six months out, went travelling and came back with two insights. The first was, it's not all about me, and the second was, I need to find a job that doesn't stick me in a lane.

3800 was appealing for so many reasons, but the permission to be a magpie again was a real big tick. This idea of collecting experiences, ideas, weird odds and ends of thoughts, thinking deeply about people and how to improve the ways companies interact with them, that's kind of what I do now.

That's the stuff that always leads to interesting work that really resonates with audiences on a real human level.

SH: Why do you think good storytelling plays a key role in creating successful brand?

SL: I don't think anything can exist without creating a story. I know that sounds quite lofty and spiritual, but take something really ordinary, like a coffee mug. Who made it? When, why, where, was it made? How did I end up drinking out of it?

These stories are everywhere and I think successful brands understand how to utilise them. They take charge of shaping their own stories rather than letting those stories be told for them by others.

Storytelling is so innate to the human experience, we're hardwired to do it because it's how we make sense of the world. I recently did a talk on the power of storytelling, where I dug into all of this. Understanding how to tell a story can transform the way we communicate and connect. That's why brands that understand how to share their narrative with people are the ones that do so well.

People still equate stories to fiction, but actually stories are a really wonderful tool for helping guide conversations and influence outcomes.

SH: Could you describe to me the elements that would make up a perfect day for you?

SL: Getting out of my head and into my body is the measure of a really good day for me. I think climbing is a go to because I have to tune into my body and listen to what it's telling me.

There are so many lessons baked in. There's problem solving, failure and resilience. With any pursuit we enjoy, we should take time to unpack and understand why we enjoy them, because doing that allows us to create more of those spaces in other areas of our life.

Problem solving and failure, for example, are two really important resources for my work. By going climbing and practising them in a different context is really valuable. Plus, climbing is fun, often involves other people and can be done outside. So I think they're three measures of a really gorgeous day for me.

SH: Is there any one person or piece of work that you come back to for inspiration?

SL: I think everything that conjures a strong reaction has the potential to be inspiration. We're always really quick to point to positive influences, but good purposeful work can be driven by a reaction to something that's disheartened us. Look at the Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion, activism that’s occurring at the moment. 

The important thing when it comes to thinking about inspiration, is for us to understand our internal drivers: What values guide me? How do I want to show up in certain situations? How do I want to be perceived? Once I understand these drivers, inspiration is actually quite easy to find.

SH: Do you think with the recent conversation around Artificial Intelligence, that it will lead to a decline in copywriting roles? If so, what advice would you give to up and coming writers on overcoming this?

SL: I think AI will be disruptive in creative roles in general. There are businesses that want the fastest, cheapest work and AI will facilitate a lot of that for free. But there will always be individuals who recognise the value of people's thinking and craft and will happily pay for that. I think both these things will continue to exist alongside one another. AI will make that gap bigger and more obvious.

I think we'll see, from a copywriting point of view, tonnes and tonnes of “churn content”. The internet is already a content heavy place and that will only be magnified through the use of AI bots. 

However, I also think we'll see some really beautiful human made things too. I genuinely believe there's room for both. I think that one will almost drive the need for the other. So what I mean by that is, I think if people and brands are using AI to throw out quick content, then the antidote to that becomes something that was made slowly, with purpose, by a person.

As a creatives, we need to look at AI as a tool, a piece of apparatus, rather than the solution or the output. I think that's where things will start to get interesting.

SH: If you could be gifted one random skill or talent, what would that be and why?

SL: Surfing, playing the piano, learning to paint were all shortlisted. Then I realised what I really enjoy is the time it takes to learn a skill. I think that’s where the reward comes from, knowing that you've put concentrated hours into something and seeing that hard work pay off. So for those things, I'm not sure I'd like to fast track that process. I want to fall off that surfboard and get sea water up my nose.