{PRO}file // Jason Bekdashe, Beks Marketing
Welcome to our {PRO}file series, where we take a peek into the day-to-day work lives, inspirations, career lessons, office habits, and industry love-hates of some of our favourite creatives and talented colleagues.
And for our very first edition, we couldn’t think of a better human {and most brilliant marketing brain} to kickstart this regular feature than our dear, dear friend, project partner and co-collaborator, Mr. Jason Bekdashe.
When thinking of how this relationship came to be {first introduced as colleagues at a networking session back in 2017, which lead to coffee get-togethers, which led to collaborating on client work, which then led to a deep friendship}, what immediately comes to the mind is the bow tie. A bow tie started it all – oh, and a flat cap.
Appealing to my love for a little smart work dress {forgive me: I’m British, it’s just what I know}, and later, getting a snapshot for how his mind worked, I very quickly wanted to know about this guy’s work, and what he was all about.
This guy is my creative soulmate. We’ve celebrated client wins together, pitched proposals together, huddled over coffee to solve challenges and write creative briefs together, supported one another with workload, and had many a deep conversation about the A-Z of life and business. He’s one of my all-time favourite people, and whether in the office or at the bar, he never fails to brighten up the room, or my day - with sarcasm, that dry sense of humour, and don’t give a f*&k about the rules attitude. He crayons outside of the lines, is a true expert in what he does, makes everyone he meets feel right at ease, and remains ever so humble in the process.
So, grab a mug of your favourite something and settle in for a conversation on wish-list clients, not taking work {or yourself} too seriously, journaling, and career expectations of Egyptian moms.
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PR: The best thing you’re working on right now:
Beks: Ah, I have to dig deep. Because it’s all good. *slightly sarcastic smile*. You know, I’m working with a client that has a pretty obscure product {it’s fireproof wood}. And it’s interesting, because it’s an important yet difficult product to sell – as a consumer, we understand the benefits of it much more if we’ve had a personal experience of the destruction of fire. This is a product that actually saves lives, so it’s convincing the construction industry to adopt a product like this. It’s challenging, but fun. And you know, working in this specific of a sector means you have to be completely honest about your knowledge limitations; I had a conversation with the client just this morning and was like, “but how can I possibly make sense of these construction drawings?”, and he was like, “yeah, you’re right. I should do that”. That’s how it’s got to work.
PR: And the best meeting you’ve had this month:
Beks: Oh man. So, I’m working with a real estate co. – I’ve been working with them for four years now – and these guys will literally make me laugh for a whole hour. These guys push hard, they’re each making well over six figures, it’s the three-piece suits… but at the same time, they feel like the guys I grew up with in my neighbourhood. We get the work done, but there’s comfort there – in the relationship – and it’s nice to not take it all quite so seriously you know? I just love meeting with these guys because it’s light-hearted, we get a lot of work done together, and it’s real nice to feel appreciated, right? They’ve told me they would always vouch for me and that they are huge fans – and that feels nice.
PR: When you were young, you wanted to be [fill in the blank] when you grew up:
Beks: That’s an interesting question. I think like, I was always into art. I loved to draw. And there was an early fascination with architecture and industrial design. I liked objects, and growing up in North American culture, I was inundated with commercials for the latest toys and stuff. I would always be making up games, and my Mom worked at a toy store and would bring home the one-armed superhero – which I loved. I couldn’t say I wanted to specifically be an architect or illustrator, but I enjoyed those types of activities and was drawn into the world of making stuff.
PR: So, when did you have that moment when you chose Marketing as a career?
Beks: Well, Egyptians think there are only three jobs in existence in the world {Jason’s of Egyptian heritage}; doctor, lawyer or engineer. And I was never going to be a lawyer. I did poorly in Math and Science at school, but my Mom worked in Finance and was like, “you should go into Finance; work for a bank, it’s stable.” I got a 5 in Finance, which is actually pretty bad. So, I took Art, History, English – it was awesome. My first classes of Marketing I just took to. I knew I wanted to go into a creative-related industry. So, I stuck with it.
PR: So, tell us about your break into the Industry:
Beks: I started out in Market Research. It used to be the case that if you wanted to work for a marketing agency, you’d have to move out East. Vancouver had some agencies, but it was very difficult to find a job. And I was married {Jason married his childhood / school sweetheart, Julie, at age 19}, so we had family ties here {in Alberta} and moving wasn’t the thing to do. So I started working for a Market Research company and I would say this was my first marketing gig because I was working with some product managers and I got to work with some really, really great brands and companies that we all know; I’m talking Adobe, HP, huge, huge companies. I wasn’t doing the marketing; I was doing the client management and the research that these marketing people were going to be making decisions from. But, I got to see how they were using data and customer feedback in their strategies.
PR: And if we can say, that experience has stuck with you: in your work and your client challenges you always go straight to that customer pain point.
Beks: Totally. How many clients do you have discussion with, and they’re like, “hey, I really want to do this”? They think it’s a really great idea - and you might even think it’s a good idea. But if people don’t want it, or aren’t asking for it, it’s like, “should we actually be spending our time here?”. We should be selling products or services in a way that’s customer-centric. It’s got to be useful and valuable; I think that’s how we get out of the weirdness of being in a marketing space where it’s like, am I selling this thing I don’t really believe in? But if you get something in the hands of someone that really needs it, then it’s going to make their life better, that’s a good role for Marketing & PR.
PR: Yes, but you’re all about belief in the product and standing by your professional integrity. You’re not here to put a flashy tagline on any old thing and bill the client for it at the end of the month.
Beks. Right, right. I think the place that I'm at today is just like, I want to do really good work. Like that's important. I want to enjoy the people that I'm working with. Right? To not be afraid to try something new. It hasn't been about the money probably for the last 10 years.
PR: Who has been your most significant career mentor?
Beks: Oh, man. That’s a good, good question. I think because I’ve been such a lone wolf for the last little while. I think I’ve been influenced by so many people, it’s difficult to choose just one. I did work for my Uncle once; we were business partners for a while, and he taught me a ton of stuff.
PR: Complete this sentence, my workday’s not complete without:
Beks: Two coffees, my time tracking app {the only way you get paid, right?!}. Oh, and I have a journal, to keep on top of what I have to get done that day. Like, I have to meditate every day, I have to workout every day; then I have one social thing, like a call.
PR: And a good workday for you is:
Beks: Where I’m just like, “I got this in check, right?”. Like where the monkeys don’t kidnap you. You know what I mean? *laughs*. Because there are always a million monkeys wanting to capture your attention, a good day is keeping on track and getting it done. Just feeling good at the end of the day that I did a good job.
PR: The app you check first in a morning is:
Beks: Notability on the iPad. It’s basically a journaling app, like a notebook.
PR: Favourite podcast / site / news outlet:
Beks: I don’t really read the news, so for me it’s all about podcasts. And my listen list changes all the time, but I really like Andy J Pizza {Creative Pep Talk} right now. He features a lot of really inspiring people, people doing really cool work.
PR: Favourite thing about your industry:
Beks: Probably the weird tension of being in marketing and feeling that it’s the most important thing in the world, and then the realization that we’re such a tiny sliver of the day for a lot of companies and businesses. So, I’m always like, “if what I’m doing is super important, then like, you should be taking my call first, no?”. *laughs again*
PR: And the worst?
Beks: Just how fucking personal it is. You put your heart and soul into this one idea; you believe in it. And you’re waiting for some guy to sign it off – and I get so distraught when it doesn’t happen.
PR: What’s always on your desk?
Beks: My coaster {for those two coffees}. I don’t have a lot of paper or anything like that. Oh, and vitamins!
PR: Favourite place you’ve ever worked from:
Beks: Hmm, hard to choose! I think that’s the best part about this job, right? {contract consulting}. Where there’s like, choice of location. There’s a co-working space in Porto, Portugal. That was super cool. Oh, and the Fairmont Empress in Victoria. We were working form a Suite looking over the bay, I worked from the desk there. That was great.
PR: Describe your dream client or project:
Beks: Well, you know I love automotive; I just love cars. I actually worked with a client for probably, like, on and off for about 10 years. That was an automotive and it was super fun. Like it was just fine. So, I would love to do something automotive related, probably not like a dealership or anything like that. But maybe a small performance or specialty shop, or anything related to VW. I imagine that'd be fun.
PR: Who inspires you?
Beks: I love this guy. Tibor {grabs a hefty hardback book}. This guy ran a graphic design firm in New York, in the 80s I think – they worked with United Colors of Benetton, remember that brand? Anyways, what I love about these guys is that they didn't take Marketing and Design or their skill set, like super seriously. They admitted that in the early days they didn’t really know what they were doing. And in this book, the tension of working in advertising & brand design, but hating consumerism comes through. I can just relate to that, it just seems to be this like narrative that I find myself navigating, right? And so, I feel very inspired by the work, but I also very inspired by like, the attitude.
PR: Biggest learning from the last year?
Beks: Balance is super important. During COVID, I just tried to hide from it all. I kept myself really busy; I didn’t talk to anybody; I just went like totally dark. And that wasn’t good. I was overstimulated with all the work. I know that’s probably cliché to say, but it’s balance. It’s easy to get off track, especially when something so weird is going on, you know?
PR: And most excited about for the next year?
Beks: I’m really optimistic. I think we've all learned something. And I'm excited for us to take that into the now and the next, whatever that looks like. So, if it's people spending more time with their families, or if it's people who are working from home more because it gives them a better balance, I think a lot has changed, and will stay different. It feels more human now, you know? So, I hope that stays.
Find out more about Beks and his work at: