Linda Kaplan Thaler ‘72, known to us as the brains behind the ads for Aflac, Toys “R” Us, and Herbal Essences, gave a speech at City College on her new book, The Power of Nice: How to Conquer the Business World with Kindness.
“One of my proudest achievements is graduating from City College,” said Thaler. “I got something here I never got from any Ivy League: an acceptance letter.”
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Thaler started her advertising career working for the now-famous novelist James Patterson for 17 years. Soon after leaving that job, she started her own 15-person agency out of a 600 sq. ft. brownstone. Thaler’s agency now has three locations in Manhattan and over one billion dollars in billings.
“I don’t believe in any long-term plans,” she said. “I believe success comes from making any business you’re working on the best it can be.”
After starting as a City College graduate with a degree in music, Thaler is now recognized as a best-selling author with three books (the fourth soon to be released), a TV personality on Oxygen’s Making It Big and judge on The Apprentice, and a winner of the 2005 CCNY Townsend Harris Medal and thirteen Clio awards. She is also seen as one of the 100 most influential women in advertising.
Thaler’s speech gave examples of her ads, as well as many anecdotes about how kindness brought her good fortune in her career. One example was an interview she once had with Warren Buffet that was only supposed to last ten minutes. Thaler said that she decided to bring Buffet his favorite drink, a cherry coke, and in return he canceled all his meetings for the morning. Her ten-minute interview turned into two hours.
“Think about anything good that ever happened to you,” said Thaler. “It all stems back to something nice that somebody did.”
Not only did Thaler discuss the power of kindness and respect in the business world, she also discussed what is truly needed to succeed.
“The media is telling young people that they need all these extra things, but 99 percent of people who do amazing things are ordinary people who worked hard,” said Thaler. “It’s the people who at a very early age learn it takes hours, weeks, or years to accomplish what they really want.”
Thaler advises people to get themselves out there and go out on a limb in order to be successful.
“Look at every failure and frustration as the biggest impetus to move on,” she said. “A bad experience will catapult you to do something you’d never be brave enough to.”
