When Dan Higson and Nick West, owners of Smith & Western and producers of the Creative Relay podcast series, were finishing up a voiceover recording with an agency over Zoom, they asked how everyone was coping with the lockdowns that Covid has inflicted on all. “Each of the six people in the had a very different story. One guy was loving it, another was hating it, Higson recalls. “We realised very quickly that our check-ins over Zoom with our clients needed to be recorded and shared,” West added.

They decided to find out what the general view was, or if, indeed there was a general view. Not knowing what to expect, the pair set out to call people from all aspects of the ad industry to find out just how everyone was holding up.

“It wasn’t until we started calling everyone up that we realised just how different everyone’s experience was. Recruiters had a different insight to creative directors, who were dealing with it better or worse than those juniors just starting out their careers, etc. Then there are those who are working from home with kids, those living alone, and the rest of us who bought pets to keep us sane,” West notes.

Those calls have become Smith & Western’s latest podcast series, Are you wearing pants?

Higson explains, “We were keen to find out how an editor does his job during these weird times we are all living through and how a busy visual effects company survives through hard lockdown. I guess it’s a light-hearted look at some pretty heavy subjects and all the stories that came out of our chats are fascinating.”

Are you wearing pants? Launched Friday, October 1, with four episodes on iTunes and all the other podcast platforms. The season starts with an episode featuring joint chief creative officers of of Special Group, Julian Schreiber and Tom Martin. Episode 2 features a chat with Andy Flemming, a few days after his dramatic departure from M&S Saatchi. Ep #3 features Esther Clerehan, the industry’s most celebrated recruiter and #4, Will Alexander of Heckler. All have unique lockdown stories to tell.

Listen to the Are you wearing pants? podcasts here.

(Stay tuned with more episodes rolling out in the coming weeks for your lockdown pleasure.)

Want to share your lockdown experiences in the ad or media world? Reach out to contact@smithandwestern.com.au and Higson and West will get you on the podcast to tell your lockdown story.