AAF Alumni Spotlight: Indira Midha

Indira Midha graduated from the University of Illinois in 2020. Like many students who graduated amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Midha was apprehensive to enter the workforce during this period of uncertainty. However, she quickly found her place in the advertising industry.

Midha is currently a copywriter at FCB Chicago. She previously worked at Ogilvy and Weber Shandwick. In addition, she recently released a collection of personal poems and essays titled “Three Halves.”

During her time at the University of Illinois, she played an active role in the American Advertising Federation, serving on the executive board and involving herself with multiple agencies.

I recently got the opportunity to chat with Midha about all things advertising and AAF!

What influenced you to pursue copywriting?

“Going into college, I didn’t know I wanted to be a copywriter.”

As a first-year student at the University of Illinois, Midha intended to pursue a journalism major. “I always knew that I wanted to be a writer in some capacity,” she said.

However, as her passion for advertising grew, she decided to switch her major. She credits Professor Peter Sheldon as a source of her inspiration to pursue copywriting. “He is definitely someone who guided me a lot throughout the process.”

In addition, Midha was inspired by the University of Illinois’ Business and Technical Writing courses in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. “I genuinely enjoyed the assignments in those classes, and it made me realize [copywriting] was something I wanted to pursue further.”

What does your day-to-day life look like as a copywriter?

“It’s a very fast-paced environment.”

At FCB, Midha’s focus is retail, commerce, and shopper marketing. She has worked for a variety of clients, including Jack Daniel’s, Xfinity, Barilla, and Hoka.

Throughout her time at the agency, she has primarily worked on signage, display, print, digital, and experiential advertising. Though, Midha noted that she “works on a mix of everything.”

FCB currently follows a hybrid schedule, with Midha working in the office on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, and remotely from home on Mondays and Fridays.

In the office, she works alongside an art direction partner to brainstorm ideas and write content. Their work is reviewed by a creative director or larger creative team, and they are given feedback on what they can improve upon.

“There are so many revisions and so much editing,” Midha said. “But being able to see what you’ve worked so hard on come to fruition is super exciting.”

What lessons from your time at AAF have you applied to your professional career? 

“There are so many good opportunities within AAF, I would suggest that people take advantage of as many as they can.”

Midha was involved in AdBuzz, Pangea, and the DEI advisory council while a member of AAF.

She emphasized the value of the “agency-like” environment, without the high level of pressure associated with working in a traditional agency setting.

In addition, Midha highlighted the importance of AAF’s networking opportunities and their impact on her career. She encourages students to use the University of Illinois alumni network to their advantage, noting that “networking is your best friend.”

 “Ultimately, you have to absorb as much knowledge as you can while you are U of I,” said Midha. “You’ll never regret learning more.”

 Is there anything you would have done differently as a college student to better prepare yourself for your career?

“I would have been more conscious about building a portfolio earlier.”

“The quality of your portfolio dictates your ability to get jobs and internships,” Midha emphasized.

“Something that’s cool about AAF is that you get real-world work to put into your portfolio,” said Midha. Though, she recommended that students explore different positions within AAF to diversify their portfolio.

“In AAF, I usually had the same positions,” she said. “I wish that I would have said, ‘let me do account management in one agency, and then let me try copywriting in another’.”

How do you anticipate AI impacting your role as a copywriter in the future?

“As of now, we are viewing AI as a tool.”

“I will use ChatGPT as inspiration if I have writer’s block,” said Midha. “Though, I ultimately don’t foresee there being something in the near future that can fully replace the human understanding of nuances.”