Recently, a GIANT company came to me to place an AD for them. This AD would run continuously for weeks. Their AD content was totally against the values of the platform. If I turned them down, I was at risk of being blacklisted. Also, my ADs aren’t cheap so I’d be passing on quite

a sizeable sum.

My assistant would send me reminders, asking me if I’ve made a decision. I’d tell her to hold off and then refuse to think about it.

The AD agency wouldn’t stop calling, they needed us to go live ASAP. Finally I knew I had to do it.

First, because I hate being

a people pleaser and on that same level, I hate to go against what defines my purpose.

So I sent them an email, apologising for the delay and that, unfortunately, we would not be able to put that AD on the DANG platform. They responded with, “Why?”

We responded,

“Because it goes against the values that we stand for. We would love to work with you in the future, but unfortunately not on this one.”

They responded, “We absolutely understand. We will still run the AD but will replace the content with something else.”

They did just that!

So now I’m more convinced, there are people who’ll respect my values and principles anyway, I don’t have to lower my standards and accept anything just because of money.

If I had accepted that AD, I would have felt like a failure just because I couldn’t stand firm in my beliefs.