All
Star Direct
& Personal
By Billy Sharma
Andrew Sookrah
The Locomotive behind the Engine Room
I am often asked what it feels like to interview another creative person, since I am a creative director, copywriter and art director myself. My answer is that I feel like a gemologist studying yet another piece of crystal under a microscope. I have a deeper appreciation of the true qualities of the creative people I interview.
I remain fascinated by creative people. Just like every piece of crystal, each one is truly unique with so many different facets. Sometimes I can see similarities mirrored in some of the finely chiseled sides, while many of their other sides are so different and distinctive.
One such truly creative person that I have admired for a long time is Andrew Cheddie Sookrah or (Andy) as his friends call him, so I was pleased when he agreed to this interview.
Andrew was born in Guyana, the middle child of seven children. He told me, “Our parents, especially my mother Lizzie, really pushed us kids to get an education. So, I attended Queen’s College and what an experience that was. We had great teachers and were exposed to a lot of stuff – like, Latin, French, Spanish, and comparative religion studies.“
He continued, “Plus we participated in all kinds of sports such as soccer, cricket, field hockey and rugby. I played them all and had a grand old time. My parents despaired at this distraction in my life, because they felt that I needed to spend more of my time studying – they were right.
“But I did really well in art at QC – I sat for the ‘O’ Level Art exam in the third form, a year ahead of schedule and the ‘Advanced’ Level in the fourth, also ahead of schedule. However, I did not have the same degree of success in physics or math or chemistry. But I did well in English Literature, history and geography. “
This love of sports has led Andrew to continue playing a lot of field hockey and to travel with his club, ‘The Toronto Field Hockey Club’, which is comprised of a mixed bunch of people from around the world. They even played a tournament in Barbados fielding a team of players from eleven different countries.
Another positive thing about this sport is that he met his partner, Peggy Stoddart, on a hockey field twenty-six years ago. Today they work together at Engine Room. Andy is the driving force, the ‘locomotive’, of his studio. Peggy is the engineer, in the ‘caboose’ keeping him on the right track.
“Peggy has eye for art and numbers so she does the books,” he said. And I know for a fact that Andy has an eye for Peggy and the finer things in life including fine art.
He is truly an amazing fine artist, as you can see from his self-portrait (Fear and Reverence – Work In Progress), which I’ve included with this article. He is also one of the busiest persons in our business. He spends five long days working for others, while on Sunday he is immersed in his paintings, working to improve himself – an attribute that seems to infiltrate everything he does.
Another trait that I noticed is that Andy is deeply committed. As he said, “Everything I do is done with a fervor. Even when I behave badly, I do so with some degree of zeal. I am passionate about the work I do and I am passionate about the art I create,” he said with a hearty laugh.
Andy has been a long-time active member of The Arts and Letters Club Of Toronto and convener of its Sunday painting sessions.
He admits that he is guilty of not spending enough time with his family. The family includes Peggy, of course, and their two cats – Johnnie Walker Black Label Whisky and Daisy – also known as Her Royal Cuteness. They have no children.
I imagine that after twenty-six years of being together, Peggy knows him all too well, so I am sure he is forgiven. He does make it a point to keep in touch with his brothers and sisters. The entire family moved to Canada between 1974 and 1980.
Even though he has now run a very successful direct marketing creative and design development studio for the last eighteen years, like every other business there have been dark clouds at times such as when clients have declared bankruptcy owing him large sums of money.
“Some of these people are still in business under other names. In one case the agency asked me to put all the production costs through my company. They collected from the client then declared bankruptcy. I was left to pay off their suppliers.
“I’ve never been so disappointed that I felt I should have taken a different path. I have a sign in my office that I wrote to remind myself of the need to stay positive. – ‘NO FUCKING REGRETS DUDE’.
“One of my first memories of things going off in the right direction was the day I walked out of Queen’s College for the last time and was urged by another graduate, Chris, to call on Ace Advertising. I did and got a job with them.
“The Creative Director left soon after I started and no one was hired to replace him so I got the opportunity to work on a lot of projects – it was all very exciting for a sixteen year old. Plus my boss was great and always encouraged me to take my concepts to a higher level.
“When we immigrated to Canada, we literally came with nothing so my parents had to start life from scratch. My mother worked as a seamstress for Tip Top Tailors and my dad worked in a factory.”
Back when Andy was growing up on an island in Guyana, his dad had exclusive rights to sell Coco-Cola, Texaco products and also owned a cinema called Lakshmi – named after the Indian Goddess of wealth.
“So I drank plenty of warm Coca-Colas – because we didn’t have a fridge, and I heard a lot of the early Bollywood songs growing up,” Andy recalled.
“Often when something seemed to be a barrier, it ended up being a huge opportunity for me. When I came to Canada with two years experience in advertising under my belt, I discovered that I couldn’t get a job in my field. So I took work as a printer in an envelope manufacturing company. At the time I was pretty despondent at not being able to find work that made use of my experience, but I did the best I could at the jobs I could get and went to night school – Seneca, Ryerson, George Brown, Ontario School Of Art and Schulich School.
He kept his no regrets attitude and positive view of life. He believes that we are all interconnected and can gain more by helping each other.
“A couple of years ago my sister got very ill. Seeing how she fought, how our family and friends rallied in support, and how various medical teams threw their weight behind her and helped her recover brought a new understanding of what’s important in life,” Andy told me.
He also stays in touch with some of the people he met at Queen’s College forty years ago.
“We meet for lunch every month and I still hang out with the hockey crowd.
“There have been strong influences from my family, uncles and aunts, from members in the business community, the art community and the sports community. I work to identify role models, then try to emulate the way they do things, ever trying to be even better,” said Andy.
Besides painting, Andy enjoys reading and music - Gregorian chants, classical, folk, and rhythm and blues- whenever he gets the time.
Andy stated that, “I also like to write a daily journal, something I have come to really enjoy and I do this mostly on the subway or the odd time in a bar with a nice beer or wine.
“As a direct marketer I have been very fortunate to be on teams that worked on some pretty cool projects for our clients. There is added excitement when my clients enter those projects for awards at the CMA or other award shows. To be recognized by judges and peers well is rewarding and a lot of fun too.
“But the real satisfaction comes from having been given the opportunity to work on a wide variety of initiatives especially when they generate above average response rates for the clients.”
Now, one would never imagine it, but one of the personal secrets that Andy told me was that for years he was a nervous wreck when it came to public speaking. So ten years ago, rather then panic, sweat or freeze whenever he was asked to get up and speak at a presentation or a meeting, he decided to do something about it. He explored ways of overcoming his fear, but they all seemed very expensive and time consuming.
One day, by chance as he was getting his car fixed at a garage, he overheard one of the other customers speaking on the phone. He was so impressed by this customer’s clarity of thought and her diction that when she asked for a ride to the subway station, he took the courage to ask if he could ride along with her. She agreed and soon he discovered that she was indeed a speaking coach and a motivational speaker. This person has been instrumental in changing his life.
“She introduced me to a series of seminars, which have had a profound effect on my outlook on life. One of the things I got was a list of books to read including Steven Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. This whole experience changed my perspective and indeed my life.”
It was at this time of radical change that he shaved off the hair on his head. It was the pivotal moment and remains a constant reminder to him about shedding his old self.
Today Andy tries not to put limitations on himself. As he summed it up, “It all matters and yet nothing matters.”
In closing let me say that just like people, perfection in a crystal may be impossible to realize, but Andy’s motto to strive to improve constantly, to be shaped, cut, and polished by rubbing elbows with others, are of utmost importance since these factors truly determine the life, brilliance and aura of every crystal or person.
Billy Sharma is President and Creative Director of Designers Inc., Toronto