Joyce Fairman got into the advertising business by accident. (The accident has now lasted 26 years!)
She grew up in Indiana and lived in Louisiana and Georgia before heading off to Hollywood with stars in her eyes, hoping to become a costumer. But after actually landing a job in “the industry,” she discovered that as a costumer she had a fatal flaw: she hated actors! So while trying to figure out what would “come next,” she got a temp job at J. Walter Thompson, working for a fellow Hoosier, the late Larry Olshan, who headed the 20th Century Fox Films account. That temp job led to an eight year run as a specialist in movie buying at JWT, and later, on DeLaurentis Entertainment Group at BJK&E and on New Century-Vista Films at RPA.
She joined Western International Media (now Initiative) in 1988 when Olshan, then Account Director on the Disney business, promised that she would work on everything but movies. And that definitely proved to be true; over the course of the next 18 years, Joyce bought TV and radio for such clients as Singapore Airlines, Carl's Jr., Lincoln Savings & Loan, Jonny Cat Litter, California Sunkist Pistachios, Luxor, Sahara and Excalibur Casinos, Disneyland, Best Western, Sizzler and NetZero
The term “dedicated professional” is often overused. But consider this: a very pregnant Joyce once presented a media plan to a client while her contractions were six minutes apart. Her son was born the next day.
Joyce joined the U.S. International Media Team in 2007.