I just called out a CEO to his face 😬

Oh my deity. I just got off the cringiest client call of my entire career.

Backstory: There’s a client I work with who wants to scale their spend and test new copy.

So naturally, the CEO wanted to brainstorm some copy ideas.

It sounded good to me. So we set up a call.

Now … I was warned that this guy loved the sound of his own voice. But I did not expect what actually happened.

We start the call, and it’s the CEO and one of his colleagues.

I make some small talk, but the guy doesn’t even acknowledge me. He’s just playing with his phone.

He finally pops his head up (5 minutes later) with this zinger:

“Hi, I refuse to talk about things like the weather. That’s why I ignored you.”

Uh … okay. How *sophisticated* of you, sir. 🙄

I’ve dealt with plenty of these high horse asshats in the past, so I press on.

Here’s where things get really weird.

Just as I’m asking the CEO and his colleague some market research questions, they start … laughing?

Like, full-on laughing, out loud, as I'm talking to them.

Normally I would explain behavior like this away, but the guy was already a huge d**k to me and my coworker, so I called him out on it.

“Sorry Karl — something funny?”

(Karl is not his real name, obvs.)

You could hear a pin drop in the silence.

“OH, uh … NO, no! Something happened off screen … uhhh yeah, off screen.”

Lol. People are wild. How disrespectful do you have to be to laugh at someone who’s trying to help you?

I’m sure this big shot CEO didn’t expect me to call him out on his bad behavior.

After the exchange, he snapped right into line and answered every question I had.

I was even able to pull out some solid angles to use in my copy.

Now … It was honestly terrifying to stand up to someone like that. I got into copywriting so I didn’t have to deal with weirdos like this.

But as a copywriter, being able to stand up for yourself has a huge upside and can help you get ahead in your career.

Whether it’s getting the research you need, defending the copy you produce, or commanding the respect your skill set deserves.

Because at the end of the day, good copy can take an offer that’s generating $300 in revenue a day to $7,000 a day.

I know, because I’ve literally done exactly that.

Anyway. I hope this inspires you to stand up for yourself too.

David Patrick