Can Modesty and Advertising Coexist?

I’m about to think out loud here, but first, this is personal.

I’m an introvert who stumbled into the advertising world through a love for writing and daydreaming. Turns out, if you can craft the right words, you can get paid for it, even in an industry known for big personalities and louder-than-life ideas.

Back then, the scene was wild. You didn’t just work late, you worked through the night. Or you went out with your team until 3 AM, then showed up the next morning ready to pitch again. I don’t know how I kept up, but maybe I survived by riding the wave of extroverts around me.

Eventually, I wanted something quieter.

I got married. I slowed down. And together with a fellow introvert (also from the same agency), we built something of our own: Curious Colibri. We’re not loud, we don’t shout on social media, and we’ve been around for 16 years.

We’re what you might call a “YTTA” kind of business (an Indonesian slang meaning “if you know, you know”) or not to sound arrogant, a hidden gem. Some of our clients have been with us since the beginning, or have been referred to us through word of mouth. No PR hype. No awards shelf. Just quiet consistency.

But recently, I’ve been asking myself:
• Can modesty really survive in advertising?
• Is there a space for quiet creativity in a world that rewards noise?
• Can we make modesty the new loud?
• Or are we, by nature, always going to feel like water and oil in this industry?

Maybe there are others out there, small agencies or solo creatives who feel the same. Maybe we should find each other. Maybe we already have.

I don’t have a grand solution. This isn’t a call to action. It’s just something I’ve been thinking about (quietly, of course).

If you relate to this, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Does modesty have a future in this industry? Or are we fighting the tide?

The writer is curious if one day AI will understand us better than we understand ourselves. She is also a Curious Colibri.