“I didn’t know what advertising was at all … this world was not mine. You see on TV that there’s ads, but you don’t think there’s actually agencies … it wasn’t my world at all – I couldn’t think of a path to go there.”

Safa Boughida’s experience of uncovering the world of advertising is not uncommon. For an industry that constantly intrudes on our daily experiences, the day-to-day workings of it can be infuriatingly opaque. It’s an environment that is broadly supportive to creativity, where designers, copywriters and artists can make money, and yet, despite its numerous attempts at outreach, it remains inaccessible to many.

Boughida, who is French-Algerian, eventually discovered the industry via an unexpected route. “I was really, really, really in love with tennis,” she says. “I was playing tennis since I was, like, four years old. This was also my kind of escape zone, because I wasn’t really allowed to go out with my friends. I wasn’t allowed to do a lot of things outside of my home. So I put all my energy into tennis, and I was really involved in my club, in all the things that happened there.”

When a major tournament was held at her local club, Boughida’s eyes were opened to a wider world, and in particular the idea of running events, so she went to university to study events management, though quickly found it was too “small”.

A university event then exposed her to the possibility of studying advertising, and from here she was launched into the industry via university study and a series of internships, including a six-month stint at BETC in Paris, which proved particularly influential. “It was really good to start with BETC, because when you start with small agencies, you get scared of the bigger ones,” she says. She then moved to Rosa Paris, where she stayed for 18 months, producing campaigns for clients including the low-cost train network Ouigo, which encouraged her creativity.

Clearly a self-starter, when Covid hit, Boughida saw opportunities available in the world being locked down. “I needed to see what’s happening, to not be locked into only one way of thinking,” she says. “So I started to basically contact every French person around the world asking for advice – from Canada to London to Amsterdam.

“I had a lot of amazing experiences with all of them – because it was during Covid, a lot of things were happening [virtually], so a lot of events that were supposed to be planned for in-house, in agencies and things like that, were online, so I could attend. So it was really, really great to use that just to meet new people. I had a lot of advice.”

This approach eventually led her to the renowned ECD Thierry Albert, who was at TBWA\Neboko at the time and offered her a job. The world had reopened post-pandemic and within two weeks she found herself moving from Paris to Amsterdam, where she also had to switch from working in French to English. “Every day, I had a headache at the end of the day,” she says of this challenge.

You see on TV that there’s ads, but you don’t think there’s actually agencies … it wasn’t my world at all

Other new opportunities followed at TBWA\Neboko, where Boughida worked on the adidas global account, creating campaigns for women. In what is often still a male-dominated industry, she is aware that her experience was atypical. “I was working with female creatives. I was working with female clients, and I saw, I think, an industry that was different from other people,” she says of this time.

The work the team were making was marked by storytelling, addressing issues that women face, such as ill-fitting sports underwear in the campaign Bra Revolution, which featured photographs of naked breasts to raise awareness of how varied women’s bodies are. The nudity caused controversy but Boughida’s experience was overwhelmingly positive, with a supportive team and client.

Another campaign, The Ridiculous Run, aimed to raise awareness of the fear women feel about running at night, by illustrating the ludicrous lengths they feel they have to go to in order to feel safe. Its release prompted a huge response, allowing Boughida to experience the cultural power advertising can have. “When it went live, there were so many people finally sharing their stories,” she says. “And I think this is the most beautiful thing you can make. It’s not even making ‘noise’, but it’s just giving people a stage to finally speak.”

After two years in Amsterdam, Boughida found she was missing the “diversity” of Paris. She returned and took a job at creative agency Yard, though after the progressive approaches she experienced at TBWA\Neboko, she was put off by the agency’s requirement of full-time office working and left after just three months. She is now freelancing.

Her work so far as a freelancer has included a Nike project via Soursop creative agency in Amsterdam, which reunited Boughida with ECD Annie Chiu, who she previously worked with at TBWA\Neboko, and cites as a huge support and influence on her work. “I’ve been really lucky to have those people who I can relate to, or who I can learn from,” she says. “And Annie is this person … she taught me everything, she took me through every part of the process.”

As well as agency projects, she has also been working alongside her girlfriend, who is a photographer, acting as a creative director on their shoots together. Since returning to Paris, Boughida has begun photographing for herself too, using the medium to gain access to communities, including local sports teams. There is a sense that she’s returning to her own early sports roots here, and it is in sport, plus music projects, where she finds the most creative opportunities.

For now, freelancing suits Boughida, particularly as the experiences she has had in the industry so far have allowed her to build strong connections. “As a freelancer, it’s way better! I feel we’ve lost the value of our time … I’m enjoying the freelance life for now, and if at some point I can’t find clients or whatever, I can always go back into a contract. But not now.”

Plus freelancing allows her a creative freedom that agency life can restrict. “I feel like as a freelancer you just go where you want to go,” she concludes. “Sometimes as a photographer, sometimes as a producer, sometimes even consulting. You’re not defined by your job, and you’re exploring what you can do in many different ways.”

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