Ash Rathod is a brand strategist and co-founder at Digital Focus Creatives.

Please enjoy his 355-word Micro-Interview:

Thanks, Ash.

Let’s get started:

1) "Do you have a work routine?”

I wake up early. Not because I believe in the 5am club but because my stupid body clock has always told me that's normal. But it's great because my wife and teenage daughter are the opposite. So I can get my to do list out of the way before they wake and when they do, I can have breakfast with them. Well, coffee for me. I eat late. Then I crack on with my day.

2) "What do you wish you'd known about your work when you first started?”

Storytelling starts with the stories you tell yourself. I used to think everything I put out would be negatively judged. And it stopped me from writing in public, under my own name, for a long time. But nobody judges you as much as you judge yourself. So start writing and keep writing. It's honestly the best way to improve your craft.

3) “What did your biggest professional failure teach you?”

Before I owned my own agency, over 15 years ago, I moved jobs. A sales job that paid much more than my marketing job. I knew I wasn't going to enjoy it but I did it for the money. And I hated it. I was unhappy, unproductive and a lot of things around me suffered. Luckily I came out of it. More importantly, I learned a huge lesson in life and as cheesy as it sounds, it's true. More money doesn't make you happy. Doing the things you enjoy do. And yes you can have both.

4) “Has anything helped you shorten your craft's learning curve?”

Learn from your the people you admire. Follow them, ask them questions, study their work. Make sure there's a handful of people vs just one so you're not just a clone. Then experiment. And don't forget to inject your own personality in what you do.

5) “Do you have a book recommendation?”

The Brand Flip by Marty Neumeier

6) “Any parting piece of advice?”

Take your ego out of everything you do.