28/09/2025

ON SUNDAY September 28, 2025 theSunday Special VIII

ű ïƒÈœ³®v¨ ƒšvÀvƒÈŒÀà ȚvÈ Ãšv½Œˆ ⠃vÀŒŒÀ BY DAYANA SOBRI

W HEN I was an ambi tious teenage girl, I would sneakily watch Sex and the City at night when my parents were asleep. No, I didn’t watch the TV show for the sex. In fact, I’m glad that Malaysian censor ship had done a great job protecting this innocent girl from the show’s hundreds of sex scenes (back then, it was aired on HBO, one of the channels on Astro), so I was spared from being exposed to adult content (except for kissing scenes). I envy Carrie Bradshaw, the main char acter of the show. Watching her scenes made me realise I wanted a similar life style and to be a writer. Although writing seemed to be the only thing that interested me when I was in school, I never imagined

my career compass would be guided by ¿FWLRQDO ZRPHQ ZHDULQJ 0DQRORV DQG managing Manhattan deadlines. But 13 years, multiple job hopping and a wardrobe full of thrifted designer cloth ing later, here I am, currently working as a digital writer who owes a lot of her career clarity to a handful of stylish, ambitious TV heroines. In an industry where you’re expected to be both creative and commercially strategic, my biggest lessons didn’t always come from textbooks or industry mentors. Sometimes, they come from television and streaming platforms. H HUH DUH ¿YH ¿FWLRQDO FKDUDFWHUV ZKR GLGQ¶W MXVW LQÀXHQFH P\ ZDUGUREH EXW shaped the way I work, lead and build my brand.

Peggy Olson: Build the career no one hands you When Peggy Olson from Mad Men joined the advertising office as Don Draper’s secretary, no one expected her to become a copy chief. But instead of waiting for permission, she quietly demanded space, asked questions no one else dared to and consistently delivered work that spoke louder than her gender or title.

Peggy reminds me that success isn’t about bravado, it’s about persistence and grit. As someone who’s pitched to clients while battling imposter syn drome, I learned to stop apologising for taking up space. If you’ve ever had to explain your role in a room full of men in suits, you’ll know what I mean. Like Peggy, I’ve learned to keep my chin up, keep showing up and let the work speak.

Credit: HBO

Carrie Bradshaw: Own your voice and style In Sex and the City, Carrie Bradshaw lived the dream. Writing from her heart, debating dating dilemmas over cosmos and somehow affording a Manhattan apartment on a colum QLVW¶V LQFRPH :KLOH WKH ¿QDQFLDO PDWK doesn’t add up, the creative audacity does. As a writer juggling brand voice, SEO demands and editorial storytell

ing, I often remind myself of Carrie’s commitment to authenticity. She didn’t water down her work for mass appeal. She wrote like she talked, charming, opinionated and fearlessly personal. In real life, this taught me to infuse even commercial content with soul. Research supports this, too. A Nielsen Norman Group study reveals that read ers are more engaged with conversa tional, human-sounding content. Carrie knew this before the algorithms did.

Credit: AMC