Creative Expiry Dates: Who Decided Them?

Hi, it's Hollie here.

The creative industry idolizes youth like it’s the secret ingredient to creativity.

Actually, scratch that.

The WHOLE WORLD idolizes youth.

Lately, I've been thinking about how obsessed we are with staying young. I just watched The Substance with Demi Moore. Have you seen it?

Give me an activator to get my 21-year-old body back, and I’d pay a fortune for it. But like all these promises of youth, it comes with a cost.

So, instead of chasing youth, I’d rather celebrate what comes with age.

History proves that creativity isn’t confined to youth. Some of the greatest creative minds did their best work well into their 50s, 60s, and beyond — Matisse reinventing art with his cut-outs in his late 60s, Frank Lloyd Wright designing the Guggenheim at 91, Maya Angelou publishing poetry into her 80s.

Yet in advertising, if you’re over 40, you start to feel like milk edging towards its expiration date.

Out of date and out of touch.

So, when does that creeping sensation start?

The one where you feel yourself fermenting, curdling, sitting on the shelf with a giant ‘Reduced to Clear’ sticker slapped on your forehead?

Well, I can tell you, I’m nearing 40, and even typing that feels like an out-of-body experience. Like those numbers belong to someone else.

Not me. Surely not me.
I feel the fear creeping in, the same fear I’ve watched so many older creatives I know wrestle with.

Because to be honest, have you ever seen a woman over 50 in your creative department who wasn’t an ECD or CCO?

No? I didn’t think so.

I once (yes, once) worked with an incredible woman, a non-c-suite creative who defied the odds.

Until doomsday came.

Not actual death. Just another round of layoffs.

She, like so many others, was quietly phased out. Left to navigate the abyss of freelance.

How Do We Flip the Script?

What if, instead of treating age and experience like a liability, we could get people to see it as a creative superpower?

There’s a tired narrative that younger creatives are here to replace us. That’s nonsense.
The best work comes from intergenerational teams, but we need the chance to prove it.

So here come the stats…

The Data is Clear

Age-diverse teams outperform homogeneous ones.
A Harvard Business Review study found that companies with mixed-age leadership teams generate better financial returns and more innovative ideas.
Investor's Business Daily found that older adults often excel in making connections between diverse concepts and synthesizing ideas, leveraging their extensive experience to drive innovation.

Why? Because experience and fresh perspectives fuel each other.

I genuinely love learning from young creatives. I absorb their energy, ideas, and new ways of thinking.

And I know that the speed and efficiency of being older isn’t at odds with them — it complements them.

The truth is that the lack of over 40s in the creative department is that most creatives don’t leave full-time jobs by choice. They get nudged out.

Enter your golden era.

One day, you’re a celebrated creative. Next, you’re a LinkedIn post about exploring "exciting new opportunities."

And here’s the thing: freelance at 40+ isn’t exile, it can be power.

Because the good news is, it turns out that clients are loving it. A 2023 survey by Upwork found that 36% of creative freelancers are over 40, and that number is rising.

Why?

Well, clients want experienced problem solvers who can skip the bureaucracy and get things done. The industry’s age bias is fueling a golden era of freelance and independent agencies, one where older creatives hold the power.

If we genuinely value creativity, we need to back it up with action. That means hiring, promoting, and retaining older creatives, not just applauding them after they’ve been forced out.

But What Can We Do Now?

✅ We can challenge the industry’s ageism.
✅ Continue to highlight the power of intergenerational teams.
✅ Demand that agencies treat long-serving creatives with the respect they deserve.
✅ Reframe freelance at 40+ as a strategic career move — not a fallback.

Cannes might hand you a lifetime achievement award if you’re lucky.
But your agency will quietly phase you out before you turn 50.

Creativity doesn’t expire.

But the industry’s outdated attitudes?
They went sour while we were all busy freelancing.

Hollie Fraser,
Freelance Creative Director, Talent Curator + Connector at We Are Shelance, Freelance Mentor

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