Last night I had the pleasure of attending a conversation (read: not a lecture) by the author, essayist, playwright, screenwriter and film director David Mamet with Robert Faires of the Austin Chronicle.

It was a great time; Mamet has so much experience with talking to an audience, it was only natural to note that he had everyone watching hanging on his every word. It was wildly entertaining and quite insightful. He offered burgeoning screenwriters—from students to freelancers—advice on how to make it in the biz.

Even though he is in a completely different industry than I am (creative, yes, but plays and movies are hardly advertising), I could still find comfort in his pearls of wisdom. When asked by an RTF major if he was telling her to start her own production company and to continue writing, he said, “yes…what’s stopping you from doing both? There’s nothing stopping you from doing both.”

David Mamet should be the next Michael Jordan for Nike.