Insights Into The Executive Mind — Mark Pettit

Mark Pettit, President & CEO, Creaxion

June 1, 2008

M ark Pettit is president and CEO of Creaxion, one of Atlanta’s leading marketing firms. A former three-time Emmy winning TV newscaster with WXIA-TV and CNN, he also is a published author, penning “ A Need to Kill: Final Justice,” a true crime thriller about a Nebraska serial child killer.

Over the years, Pettit’s clients have been featured in national media outlets such as The New York Times, NBC Nightly News and Good Morning America. Pettit also has led some of the city’s most memorable integrated campaigns, most recently serving with Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin as co-chair of “Earth Hour Atlanta,” a global event organized by the World Wildlife Fund.

A former finalist for the Ernst & Young “Entrepreneur of the Year,” Pettit is an active member in the community, working with the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau and Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.  
Business to Business: What business books have helped you become a better leader, businessperson and CEO?

Mark Pettit: Believe it or not, the best book I’ve read in quite some time is only 88 pages long and is about three square inches in diameter. Called “Bee Cheerful” (Ariel Books), it is a collection of inspirational and motivational thoughts. I bought it in a gift shop in Atlanta for a friend of mine in Los Angeles who recently lost her father.

I started reading it in the store and couldn’t put it down. I’m thinking about buying 100 copies of the book and giving them to friends at the holidays. Three of my favorite quotes from the book are: “Very few burdens are heavy if everyone lifts;” “The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears or the sea;” and “Sadness is but a wall between two gardens.”

Sometimes all we need in life is a word of inspiration or motivation to get us up the next hill or the next hump.  

BTB : What did you learn from the biggest mistake you’ve ever made?

Pettit: To address issues head-on. By nature, I’m not a confrontational person; I generally like people and want them to like me in return. Sometimes that causes me to avoid addressing an issue before it becomes a problem. A counselor once told me, “You expend a lot more energy going around a problem than you do going through it.” It’s so true. Now, when I make my daily “to-do” list, I put the toughest thing – or the thing I’m dreading – at the top of the list. Once you get through the hard stuff, the rest of the stuff is easy.

BTB: Any mentors along the way?

Pettit: As a young journalist my mentors were Jim Axel (formerly of WAGA-TV) and Wes Sarginson (formerly of WXIA-TV). I used to send them videotapes of me doing the news in Chattanooga and then Omaha, Neb. They would send me detailed critiques of my performance and then follow-up with phone calls to coach me. It was invaluable advice. Whatever success I had as a newscaster, I owe to Jim and Wes. As far as a business mentor, I would have to say Jane Shivers (formerly of Ketchum). Jane taught me everything I know about PR, and the only thing you need to know: It’s a relationship business. Build relationships and you’ll build your business.   

BTB: If there were one piece of advice you could give to a new CEO, what would it be?

Pettit:  Focus on what drives your business – then, drive it. 

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