I'm Not Done

In the Middle East, the name 'Akram Miknas' is as synonymous with the glory days of the advertising industry as David Ogilvy or Leo Burnett are in the US. Born in Lebanon in 1944, Miknas is the founder of Fortune Promoseven (FP7), the largest advertising and communications firm in the region. Miknas founded FP7 with six friends and $7,000 in 1968, driven by a vision of the industry that was far more sophisticated than that of any of his contemporaries; today the $125 million FP7 empire spans fourteen countries. Miknas chronicles his rise from hardship to phenomenal success. The premature death of his mother left him to fend for himself, and he fought to educate himself with support from two early mentors who recognized his gifts: an American on staff at the American University of Beirut, and a future Lebanese prime minister. Armed with a degree in business and marketing, Miknas rejected low-paying jobs upon graduation and established FP7. After meeting the head of a chicken-products company, he won the man over to a new advertising campaign - and soon made him the "Chicken King of Lebanon". Thus a legend was born. I'm Not Done is, like its author, charming and captivating, whether recounting stories from youth or from the smoke-filled boardrooms of the Arab world's "Mad Men".