David Plafchan, senior copywriter at ad agency Deutsch LA in Playa Vista, was leading a double life until one day the two merged.

When Plafchan isn’t writing copy for ad clients, he’s working as creative director for the Bouqs Co., a startup flower-delivery service in Venice.

Both jobs came together this month when the startup launched its first Web commercial – which was produced by Deutsch.

That’s because Deutsch last year started what it calls the Side Project Project. It lets employees, many of whom have their own projects on the side, compete for Deutsch’s professional work.

“It was like a ‘Shark Tank’-style pitch where we got in front of the agency – there’s 457 people here – and we presented our idea,” said Plafchan, 34, who competed with 10 other presenters.

Plafchan’s team won. As a result, he got an ad produced that cost the flower startup almost nothing.

He said working with his agency as a client was a cool experience.

“I got to see the atmosphere that I worked in and how helpful everyone was,” he said.

Psyched Up

Michael Lushing, founder of Beverly Hills retail real estate brokerage Lushing Realty Advisors, always considered himself a people person.

It’s a skill he said has served him well in the 30 years he’s been in the business.

“I learned that the most important part of doing a deal is connecting with the individual that I’m working with,” he said. “I was fortunate that making that connection came easily.”

A few years ago, Lushing, 59, decided to really become a people person. He enrolled at Antioch University Los Angeles, a small liberal arts school in Culver City, to study psychology.

“It was something that had just always intrigued me,” he said. “I wanted to understand more about the mind and what motivates people to do what they do.”

Lushing attended classes on weekends for nearly two years before graduating with his master’s degree in September.

Now, in addition to his real estate work, he’s working as a part-time counselor at Beit T’Shuvah, a Jewish drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility in Culver City. He said his goal is to complete enough hours in the profession by the end of the year to take the state licensing test and become a marriage and family counselor.

But as he works toward that goal, he said he doesn’t plan to lose sight of his real estate work.

“Real estate has been and will continue to be my primary focus,” he said. “But there’s a compassionate side of me that wants to help people with personal life crises.”

Staff reporters Subrina Hudson and Bethany Firnhaber contributed to this column. Page 3 is compiled by editor Charles Crumpley. He can be reached at [email protected].