037: Life Lessons From Launching An Agency with Blake Howard of Matchstic
Subscribe:
Summary:
On today’s episode of the Executive Minds Podcast, David is sitting down with Blake Howard. Blake is a passionate entrepreneur and co-founder of Atlanta-based Matchstic, a brand identity firm. Blake is sharing his story on how he got started, how he built a thriving business and the lessons he learned along the way.
Welcome to episode 37 of the Executive Minds Podcast.
Links + Resources:
Designing Brand Identity: An Essential Guide for the Whole Branding Team by Alina Wheeler
Three Takeaways:
1. Find Your Genius.
This is something we say as often as we can on the podcast. Find your genius: the place where your talent and passion collide. Blake had a talent for art and a passion for business. This led him to graphic design, which was the first step in ultimately opening up his own branding agency, Matchstic
2. Let Tough Seasons Shape You.
Matchstic was hit hard in the 2008/2009 recession. They lost clients and had to make painful layoffs. They could have let the recession sink them, but they let their hard season refine them. It was in those times where they realized the need to find what they were the absolute best at and focus on it. That’s how they narrowed their focus on branding.
3. Perfect Your Pitch.
Blake told David that Executive Minds’s own Jeff Henderson gave him advice years ago on how to prepare and perfect a pitch: Problem, solution and action.
1. Identify the problem you’re trying to solve
2. Explain the solution
3. Invite people to take action
If you’d like Jeff to dedicate a full podcast episode on perfecting your pitch, let us know on Facebook or Twitter.