We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jere Dean. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jere below.

Hi Jere, thanks for joining us today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

My business name is Urban Octopus it represents my passion for the city and the ocean, I started my business 23 years ago, at that time I moved from the east coast ( Philadelphia ) where I grew up to the west coast ( San Diego ) where I currently live, San Diego has the perfect urban / ocean vibe and it gave me the opportunity to promote my brand and sell my art at Art festivals and local markets year around mostly because of the beauty weather here and the abundance of amazing markets.
Also the octopus is one of my spirt animals and it has a connection with the number 8 which represents to me balance and harmony, I believe this is so important when creating a business….

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Jere Dean, my art brand is Urban Octopus
I have a background in fine art, graphic design, photography, Illustration and film making. I learned printmaking (screen printing) out of college working in a local shop and fell in love with it and at that point I knew one day I would create a unique art brand combining everything I’m passionate about…
earlier on I started sketching out my ideas, my thoughts, taking photos everyday for years, continuing learning and teaching my self about business until one day it all came together…that’s when you find magic and you just know this is going to work…
since then I’m most proud that over the 23 years of business I have stayed true to my art and my brand, offer a super unique item, at a fair price.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

well for me I’m an artist first, business owner second…..so I want to be recognized as an artist and create a connection with my art within my market and with my customers, as a business owner I try to be transparent, honest and reliable and create a quality product that is unique but yet affordable….

How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.

I sell directly through my own website, this has always been my preferred method, I feel it’s always best to redirect customers back to your own site….but with that said I have experimented a lot, I tried Etsy, Amazon and many others and I continue to experiment…..doesn’t hurt to try, just takes up a lot of time….and time is so valuable.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.urbanoctopus.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/urbanoctopus/