We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Grant Barth a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Grant, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What sort of legacy are you hoping to build. What do you think people will say about you after you are gone, what do you hope to be remembered for?

I approach team building through education and empathy. I told a good friend with a long career that I will be most known for helping others reach their goals. We were talking about teaching and creating an environment that allows for strong discussion mixed with shared experience. My entire career has been built on a vision of global and cultural understanding to bring people together. I want people to feel their life is better after spending time with me and my point of view. Listening, solving problems, and embracing diversity are all attributes of my approach to business and life. If I can in any way promote this with others, then my job is well done.

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

Working with creative teams is my daily passion. Behind every good idea is a background in business and process execution. I love working with designers and creatives to bring their vision to life through collaboration. I’m a great curator and builder. I honed most of my skills when I led the merchandising and design studio for Nike Japan. It was the perfect storm of brand growth and immense global relevance, and at the sharpest point were creative collaborations with leading Japanese designers. While leading complicated projects, I honed my patience and attention to detail, propelling my ability to see beyond the obvious.

I’m taking on a leadership role in a new creative company today. We combine the business and strategy of creative brand building with the agility to meet an ever-changing economy. I’m most proud of the work to come.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

My business partner is a fiercely driven, creative entrepreneur. We both come from humble backgrounds and believe in the work. Andre hired my firm to work on a strategic futurist project for one of his most prominent clients. We are known for it, and he wanted a new point of view to help guide his team’s creative strategy. The client wanted to see as far into the next 25 years as possible, and it was our job to find a mastermind team to craft that vision.

The success of the project – a satisfied client – could have stopped there. However, within the next year, we met at the home of a mutual friend. This Zoom-to-meeting in-person situation was both random and meant to be. We found our chemistry for business, and our complementary skills became a better together story.

Today, we are building and launching a merger of our capabilities and talented teams that will drive change.

We are business partners but also good friends. We found our chemistry to be incredibly unique.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

First, the road from a side hustle to a full-time career has not been linear or straightforward. I decided to leave a C-suite merchandising role at Levi’s when I was confident my job had been accomplished. We landed the brand with an 18% growth trajectory due to 4 years of hard work in strategy and brand building through product focus and relevance.

I stepped out for what I thought was a 6-month break to regroup before the next career move with a global brand. My first consulting project was for Netflix, and it helped me understand the media and film industry in greater detail. I learned that once a door opens, it is followed by others. I knew the entrepreneurial skill of saying yes more often without a safety net. Meeting people outside my expertise and trying new things, along with failing fast, became a library of skills and stories to build upon.

Soon, I built a client base and started to innovate in new ways with leading brands. I learned the power of the mash-up and how it could create new audiences and drive new opportunities. This entrepreneurial path is not for everyone, but I have been able to craft my point of view, which has created client value.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.grantbarthadvisory.com
• Instagram: @thenwhat
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grantbarth/