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

Zackary, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the story of how you went from this being just an idea to making it into something real.

It all really started in college when I launched my own clothing brand. I had no roadmap—just an obsession with design, culture, and building something from nothing. Teaching myself everything from top to bottom. That brand ended up opening a door I didn’t expect: a scholarship to FIDM in Los Angeles.

While studying there, I landed an internship at Five Four Group—a brand incubator and fashion house that hosted brands such as New Republic, Young & Reckless and The Menlo Club. That internship turned into a full-time position in their design and merchandising department, and eventually led me to drop out of FIDM to dive headfirst into my career.

I went from being a merchandising and design assistant to leading brand, marketing, and product strategy for Five Four’s special projects division. That role became my creative playground—I got to collaborate with brands like Netflix, Puma, Fila, Rit Dye, Swarovski, and Complex, and work alongside people like Bad Bunny, Sneaker Steve, Miguel, Joe Perez, Shane Gonzales, and Matthew McConaughey. It was wild, and it taught me how brand, product and culture intersect when done right.
That experience lit a fire. I realized I didn’t just love creating for brands—I loved uncovering the why behind them. I had caught the brand strategy bug, and I saw how many businesses—especially startups and entrepreneurs—had the drive but lacked direction. They had great ideas, but no identity.

So I built Zack Bull Brands to bridge that gap. The early days were chaotic but exciting—refining a process that fused creative direction, design, psychology, and business strategy.

The next phase was validation. I reached out to founders I’d worked with before, offered deep-dive strategy sessions, and tested my process in real time. I wanted to make sure it didn’t just sound good—it had to move the needle. Those early sessions built my first case studies and referrals.

From there, it was infrastructure: building the brand identity, refining the service structure, setting up systems for client flow, creative direction, and presentation. Each step forced me to think like both the strategist and the client.

Within the first year, what started as a solo idea evolved into a studio with a clear ethos: we don’t chase trends, we build brands that own the room.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m the founder of Zack Bull Brands, a full service creative agency built to do one thing: help ambitious entrepreneurs and small businesses build bold, durable, and disruptive brands that can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the big players.

The vision for Zack Bull Brands came from a simple frustration—too many small businesses were boxed out of elite-level creative and strategy. The best designers, frameworks, and brand thinking were reserved for corporations with deep pockets, while the dreamers and doers—the people actually pushing culture forward—were left piecing things together on their own.

So, I built a studio designed to level that playing field. Our mission is to democratize access to top-tier brand strategy, creative direction, and identity development—giving small teams the clarity, systems, and confidence that big brands pay agencies six figures for.

What we do goes far beyond design. We help clients uncover their brand DNA—the truth of who they are and how they show up in the world—and turn that into strategy, identity, and storytelling that drive growth. Whether it’s developing full brand ecosystems, positioning frameworks, or visual identities, every move we make is rooted in longevity and disruption.

What sets Zack Bull Brands apart is our balance of raw creativity and structured brand architecture. We blend cultural intuition with strategy, ensuring our clients don’t just look different—they think different. We build from the inside out, crafting brands that can withstand trends, scale sustainably, and make people feel something real.

I’m most proud of the founders we’ve helped shift from uncertainty to clarity—from chasing trends to setting them. Watching their confidence grow as they start to truly understand and own their brand is the reason this studio exists.
At the core, Zack Bull Brands was built for the ones who dare to dream big but don’t have a traditional seat at the table. We exist to give them the tools, insight, and strategy to build brands that demand attention—and own the room.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

For me, it’s always been about the relationships. Creativity is the bridge—it’s what brings people together around ideas, stories, and shared ambition. Every project starts as a conversation, and through that process, you get to understand who someone really is: their motivations, their goals, and the “why” behind what they’re building.

In today’s digital age, where everything feels so transactional and disconnected, those genuine human moments are what make this work meaningful. I’ve always believed that creativity thrives on connection. The best ideas don’t just live in decks or design files—they’re born from collaboration, curiosity, and empathy.

And honestly, there’s nothing more fun than brainstorming with people on what could be. Those conversations—the “what ifs,” the wild ideas, the excitement of building something that doesn’t exist yet—are what push the world forward. That kind of energy is contagious, and it’s what keeps me inspired every day.

Some of my most rewarding moments haven’t been about the final product, but about those shared sparks—the moments when a client finally sees their vision come to life, or when a team collectively feels that we’ve uncovered something true.

That’s what being a creative is all about for me. It’s not just about making things—it’s about connecting, imagining, and helping others see what’s possible.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I find that a lot of the founders, teams, and entrepreneurs I work with label themselves as “not creative.” They’ll say things like, “I’m not the creative type,” simply because the core of their business isn’t rooted in design, art, or what’s typically seen as “creative work.” Others have shaped their identity around the belief that creativity is something you’re either born with or without.

That’s just blatantly untrue. Creativity isn’t a job title—it’s a way of thinking. It’s problem-solving, reimagining, taking risks, and connecting dots in new ways. Every founder I’ve ever met is inherently creative, whether they realize it or not. Building something from scratch, envisioning a product that doesn’t yet exist, believing in an idea enough to bring it to life—that is creativity in its purest form.

What I’ve learned is that creativity shows up differently for everyone. Some express it visually or verbally, while others express it through innovation, systems, or leadership. The challenge is that so many people were conditioned early on to separate “creative” from “logical” or “business-minded,” when in reality, the best brands and ideas come from merging the two.

As a brand strategist, part of my job is to help people see their own creativity again—to reconnect them with that instinctive sense of curiosity and imagination they’ve always had. When that happens, something shifts. They start to make decisions not just from a place of data, but from vision. And that’s when the brand becomes unstoppable.

So, if there’s anything I’d want ‘non-creatives’ to understand, it’s this: you don’t have to be a designer or an artist to be creative. You just have to be willing to see possibility where others see limitation.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.zackbullbrands.com
• Instagram: @zackbullbrands, @zackbullll
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zackary-bull/
• Other: Behance: https://www.behance.net/zackbullbrands