We were lucky to catch up with Felix Jaimes recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Felix, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

I could tell you every “big” risk I took that paved the way that ultimately led me to where I am today and why I do what I do.

Early on I adopted the phrase “no risk, no reward” and implemented this ideology into my ever-evolving lifestyle. I can speak with confidence when I tell you not every risk I took was fruitful, but I can say I learned the most from these.

Fresh out of high school, one of the more notable risks I took was quitting my job as a cook at Sonic to attend The Art Institute of Austin as a full-time student with no money, or support. I qualified for grants and took out some student loans and the rest was history!

After receiving my Bachelor’s in Graphic & Web Design, I interned and worked with a couple of local agencies in town. I quickly learned the “real world” was cut-throat and very fast-paced. At this point in my life, I knew my goal was to become a business owner. While working a full-time job, I was also transitioning into a semi-full-time artist. I worked the regular 9-5 and was painting on canvas and murals 6-10. This ultimately led me to take what would be one of the biggest risks in my life. At this point, I was all in!

My vision was to tune into my creative path, and combine what little knowledge I had as a business owner and working as a graphic & web designer, and start my creative agency, Forty4 Design. The biggest risk for me was job security, a steady paycheck, and establishing a healthy work/life balance. Luckily for me, I was able to successfully execute thanks to my lovely and supporting wife. The risk was strategically calculated to ensure I could set myself up for success early on. I come from humble beginnings so hard work is nothing new to me. Turns out the harder I worked the “luckier” I got. At this point, I just needed to make sure the work was done right and exceeded expectations. This is how my unique value proposition was born!

Ultimately risks have been key to my success so far. Some are rewarding while others are lessons that have taught me to identify areas of opportunity, as I like to call them.

Felix, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Felix Jaimes and I am the Founder/Owner of Forty4 Design.

Forty4 Design is a boutique creative digital agency specializing in Design, Development, and Marketing. Our clients vary in industry and we work primarily with small-med sized businesses.

We help businesses increase brand awareness from assisting with branding projects to full-blown marketing campaigns. I would say one of our key differences from other digital agencies is our mural service offerings. Murals combined with our marketing and advertising knowledge give us a key advantage against our competitors.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

One major turning point for our agency was adopting to working through the Covid-19 pandemic. We were structured as a digital product and user experience agency, and when Covid hit the US we were afraid we were going to be another business that would have to close its doors for good.

We quickly realized that with every brick and mortar closed, all of a sudden everyone needed an online store. Not only that, they all wanted to be on page 1 of Google SERP (Search engine results page). This led us to pivot from a digital product agency to a web design and marketing agency with our main service offerings now being e-commerce web design, SEO (Search Engine Optimization), and digital marketing.

Adapting to change and being agile enough to pivot is key to staying in, not only in business but also relevant.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

This one is obvious, but surprisingly enough, not a lot of us business owners do this: Join your local chamber of commerce and attend all their networking events! You’ll be surprised just how many business owners you’ll meet.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://forty4.design/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/forty4design/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/forty4design
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/forty4-design/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Forty4design
• Other: https://clutch.co/profile/forty4-design#summary

Image Credits
Tu Importas Mural – photo credit: Ed Vela Campaign organized by: Monica Maldonado & Contigo Wellness