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

Blake, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with 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.

As I walked down a nature trail tucked in some random corner of Austin Texas, letting my mind wander, I tripped and fell. As the ground rushed towards my face, my wandering mind took a sharp turn towards survival. My body may have caught my weight, but in that moment I realized how venerable I truly was.

Being a freelance art director and designer for the past 2 years has allowed me many freedoms, growth opportunities, and experiences I would have never predicted. But one thing it has not allowed me is consistent financial security, which I am usually fine with. While I love the freedom of unlimited growth that comes with owning your own creative business, on that day I realized that if I, for any reason, was not able to be behind the computer working, I would not be making ANY money. A realization like that can not be ignored, and I decided it was time to do something about it.

I decided to take my finely honed skills, my passion for helping people start their journey, and my love of teaching and leading, and create a workshop series! Most people aren’t in a position to be able to dump thousands of dollars to launch of a new business, but what they do have is the desire to make their dream happen. I took that idea and began building Brainstorm Boost, a platform and workshop series that will teach people how to easily build their own brands so they can get started on their dream.

Once I had the idea, I just needed to build the workshop. First, I listened to a few podcasts on starting a niche property and building an email list, and then I took a dive into designing the website. I’m not going to lie, this first small step took many months to finish, but with the summer coming to an end I pushed my fear of failure aside and took the push to complete the website design.

Over the past few months I have been slowly building an email list and the workshop. Not only can I give myself the financial freedom to be more creative in my own work, but also empower others to get started on their business ideas without having to drop thousands of dollars on a brand.

Over the next few months I will be executing a strategy to help get the word out about Brainstorm Boost and this awesome new workshop. Who would have thought that a simple hike would lead me to make a change that will support my business and creativity for years to come.

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?

Hi, my name is Blake! I have loved art and design my whole live, ever since the days of doodling in my school notebooks. This led me to the graphic design program at LSU where I learned about the technology, and ambition required in a creative field. After graduating she worked in e-commerce for a year, but my heart called me back to conceptual work and towards the University of Texas to work towards a masters in advertising and art direction through the Texas Creative program.

I always knew I wanted to be an artist of some kind, but always found my self the most excited when trying out a new art form or hobby. The idea of doing one specific thing for the rest of my life was not for me, and I started on a journey of figuring out how to combine all my interests into one career.

As my freelance career grew, so did my love for branding. I found with each new brand the opportunity to learn new skills and bring something unique to the world. Each one allowed me to play with different art mediums and figure out creative ways to help these brands connect with their core audiences.
Every moment a customer interacts with your brand is an opportunity to invite them into the ethos and world you have created. I specialize in not only building brands but helping create a world to interact with their customers, in both digital and physical spaces.

My love of learning and exploration has truly allowed me to create some fun work for some great clients. My hope is to continue to help people build their business dreams and make their brands come to life.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

For a long time in college I did not understand the value of learning from the greats and looking for inspiration for each project. I thought that I had to create everything from my own imagination, and did not even realize that your art and designs is just a culmination of everything you have seen and experienced and thought in your own life.

Now I try to actively seek out inspiration and find inspiration wherever I go. One of my favorite resources is Dribbble.com where amazing designers post their work. I also wildly undervalued going to the library or book store and picking up some design books to use for inspiration with each new project. I would have grown much more quickly as an artist and better understood the rules of what makes a good piece of work if I had actively looked to those who came before me. It might sound like an obvious “resource” but it is true that when I feel stuck I go back to my reference books. Some of my favorites are “The Advertising Concept Book” and “A Kidd’s Guide to Graphic Design”.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I have yet to do any active marketing for my own business. It seems strange for someone who helps others with their marketing to not do any of their own, but my business runs solely on word of mouth. It is my persistence to get the job done, my creativity in solving problems, and my positivity in tackling new challenges that keeps my clients coming back. Part of working for yourself means you also have the job of keeping your clients energized and happy throughout the process. I like my work to feel like a collaborative effort and at the end for my clients to feel like I truly brought their dreams to life!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://swallowtailagency.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swallowtail_agency/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SwallowtailAgency/
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/blake-cochran
• Other: https://www.pinterest.com/BrainstormBoost/