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

Alicia, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with 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?

When I made the decision to leave my full-time job to go out on my own, I knew I wanted a company name that wasn’t my own name. I didn’t have a business plan, or any plan really, when I left my job. Well, I suppose my plan was to freelance and figure things out along the way. I had just given birth to my second so my focus was all over the place. Thankfully, one night as I was drifting off to sleep, the name came to me–Faven. It’s a combination of the words Favorite and Haven. Design and Food are two of my favorite things so I feel thankful I get to combine the two in my profession. Haven is my happy place. Thus Faven Creative was born.

Alicia, 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?

I started my career as a jr art director at a large advertising agency in Chicago in 2001. I worked on a lot of CPG brands such as Wheat Thins and Kraft Singles. In fact, every agency I’ve ever worked at had a lot of food and bev CPG clients. Fast forward, through 5 years in Chicago and 2 in LA, I landed in Boulder where I worked at Sterling Rice Group for 5 years. It was there where I started shifting from an “advertising” creative to a designer creating visual identity and packaging designs. I loved how a brand identity lives many years vs a campaign that comes and goes in a few months.

It was around the same time that I had some health issues and had to completely change how I ate. I couldn’t believe how different I felt after a major shift in my diet. I became so entranced by food – from delicious recipes, new ingredients, the affects it has on our bodies and how your body can heal itself. While working at agencies was invaluable, I wanted to have more personal influence, impact and connection to the brands and the clients themselves. I also only wanted to work with companies that share my values of healthy, clean food for people and the planet.

I started Faven Creative in April of 2013. Naturally Boulder was a great resource where I could network and meet other like-minded folks and emerging brands. Thankfully, some of those brands gave me a chance.

Within the first year, I started to partner with colleagues who also stepped away from their full-time jobs. We began pitching projects start-to-finish with consumer insights, brand strategy, visual identity, packaging, comms, etc. To this day, the thing that sets up apart is that we are a very small super experienced team. We each have over 20 years of experience and all spent at least a decade honing our craft at some of the top agencies across the country. We deeply value the relationships we build and the attention we’re able to give to our clients.

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

Faven Creative is built on word of mouth. I often hear “You’re reputation precedes you.” Obviously, we’ve worked really hard to have a great reputation. Not only does the work we do need to be smart and eye-catching, but it needs to be effective. We value collaboration. It’ not “us” and “them.” We’re all in it together. We understand the path to success is not a straight line. We always have an open line of communication so everyone is on the same page throughout the process. It’s common to get requests midway through a project where a client has an opportunity to meet with a new retailer. That’s great, so how can we support them to put their best foot forward even if the work we’re doing is not complete. These companies are putting so much trust in us and that is a beautiful burden to carry. We don’t want to let anyone down so we strive to go above and beyond. We challenge clients when and where it is needed, and we always listen closely. At the end of the day, clients become friends.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Seeing a client grow, exponentially, is incredible. It’s an honor to think the work we did had a part of their success. I also love the pride my family has when they share a brand that I created.

Contact Info:

• Website: favencreative.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/faven_creative/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alicia-potter-968a582/

Image Credits
Motherlove, Bollygood: Max&Co Photo (NY) Little Saints: Briana Balducci (NY) Omsom: Rana Duzyol (NY)