We were lucky to catch up with Billy Frazier recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Billy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Like most well-adjusted humans, I started off in customer service. I bagged groceries, made pizzas, slung drinks to college kids, waited tables, sold books, moved furniture, kept kids from peeing in a pool. And yes, I once proudly wore the badge of “hostess” at a crappy steakhouse during college.

After graduating with a major in graphic design, I fumbled head over heels into full-time freelancing which means I’ve made a living illustrating posters and prints, building brands, laying out websites, designing apps, writing blog posts, leading workshops, throwing summer camps, starting (and ending) companies, and pretty much everything else in-between. I’ve even fired the big man upstairs as a client. True story.

These days, I’m an experience design consultant at a global consulting firm which is a fancy way of saying I help big companies design products, services, and experiences while helping people work smarter together. Outside of that, I’m always working on a few side projects and I write about everything I’ve picked up along the way. The common thread throughout all of it is that I’m passionate about helping people answer the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” no matter how old they are.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am a writer and tech consultant who has explored the trifecta of tech careers: freelancing, founding, and full-time consulting. I’m on a mission to help create a world where work is whatever you want it to be, no matter who you are.

After graduating from a small liberal arts school called Truman State University with a BFA in Visual Communications and a minor in business, I jumped headfirst into a full-time freelance career.

I started by working with small businesses and quickly transitioned into a design partner for tech startups and entrepreneurs after joining a coworking space in St. Louis. While freelancing, I decided to scratch my own entrepreneurial itch by starting two tech companies. One, a networking app made to connect people with similar ideas and complementary skills; the other, a partnership focused on designing and developing new applications for clients.

Then wanting to explore another path, I took my first full-time job at Slalom, an international tech consulting firm, as a consultant designing products, services, and experiences. Since then, I have helped dozens of teams and companies from across all industries design products, services, and experiences using a more human-centered approach. I have also served as the co-lead for our Inclusion, Diversity & Equity Talent Acquisition committee to help promote more fair and equitable hiring practices in tech.

Over the past decade, I have worked with Fortune 500 companies, design agencies, marketing firms, non-profits, and startups from across a wide variety of industries, including telecomm, health, finance/fintech, and retail. He have also served as the former young professional development co-chair for AIGA St. Louis.

In 2015, I started writing online and have been named as a Top Writer on Medium for several categories and my writing has received over 600,000 views on Quora.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

As a first-time writer back in 2015, I had the lofty goal of writing my first book.

I figured I would follow in the footsteps of countless writers before me and lock myself in a room, only to emerge once I had dragged the first draft kicking and screaming into this big, scary world.

In case you haven’t noticed, this stigma of the tortured creative suffering in isolation is a little outdated.

When tackling any creative project in today’s world, you are much better off focusing on one thing before all else:

Bringing people together.

That’s why, after some much-needed advice, I decided to pause my unwritten book and start writing online instead.

After continuing this habit (almost) every day for the past seven years, I can confidently say it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, professionally speaking.

In the span of a few years, I went from a wannabe writer who hadn’t shared a single piece of writing with others to a professional writer who was actually making a little extra money.

I also noticed something a little unusual about my audience:

It wasn’t the same as when I first started.

Initially, my goal was to help naive design students explore unconventional options after college.

What I realized was that, throughout my process of becoming a writer, I was apparently attracting others who also wanted to start writing.

Naturally, I course-corrected.

Instead of sticking only with Medium, I decided to broaden my focus and reach out to aspiring writers in other places. From Quora to Facebook, I scoured the Internet for people who needed a little nudge in the right direction.

After reaching out and talking to my followers, I quickly learned one of their biggest problems was getting started — they didn’t know where to write, what to write about, and how to create a sustainable writing routine.

This isn’t anything new. After all, people have been teaching writing courses since humans learned how to put pencil to paper.

The thing is, most of these teachers and classes still take a more methodical approach, emphasizing traditional elements like grammar and style.

I, on the other hand, wanted to help aspiring writers get started now.

Not tomorrow. Not next week.

Right now.

I decided that, as amazing as the Internet is, I wanted to reach people IRL.

I invited local followers to a workshop where, after quickly helping everyone create a Medium profile, I introduced a simple framework for writing their first post.

Little did they know I was going to ask them to push the “Publish” button at the end of the workshop.

Once we reached this point, I was met with a collective grumble from aspiring writers both young and old.

I heard comments like, “But it’s not ready yet!” and, “I have no idea if it’s any good!”

I simply reminded them that, if they had paid attention to the title of the workshop⁶, they would have seen this coming.

I explained part of writing every day is quieting your inner perfectionist by hitting that “Publish” button before you’re ready.

Something amazing happened after that.

It was as if the group came to the collective realization that they had all overcome a huge roadblock together.

Not only did these writers give me valuable feedback to make the workshop better, they also became avid readers of my work online.

This workshop was a much-needed reminder that, even though social media makes it easy to meet people online and rally the troops around a cause, there is still no substitute for talking to someone face-to-face.

When you bring people together around a common interest or goal, everyone wins.

Build a community first and the rest will follow.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Like many other freelancers after college, I was looking for local gigs that would allow me to get my feet wet.

In case you weren’t aware, St. Louis (the home of the Cardinals and Budweiser) is also home to countless design firms and marketing agencies, thanks to the aforementioned brands.

With all of these agencies comes the need for someone to connect freelancers to open positions.

Enter placement agencies.

These glorified middlemen and women interview freelancers and match them with projects that fit their experience, ranging from short-term contracts lasting a few months to full-time positions.

Thanks to one of them, I was lucky enough to find an opening at an international PR firm as a brand support consultant.

Naturally, I was able to bullshit my way through the interview process and eventually found myself in the middle of a 3-day onboarding program.

During this time, I quickly found out that “Brand Support Consultant” actually meant PowerPoint designer.

What followed were eight months of pure torture.

Each workday consisted of unnecessary emails, pointless meetings, and the need to keep track of every single minute of every single day, including clocking out when I went to the bathroom.

I quickly realized I was spending more time talking about my work than actually doing it. Each decision had to be approved by someone above me, and someone above them, until eventually, it was filed away under “It doesn’t fucking matter” where every other decision belonged.

To add insult to injury, I learned another hard truth about working for someone else:

People hate to be challenged.

Each time I was told to focus on this project or that presentation, I asked if it was the biggest priority at the moment. This is a BIG corporate no-no, especially with people who have “Manager” in their LinkedIn profile. Time after time, they would look at me like I had just pulled my pants down and taken a dump on their desk.

Thanks to these (and an infinite number of other) reasons, I realized I would never succeed in a setting where time wasn’t respected, ideas weren’t challenged, and someone else was deciding what was, and more importantly, what wasn’t a priority.

That’s why throughout the past decade, I’ve collected a mashup of experiences that have led to my less-than-conventional path:

• Majored in design and minored in business.
• Co-founded an a cappella music organization for young students.
• Designed brand identities for traditional clients, including restaurant owners, fitness gyms, and other small business owners.
• Transitioned into designing interfaces for client mobile apps.
• Began learning User Experience (UX) principles on my own.
• Positioned myself as a design partner for startups and entrepreneurs (branding/identity, rapid prototyping, UX/UI design, and pitch materials).
• Scratched my own itch by creating an app that connects people with shared ideas and complementary skills.
• Started writing online (almost) every day over seven years ago.
• Met a development partner and started a web/mobile app consultancy.

Throughout all of this, I stubbornly thought working for myself was the only way to create my own path.

That was, until the fall of 2018.

After one tiny suggestion over drinks and a few months of conversations, I finally added one more to my list of experiences: Experience Design Consultant for a global consulting firm.

I know what you’re thinking:

“Wait a minute, I thought this story was about creating your own path. Why am I listening to someone who gave up full-time freelancing? “

I’ll be the first to admit — up until this point, I was always baffled by consultants. Why would anyone pay someone else a bunch of money simply to tell them how they could be doing their job better?⁴

What made this opportunity so much different than all of the others?

The people

I’ve met a wide array of people as I’ve fumbled forward and I can confidently say this company has one of the most diverse groups of people in St. Louis. They work with consultants from all kinds of backgrounds, including other consulting firms, corporations, startups, freelancing, MBAs, self-taught go-getters, and everyone in between. Even though I’m fairly ambitious, I’m also externally motivated which means I thrive when I work around other highly-motivated people.

The growth

During my series of conversations, I learned this company really does care about creating the best possible consultants. This company puts its money where its collective mouth is by compensating consultants for learning new skills, both inside and outside of their disciplines. For once in my life, I didn’t have to feel guilty for spending time on personal development when I should have been looking for more client work.

The stability

I’d be lying if I said stability didn’t play a part in my decision. As someone who has never been motivated by money, I finally started to see it for what it really was: a tool. A tool that, when used correctly, can give you something much more valuable — time. Sure, I’ve traded more of my time throughout the day in order to give value to this company and its clients, but in return, I finally have the chance to be more intentional with the time I have left. This intention has allowed me and my relationships to thrive even more.

The pace
Before I took this job, I had been working by myself from an office in a coworking center for several months. For the days when I needed to focus, this was the perfect set up. However, I started to feel even more isolated than when I worked from home for a year and a half. From changing my environment to working with new clients, I’ve added much more variety into each day.

The autonomy

While negotiating my contract, I asked if it would be necessary to leave the company I started. I was told as long as I didn’t try to poach their clients, then everything was good to go. This sent a clear message: “We understand that when we’re looking for the top talent in the city, we will have to be flexible.” At this point, I’ve learned that as long as I act like an adult and support my team, I have as much flexibility as I need.

If I’m being a straight shooter, the main thing I’ve learned is that creating your own path can look very different from what you expect.

Don’t let someone else define what success looks like to you.

Selling out isn’t selling out if the opportunity aligns with your values.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.billyfrazier.is/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/billyfrazr/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hellobillyfrazier
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billyfrazr/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/billyfrazr
• Substack: https://billyfrazier.substack.com/

Image Credits
R.J. Hartbeck