We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Caleb Peña a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Caleb thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you walk us through some of the key steps that allowed you move beyond an idea and actually launch?
210 Creations was initially launched back in 2016 as my ‘side hustle,’ with dream that it would become my full-time job one day.
At that time, I was still very inexperienced in working with the caliber of clients that I encountered. It became incredibly overwhelming. All it took was one very entitled and rude client to push me into throwing in the towel.
From there, I found myself working in digital media marketing full-time at a normal 9-5 job. I enjoyed the consistency of pay and benefits. It allowed my wife and me to meet a lot of our financial goals before our son was born. But it came at a cost.
The environment and work culture were toxic. I won’t go into full detail on this, but after working there for a few years, I was let go.
A week before Christmas, with a newborn at home and a wife still recovering from everything, I was jobless.
I was throwing my resume around like crazy and not hearing anything back, not even from Starbucks. So my options were to keep applying with hopes and prayers or to use my God-given abilities to provide for my family.
So what does it take to bring a forgotten dream/calling to fruition? For me, it was losing a job I hated but needed, to push me into trying again.
I’m thankful for losing my job. Yes, sometimes it’s scary. What if clients don’t come through this month? What about next month? But on the other side of that coin is control over my schedule, getting to use my creativity to meet the needs of clients who so far have been absolutely wonderful to work with, and most importantly, I get to spend so much more time with my family.
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.
210 Creations is a creative agency that provides digital media assets and services, to meet your marketing needs. We provide services such as:
Logo design, web design, graphic design, photography, social media management, content creation, audio production, and video production.
I am proud of all the services Offered under the 210 banner, but really push our video production services.
Our goal is to provide top tier level services that meet your budget.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
I think it boils down to the way I run things. It’s very different most everyone in this profession. You see, I’m not a “business man”. I didn’t go to school for this. I went to school for music. I’m an artist and a creative. And that comes first. I do my best to price things fairly and keep constant, open, and honest communication with my clients through out the duration of their project. And when it’s all said and done, I won’t the client to love the product, but also want them to recognize there was something different about working with me. There’s kindness, peace, patience, and joy that flows from 210.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?
I’ve completely divorced quality of life from money. I think this is very counter cultural. Yes, obviously there will always be money involved with living, but I don’t believe that there’s is a monetary value that could ever make me happier than living what I do everyday, being able to put my work away, and being fully present and at peace for my family. I’m blessed to have a roof over my head, and yes my wife and I work hard for the life we live, but my “quality of life” does come from a salary. It comes from position of my heart and mind.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.210atl.com
- Instagram: @210atl