We recently connected with Cliff Washington and have shared our conversation below.

Cliff, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

Initially, the idea was to create a collective of creatives and entrepreneurs of color. But when my partner backed out, I took the collective name and turned it into a consultancy to help companies trying to do good in the world scale their brands.

Cliff, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My company Duke & Jo consults businesses in brand strategy and creative services. I worked many years as a graphic designer, but I started to have desire for a larger impact on business. In my practice, I help businesses plan for the growth of their brand by aligning values, customers, and goals. I’ve worked with filmmakers, climate companies, a group therapy practice, executive coaches and more. I’ve provided brand strategy facilitation, web design services, brand identity design, and user experience design for my clients.

Brand strategy is a particular type of alchemy that can provide guidance and direction for a business to scale, rather than plan in the dark. What sets me apart is knowing the right questions to ask my clients. The questions I ask clients as a Brand Strategist are more important than assuming I have the answers. I think the success of a Brand Strategist can measured by how curious they are about the people they serve.

I’m most proud of the clarity I bring my clients. I’ve repeatedly heard from clients that I’ve took the jumble of ideas they have in their head and made sense of them. What I want people to know about my business is that I’m a guide and partner on the journey of brand transformation. Many times it takes an outside eye to call out blockers and identify opportunities for change.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

During the pandemic I got laid off from the full-time job I had at the time, and I went through a break-up. I moved back to my parent’s home in upstate NY to save money, but felt very defeated. I had to fight and claw back through a career pivot, and a lot of contract work. After a few years, I was able to get another full-time that allowed me to move back to NYC.

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

After I was laid off from my full-time job as a Sr. Digital Designer at ViacomCBS, it was the perfect time to jump headfirst into a career pivot. I knew I wasn’t happy with the direction of my career, and I needed to take a risk. I joined a creative professional group (headed by Jose Caballer) that met over weekly zoom calls to discuss how we could pivot our careers and how that pivot reflected life transitions. Keone Chong, a former agency lead, was one of the group leaders and became my mentor. He helped me triangulate where I wanted to take my career.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://dukeandjo.co
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knocliff3/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cliffwashington/