We were lucky to catch up with Eric Gorvin recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Eric 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?

It is often the case that the hardest part of doing anything is starting. I think it’s easy to think about this in a black and white, all or nothing sense. In my case, it was very grey, and very gradual.

I had lived a life of working at very structured 40 hour/week agency jobs and a handful of years being a touring musician and freelance designer for the first seven years out of art school. It was then that I landed a job being a graphic designer at Girl Skateboards and soon thereafter, the art director. This was my quintessential dream job from when I was a little kid. About three years into my employment, I remember being confounded when hit with the internal question, “what do I do next?”. Of course no matter what you do you will always strive for the next thing, but this felt different. How do I top my dream job? It began to be clear to me that I needed to do what I kept pushing off as an impossibility: I needed to start my own creative studio.

But where to start? Do I quit my job now and just dive head first? Do I fake like I’m a big company? Or be a singe freelancer? What do I want and where should I go? How will I survive? The prospect of taking the first step felt daunting.

I am definitely not the one to talk to about financial responsibility or how to take risks responsibly, but what kept echoing in my head (as if I was Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams) was “If you build it, they will come”. I didn’t really know how I was going to do it, but I figured if I just started making moves that the work would just… come. In April 2021 while still at Girl, and after a year of working from home in my 500 square foot apartment, I decided to look around for a commercial studio. Since everything had been vacated during COVID, I scored a deal (still more expensive than my rent but still a deal) at a small studio space in East Hollywood. It had a high ceiling, wood floors, an old warehouse window, and my own bathroom. Suite 210, my little slice of heaven.

After 5 months of being a double agent—working as the Art Director at a major skateboard company and taking my first steps as an entrepreneur—I landed my first big retainer client. A ticket to my new life. I’m still convinced to this day that the only reason it happened is because I was telling all of my close friends “I’m starting my own design agency” even though I hadn’t. In reality I had two IKEA desks, an iMac, and a gold couch I scored off of selling DOGE coin. All of it sat in a fairly empty room, but it was something. And, it was more than working out of my living room. It was a step. But it was enough for one of my friends who is a celebrity hair stylist to put me in one of his client’s ears when asked if he knew anyone who runs creative agencies. And voila, my first real client.

I quit my 9 to 5 and officially started Studio Paralo in October of 2021 and things snowballed from there. As more work came in the studio got more and more outfitted. I was making more money than I had ever made but I still paid myself less than my old salary, spending every last dollar on buying equipment and other stuff to make us (me) look and operate legitimately. Fast forward to present day, we upgraded our space to a 1600 square foot two-story unit and added two employees.

I guess the moral here is that launching a business will never feel like the PERFECT situation. For me, I took a small leap before I took larger ones. There’s lots of really toxic weird entrepreneur stories out there that, in my opinion, are not rooted in any kind of universal reality, and usually are contingent on support systems or business connections unseen to you. They also often insist that you should wait until you have 6 months of expenses saved up and zero debt and a myriad of other non-realistic action items that, if I followed them, would have prohibited me from ever launching my business.

I think there is a really delicate balance to be had between stability and risk. Don’t be an idiot and throw away your day job when you don’t have anything else lined up, but also don’t be an idiot and wait for the pristine conditions to start your dream. Take small steps, then larger ones, and most off all SPEAK THAT SH*T INTO THE AIR. It’s more than woo woo law of attraction stuff, and much more about letting the world and everyone else around you know that you are committed to doing your thing so that the dominos can be set to fall. And, on the woo woo tip: the universe really does have a way of hearing you, so don’t be quiet.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I started designing band tees and artwork while I was touring in a band from age 17-20. That led me into graphic design. I then attended art school at MCAD where I really discovered myself as not just a designer, but as an artist. I graduated with my BFA and since then I have worked at large agencies, small agencies, freelance, in-house, and everything in between.

Coming from a DIY culture of music paired with how exposed I got to all art forms while I was at MCAD, I am blessed to be well versed in graphic design, illustration, screen printing, motion, video, photography, painting, music, and writing. I believe this to be the bedrock of what I decide to make the focus of our service offerings, and how we are able to blend them all effortlessly.

That’s a diverse offering for sure, is that what sets you apart from other agencies?

I think what sets us apart from other agencies and studios is that we are largely empathetic to client needs, while still preserving a certain creative fire that is necessary to create powerful and memorable work—metaphorically speaking, the world is full of pointless noise, and I’d like to think we produce music. There is a tendency to always bow to whatever a client thinks they want, but we inquire further, push further, and create the safe space for people and brands to truly discover who they are and what makes them special. Beyond that, we’re special because everyone at our studio and in our network is an artisan. The bar is very high for me as a creative director and I think we deliver some of the most premier work available on the market.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about our mission and goals. You can throw a rock from anywhere you are and pretty much hit a design agency. That’s why I define us not as an “agency” but rather as a studio. I view us as a collaborative force, a collective, something much more akin to an art studio than a typical white walled agency. In this way, I guess my mission is to create a place that is more revolutionary, more fun, more experimental, more real and authentic…a place that clients come not to just get a handshake and a transaction but a place that invigorates them, inspires them to be better. I’m pushing for a better world, a more beautiful one, and something that everyone can find meaning in.

I made up the word Paralo as an acronym for: peace and respect, and love, obviously. I like to think that that’s the true mission of humanity.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Managing people and maintaining high morale is something that requires a lot of effort and love. People are sensitive and complicated creatures that require more than marching orders and a bag of cash. In my experience, I’ve found that there is no amount of money that can buy loyalty, trust, and respect, which is vital in ensuring that your needs don’t fall on deaf ears. Managing people requires that you create an atmosphere they feel comfortable in to be themselves—whether that’s physical space or how you define the way you want them to work remotely. It takes empowering them and instilling responsibility and pride in the work. By giving the power to everyone to bring their best to the table, the team really starts to manage themselves.

High morale stems from the way you treat people and the way you treat yourself, your space, and your life. I’ve always felt high morale in the past when my superiors would work next to me so that’s something I always try to do: be on the front lines with my soldiers, be an inspiration. Other than that it’s just trying to be the best human you can be. If you are, say, an inspiration to your partner, if you can make the clerk smile at the corner store, if you’re a good friend, if you seek the higher good over egoic motives, you will never experience higher morale.

Contact Info:

• Website: studioparalo.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/studioparalo
• Facebook: facebook.com/studioparalo
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/studioparalo
• Twitter: twitter.com/studioparalo
• Youtube: youtube.com/@goldcouch
• Other: instagram.com/gordyland https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericgorvin