Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Evan Wetmore Black. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Evan , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear the story of how you went from this being just an idea to making it into something real.

Nothing like getting laid off to jumpstart your entrepreneurial journey, am I right?! My Clarified Communications business partner and I had worked together at a local magazine for nine years; we had also been moonlighting as graphic-design and editorial consultants. Our side hustle was yielding about 10 hours of work per month, and we had discussed at length how cool it would be to eventually transition to full-time. Well, when the magazine folded last fall, we sensed our moment: It’s now or never.

Over the next 10 days, we workshopped a name, came up with a logo, filed the LLC paperwork, and scheduled a photoshoot. Clarified Communications was born! Adrenaline fueled our fire for the next month as we put together a website, created business cards, and planned our “grand opening” announcement on Instagram and LinkedIn. All-in-all, it was a huge success! We piqued the interest of colleagues and friends, and even landed our first couple of clients.

However, we missed one big step of launching a business — and we’d have to circle back to it before we could move forward: Who ARE we? We know what we can do, but what do we stand for, and where do we want to go? Defining and refining Clarified’s values and goals was the key to unlocking the next phase of success.

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.

My background is as a journalist. I’ve been a magazine and digital editor since 2011. I have a talent and passion for storytelling and thoroughly enjoy the process of whittling something down until it is the clearest, cleanest version of itself. It wasn’t until around 2019 that I realized this was a skill I could apply to help businesses grow!

Together with my business partner, Patrick, whose background is in graphic design, I launched Clarified Communications in 2024. Clarified applies an editorial eye to craft compelling brands — from namestorming and logo design to websites and social media, we do it all. We believe a successful brand has a unique but consistent visual identity that connects with clients, builds trust and recognition, and elicits engagement.

We are passionate about the full branding process, but also work with clients who need more “a la carte” services, like copywriting, graphic design, creative direction for photo and videoshoots, and more.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Something Patrick and I have reflected on over the past year is this: If you are skilled at what you do, and you are a kind person, things tend to work out.

In our individual careers, we each prioritized being responsive, empathetic and hardworking. Everyone is tempted to burn a bridge or two — but resisting that temptation is always a good idea. When we stepped out on our own, the outpouring of support and referrals from those in our broader network was encouraging, and continues to validate and inform a lot of our decision-making. We genuinely care about the people we work with, and build authentic relationships that last well past a website launch.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

The single greatest decision we’ve made along our entrepreneurial journey was to work with a business coach. (Shoutout to Susan Wang at Be True Coaching!) I mentioned that we launched our business rather quickly, and three months in, we found ourselves hitting huge communication roadblocks. We had failed to outline our expectations and align our values — but opted to engage a neutral third-party who could guide, mediate and facilitate those critical conversations. This saved our relationship and acted as a springboard for what Clarified Communications is today.

As creatives, a “business coach” seemed a little silly, perhaps abstract, if not unnecessary. But let me tell you: Make the investment. Engage the expert. Prioritize value alignment and goal-setting. You won’t regret it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://clarifiedcomms.com
• Instagram: @clarifiedcommunications

Image Credits

Kelli Durham