We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Hamid Ahmadi. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Hamid below.

Hamid, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

In January of 2024, I was let go from my job out of nowhere. I still remember that day. My phone lit up nonstop. Nearly the whole office reached out asking what happened, if I was okay, trying to make sense of it with me. My favorite message came from my former Marketing Director. She wrote, “You’re a phoenix who’s going to rise from the ashes.” At the time, I felt anything but that.

It’s strange how quickly you can go from feeling steady to questioning everything. I knew my work ethic wasn’t the issue. My performance wasn’t the issue. They simply decided they didn’t want me there anymore. Still, it hit hard. I felt embarrassed. I felt like I wasn’t good enough. And for months, applying to jobs triggered this heavy wave of imposter syndrome. I’d open LinkedIn, start typing, and immediately feel like I was pretending to be someone more qualified than I actually was, even though deep down I knew I had put in the work and had built real experience.

I let myself feel it. I didn’t rush to “bounce back.” I sat in the discomfort for a bit, and eventually something shifted. I started reminding myself of everything I had done in my past roles: the wins I created, the ideas I shaped, the projects I brought to life. Once I got honest with myself about that, the next question came naturally: Why am I putting all this energy into trying to work for someone else, when I could put the same energy into working for myself?

That thought changed everything.

Instead of sending another application, I started The 847 Collective. It wasn’t glamorous at first. It was slow, it was messy, and it required a level of self-belief I had to rebuild from scratch. But once it started to grow, it grew fast. What started as a handful of clients has turned into a full creative studio with real momentum. In just twelve months, we’ve grown to the point where we receive a minimum of three new client inquiries a month, all through word of mouth and the work speaking for itself.

Getting fired felt like the worst thing that could’ve happened to me at the time. It ended up being the push I didn’t know I needed. Losing that job forced me to trust myself, back my own ideas, and build something that now feels far more aligned than any role I could’ve applied for.

It was a risk, but it was the one that changed everything.

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 name is Hamid Ahmadi, and I’m the Founder of The 847 Collective. We are a Chicago-based boutique creative communications studio working with design and hospitality brands. We specialize in Social Media and PR + Communications, but at our core, we’re here to help our clients be seen in a way that reflects who they actually are and not who their industry expects them to be.

My introduction to design goes back to my childhood. My father has a rug store, and growing up, I watched him work with interior designers constantly. My first window into the design world was seeing projects come to life, hearing designers talk through concepts, and understanding how much detail goes into things most people overlook.

That early exposure eventually shaped the direction of my own career. I landed my first internship at the Soucie Horner Design Collective on their Marketing team, and I still take a lot of pride in that role. It gave me the chance to learn how communications actually function in three different verticals at once: SHIIR Rugs (luxury product), Soucie Horner Interiors (interior design), and the Wickwood Inn (boutique hospitality). It was the perfect crash-course in understanding how design businesses operate from the inside out.

The biggest thing I took away from that time was a pattern I kept seeing, not just at SHDC, but with other design studios as well: incredibly talented people producing thoughtful, high-level work, yet without the time, structure, or bandwidth to communicate it in a way that matched the quality of what they were creating. No matter the vertical, the same challenge appeared. That gap is what led me deeper into this field. It showed me that I could bridge the creative side with the storytelling side in a way that felt personal, considered, and aligned with the identity of whoever I was supporting.

What sets The 847 Collective apart is our approach. We don’t believe in templated strategies or chasing whatever everyone else is doing. We take the time to understand each client, and not just what they want to post or pitch, but how they think, how they make decisions, and what they care about.

I’m most proud of our clients. We work with brands that aren’t afraid to stand out in their industries. Brands that push boundaries and take risks. That shared mindset is what makes the work feel aligned. They don’t want to be considered “the norm,” and they don’t want to “appeal to the masses,” and neither do we.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Word of mouth and simply sharing our work does wonders. I love when we get referrals because they are typically brands we are aligned with.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

There are so many things I find rewarding about what I do. I love seeing projects, campaigns, and shoots move from an idea to something real. I love the rush of securing media placements for our clients and watching their work reach the audience it deserves. But the part that stays with me the most is the people.

Being in a creative field means you’re constantly surrounded by other people who think differently, who question things, who see the world through their own lens. Every creative I’ve crossed paths with has taught me something. Whether it be about their work, their process, their perspective, getting to exchange ideas with people like that, to build something together, to learn from each other in real time, is truly the most rewarding part for me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://the847.co
• Instagram: the847.co

Image Credits

Photos courtesy of The 847 Collective.