We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jonathan Hart a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jonathan , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

The marketing/advertising world is often characterized by toxic working environments. Generations-old marketing and advertising agencies are struggling to get out from under the weight of a tremendous historical lack of diversity and inclusivity.

As a young designer cutting my teeth at large, traditional agencies, I knew owning my own business was in the cards. That’s largely because I was inspired to create a workspace that did things differently from the “old guard.” I also wanted to bring creative folks together to create work from new viewpoints.

The “Bigmouth” name started out as ironic—we didn’t see ourselves as particularly extroverted loud mouths. As we grew, and as our client base grew, the name became a rallying cry. “Bigmouth” roots our team in the idea that our voices, and those of our clients, need to be heard. We use our “big mouth” to do good in the world by amplifying deserving stories in a way that makes people sit up and listen.

Bigmouth puts the phrase “not about us without us” into action to make space for the voices of LGBTQ, women, minority and other marginalized people. Representational marketing and advertising reflects real people by engaging real people in the decision making at the top and from the start.

The Bigmouth ethos is built into everything we do. Our mission is driven by the desire to be a voice for good – to create a culture of respect and inclusion, to work with brands that share our values, to create the very best work we possibly can, and to make a difference to communities that could use our support.

And as part of our mission-driven business model, we value giving a portion of agency fees to charities like Brave Space Alliance and Cradles to Crayons, and prioritize providing low- and pro-bono creative services to nonprofits that benefit our communities.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I come from a strategic design background—I’m a graphic designer by education, but my career was shaped by mentors who allowed my strategic side to shine. I am LGBT-identifying, and while I’ve witnessed some homophobia in my career, much of it is based in microaggressions and misogyny. When I went freelance in 2014, I spent years unpacking those traumas so I could spend the rest of my career fighting them.

Bigmouth is a brand experience design and strategy agency. We aim to help brands struggling to tell their unique story across various marketing activations. Our team uses storytelling and thoughtful design to create successful brand strategies, identity systems, communications, and creative services.

We define our services across three categories: Brand Strategy, Systems & Design, and Marketing & Communications. Our capabilities deck outlines our full range of services, but we’re especially focused on brand blueprints and narratives; content and messaging strategies; identity and design systems; integrated campaigns; printed collateral; websites; and digital marketing.

We’re proud to be a certified LGBT Business Enterprise, a proud Rainbow-level member of the LGBT Chamber of Commerce of Illinois, and the 2021 Winner of LGBTBE of the Year in the state of Illinois.

What problems do we solve for our clients?

Successful creative work is rooted in authenticity, so the first problem Bigmouth solves is one of understanding. We need to reveal who our clients are at their core: their values, their differentiators, their priorities and their unique characteristics that resonate with audiences. This can be a fun process, and it can be an uncomfortable one — especially for clients unaccustomed to self-reflection.

Bigmouth doesn’t just hold a mirror up to our clients — we stand next to them in the mirror and navigate the moment together. Creating a safe space for vulnerable reflection helps us build trust, which inspires honesty, which leads to work that authentically captures our clients and connects with their audiences.

Building trust resonates beyond our agency-client relationships. Bigmouth fosters valuable relationships with other LGBTBE/WBE/MBE organizations. Through these connections, we’ve brought mental health services to underserved communities, built free welcome newborn kits for Chicago-area hospitals, championed women’s rights across the state, and branded a nonprofit that helps victims of gender based violence tell their stories.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Understanding failure as an iterative process.

In the professional services category, you’re taught that failure is to be avoided at all costs. Creative services in particular fear failure more than anything else—clients are looking for ROI, hitting specific sales goals, etc. There’s no room in their budgets for anything but 100% on the first go.

And as an entrepreneur, failure is even scarier! Your life (literally, sometimes your mortgage!) and the lives and careers of others are on the line.

No one is immune from failure. The most successful people will tell you that learning from failure is their No. 1 secret to success. So why don’t we support failure in everything we do?

We have to unlearn our fear of failure by embracing it as an iterative process toward success. And first step in unlearning is trusting others. Your team isn’t a “safety net” for failure—they’re the driving force that polishes failure into previously unimaginable successes.

Once you’ve built a base of trust, success comes from creating environments and holding brave spaces to embrace failure. And that’s a lot of work; it’s never ending. I still struggle with it every day—but I know I’m not in it alone.

Any advice for managing a team?

For a purpose-driven business to succeed, everyone must be on the same page. Your business needs a clear point of view and a set of values it stands behind, no matter the situation. And you need to arrive on that page together: Leaders must give their teams the space to contribute and shape those values.

I first approached leading Bigmouth with radical transparency, but pulled back a little when I realized that people don’t need to know every minute detail all the time. This self-editing isn’t about hiding things or protecting people from the truth; rather, it allows them space to decide when and how to ask questions. When people are informed and feel like they’re on the “inside,” they feel a sense of duty and purpose in maintaining the sanctity of your collective mission.

Next is building an environment that supports vulnerability and bringing your whole self to work every day. Research shows that creating psychological safety is crucial to successful teams. “Bringing your whole self” doesn’t translate to oversharing (nobody needs to know the details of your bunions), but it does mean creating an environment that supports how we live our lives—all the messiness included.

Lastly, find what makes your team thrive, and don’t be stingy in giving them the fuel and processes that support their success. For example, does your team do the best work on their own schedule? Find ways to create processes that support that, then give them the space to define their schedules within that framework. At Bigmouth, we have a team member who maintains our working schedules, and we include those schedules in our email signatures. Clients tell us it helps them understand when they can get in touch with us, and teammates know when to reach out and ask questions, and when to save those questions for another time.

All of this is tough to juggle as a small business owner. So, make time for yourself as well—you’re no good to your team if you’re no good to yourself.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bigmouthcreative.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bigmouthcreative/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bigmouth-creative