We were lucky to catch up with Kurt Thigpen recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kurt, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. The first dollar your business earns is always special and we’d love to hear how your brand made its first dollar of revenue.

My very first client I got was when I was in college and I was looking for gigs on Craiglist and found an advertisement from a costume designer a few hours away that needed a website to be able to sell her custom designs. It was very exciting to put myself out there. I remember wanting to make a solid first impression so I drove the two hours to meet with her, and luckily won her over, despite me not having any past clients. I think she appreciated the effort I had made just by meeting in person and we worked together on a few projects over the years! Definitely a great feeling.

Kurt, 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?

I first got interested in the industry in high school. I grew up in rural south Georgia, and the economic opportunities were severely limited due to geography and other factors. My family was very working class and sometimes found it hard to make ends meet. In high school I fell in love with arts and technology programs, and showed a lot of promise when it came to graphic and website design.

I knew if I wanted to earn a decent living and do well for myself that I needed to keep going on this path, and put myself through community college, earning an Associate’s Degree in Web Design. Shortly after graduating, I made the big leap to move to Reno, Nevada to start a new life for myself and focus on building up my career.

I did a lot of freelancing for years as jobs in the creative industry were hard to come by after the Great Recession, and got my first full-time job in the industry working internal marketing at a healthcare non-profit. After a few years there, getting some industry experience, I decided, along with my husband Chris, to launch our own full-service agency called Ace Studios, where we focus on working with clients that create a social impact in the communities they serve – so a lot of small businesses, non-profits, and other cause-related industries.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

So, my husband Chris Thigpen is our co-founder. He’s a talented photographer, videographer and actor. We had long talks at the beginning of our marriage of how we could take control of our destinies by merging our talents together to form an agency and 8 years in business later it has seemed to work out!

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

I think our company’s involvement in our community has helped build a positive foundation for our reputation. We really care about giving back as much as we can and supporting our community’s needs. For me personally I also earned a reputation for getting notoriety of being one of the youngest agency owners at the time and winning accolades as my own story about my journey became more known. I’ve also sat on numerous boards such as for the American Advertising Federation which has helped us land clients nationally as well as speaking engagements and other things that help keep mine and Ace Studios’ name out there. But, at the end of the day, none of those things would be possible if I didn’t have community support.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.acestudios.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/acestudiosnv/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/acestudiosco
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ace-studios-reno/