We recently connected with Ray Fontaine and have shared our conversation below.

Ray, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Often the greatest growth and the biggest wins come right after a defeat. ther times the failure serves as a lesson that’s helpful later in your journey. We’d appreciate if you could open up about a time you’ve failed.

I’m Ray Fontaine—designer, community organizer, strategist, and serial founder. I’ve built businesses, collectives, coalitions, and cultural campaigns. Some flourished. Some fizzled.

Every, single one shaped the founder I am today.

In the past few years, I’ve been kicking the habit of starting things that don’t exist yet and figuring out the business model later. I’ve dissolved partnerships, restructured businesses, and rebuilt from burnout more times than I can count.

If you’re looking for a mirror for personal growth—
Start a business. There’s no faster way to confront your flaws, your patterns, and your brilliance than becoming:
– the boss,
– the strategist,
– and the one responsible for paying people to bring your vision to life.

Entrepreneurship is beautiful. It’s brutal, exhilarating and exhausting. It will stretch you in ways you never imagined.

Hearcuffs: exhibited my thesis design for new hearing aid technology and accessories at Dubai Design Week! Discovered how expensive and long the process is to take a medical design to market. Got in an IP battle. Let the project die. Not my boldest moment. Hey – I was 24!

Next up- Cactus Creative—my first post-grad venture—was a brilliant idea… not so far from the business I run today
but the partnership lacked alignment. We had a shared skillset, but not a shared vision. That dissolution taught me one of the hardest lessons of entrepreneurship: No matter how good the product, the people matter more.
I had to learn that lesson more than once, because it turns out– humans are pretty complicated!
Next came Clever Tech Digest—a feminist tech media project. We had buzz, a killer team… but no revenue model.
our passion couldn’t pay the bills, and we wound up broke, and burnt out.

That failure made me obsessed with two things:
A strong business model and sustainable operating systems.

Because no mission can scale without the infrastructure to support it.

Then came Bywater Branding.
My baby.
My battleground.
My rebirth.

I built it to serve mission-driven orgs with branding and strategy. It grew fast. I hired staff. Took on a partner.
And a few years later…had to buy them out when I realized our values just didn’t align…oops I did it Again.

So I restructured.Same offerings. Clearer vision. Bywater Branding 2.0 is leaner, smarter, and rooted in a values-first approach that galvanizes community action!
Pretty cool right?
Living the dream.

Overall – my greatest failure has been when I REALLY disappointed a BIG client. We had jumped in with a loose contract that had limited stated expectations, timelines, deliverables, etc. The only thing that was clear – was how much money they were committing to pay my business. That lack of clarity and accountability led to a situation, where both I and the client felt disrespected and disappointed. We couldn’t reconcile. My great takeaway, was that contracts REALLY matter. I try to make sure I constantly reiterate expectations, deadlines, deliverables, compensation, and establish what my expertise is, and what it isn’t. Prioritizing contracts and boundaries protects me and the client, builds trust, and creates value.

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

I’m Ray Fontaine—artist, strategist, and founder of Bywater Branding Services. I work at the intersection of creativity, culture, and communications, helping mission-driven businesses and grassroots organizations turn their ideas into magnetic brands, campaigns, and public-facing work that reflects who they are and what they stand for. My focus is on cultural movement that supports sustainable communities.

How I Got Started:
I’ve always been drawn to stories—the ones we inherit, the ones we shape, and the ones we tell through visuals, spaces, and systems. My background is in art and design, but I got into this work by building things I wished existed. That includes collectives, campaigns, coalitions, and businesses that bridge art with action. Over the years, I’ve worn a lot of hats: muralist, copywriter, brand strategist, educator, creative director. I’ve learned to start where I am, gather the right collaborators, and make something out of whatever tools are on hand. That scrappy DIY spirit is still at the heart of what I do.

What I Do:
At Bywater Branding, I lead a small-but-mighty collective of designers, copywriters, and strategists who specialize in branding for people and projects that are changing the world in tangible ways. We offer brand development, campaign strategy, UX/UI design, and media + event production rooted in story and strategy. Lately, I’ve also been leading larger-scale cultural initiatives like Climate Culture NOLA and the Moonlit Waters Project—creative interventions that use design and storytelling to shift public perception around climate resilience, ecological grief, and collective healing.

The Problems I Solve:
A lot of my clients are visionaries—people doing incredible work who struggle to talk about it in a way that sticks. They’re often overwhelmed, juggling too much, or unsure how to present themselves with clarity and cohesion. I help them find the thread, shape the story, and align their visuals and voice so that their work feels as impactful externally as it is internally. Whether it’s a small professional development nonprofit that needs messaging to attract the right sponsors, or a city-wide climate initiative that needs a bold public presence, I bring both structure and soul to the process.

What Sets Me Apart:
I don’t separate art from strategy or brand from culture. I see design as a form of cultural organizing. My work isn’t just about making things look polished—it’s about building trust, shifting narratives, and opening up new possibilities. I also work with an intentionally diverse, values-aligned team that can scale up or down depending on the client. Because I’m a practicing artist myself, I understand both the emotional depth and the logistical complexity of creative work. That dual lens—creative and operational—helps me guide clients through messy transitions, rebrands, and campaigns with clarity and momentum.

What I’m Most Proud Of:
I’m proud that I keep growing and learning. I’m proud of building a business that lets me support artists, educators, climate advocates, and culture bearers in ways that feel generative—not extractive. I’m proud of creating tools and visual systems that help people get unstuck and show up more boldly. And I’m proud of the collaborations that keep growing into real community—relationships where we move from project to project together, building something bigger over time. My business started with editorial photoshoots and logo design, and has grown into conscious company that supports the betterment of my city, New Orleans.

What I Want You to Know:
If you care deeply about what you do and need a creative partner who can help you name it, shape it, and share it—I’m someone who brings both the vision and the execution. My work is rooted in New Orleans but resonates far beyond. Whether you’re launching a campaign, reimagining your brand, or bringing a new offering to life, I’d love to help you make it unforgettable, meaningful, and built to last.

How did you build your audience on social media?

To build the audience for Climate Culture NOLA, we leaned into the power of short-form video—specifically Instagram Reels—to merge cultural relevance with environmental messaging. Equally important was our use of collaborative posts with local culture bearers, artists, and organizers. By co-posting content from community events, performances, and artist residencies, we didn’t just expand our reach—we reinforced our core message: that culture is climate infrastructure. These collabs helped us build trust and authenticity in the feed, turning followers into participants. Instead of speaking at our audience, we built a digital presence that reflected the ecosystem of voices already doing the work—and the result was a growing community that saw themselves in the story.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

One lesson I had to unlearn is that I need to be the most capable person in the room to be valuable or matters. AND that that means I should be the one holding it all together. For a long time, I thought that if I just worked harder—if I planned better, anticipated every need, filled every gap—I could protect the vision and protect the people. But that mindset kept me in a loop of burnout and control, and it left very little room for trust, collaboration, or surprise.

What I’ve learned instead is that strong leadership isn’t about doing it all—it’s about making space for others to show up with their own brilliance. The most powerful work I’ve been part of has come from inviting more voices in, slowing down enough to listen, and letting go of the idea that I have to carry the whole thing alone.

I’ve found as I grow Climate Culture New Orleans, there more I let go of doing everything, the more other people feel invited to SHINE. When my ego gets in the way, and I stop listening or asking for help – we get the weakest results.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bywaterbranding.com
• Instagram: @bywaterbranding
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ray-fontaine-/

Image Credits

First 2 Photos by Sam Birdsong
The rest are Bywater Branding