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

Stewart, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?

It’s definitely something I think about often. Happiness as a topic, in general, is something I’m really interested in. As new science, studies, and articles are released, I’m always interested to hear what drives happiness. Even learning about happiness by country has always fascinated me. So, as a business owner, I evaluate pretty often if I’m happier running my own business vs. other options. The high-level answer is yes, but there’s a lot of times when it’s hard and takes (seemingly) more mental load outside of work hours to be processing and thinking about my business than other career options.

I think often about a regular job. Eight years ago, I spent a lot of time freelancing in-house for various agencies and productions studios in Chicago when I lived there. Before that, I had freelanced in-house off and on in previous places I had lived too. Those experiences were great to get a glimpse into what it would be like to work a ‘regular job’ in the motion graphics/production business. I almost always had a great time working with a team, getting to know the workflows and company culture. The collaboration was inspiring. I think between that and the steady paycheck, those are the clear upsides of a regular job. So when running my own business is showing it’s down sides, a predictable paycheck and bigger in-house team always comes to mind.

I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this question this year actually. Our team and Tell has reduced by one person late last year and with a small company of 5, one person less is definitely a chance to evaluate again. On a personal note, I’ve got a growing family with two young kids and so the question of happiness is stretched far beyond owner vs. regular job, and now expands to my family’s happiness. With my time being such a valuable thing with a family, I’ve looked harder and harder at my priorities right now and whether a regular job would give me more time and mental peace, or running my business in a new way would be better. For the last 9 years of running Tell, the goal has been steady but sustainable growth. I’m lucky enough to say that that goal has been met. But as I look at the goal for this year, I’m trying to approach it from the happiness question, the family question, and it’s led to continuing to run Tell, but run it in a way that works well for me. Putting in lots of hours and dedication when it needs it, but on the flip side, when I don’t have client demands, taking time away from work to prioritize everything else is a huge upside and one that I intend to take advantage of much more this year. This idea and decision was easy; implementing it and the mental shift from growth to a sort of ‘let it rest a bit’ this year, has been much harder.

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

I got into graphic design in high school, and when I got to college and learned more about being able to animate, the two interests culminated in motion graphics. Essentially video marketing with graphics. I was lucky enough to start freelancing in the industry in college and haven’t stopped since.

Over the years of starting Tell, we’ve expanded from motion graphics to being a mostly post-production studio, sometimes full service. Which is a long way of saying we do video marketing. Solving marketing challenges for our clients like 3M, Michelin, and Peacock. A new show, service, or startup company who needs to talk about their new offering comes to us and we create a video for them that aligns with their strategic goals.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice

Okay, quick take:
NFTs were amazing at the very beginning. Delivering on their promise to bring a new financial opportunity for artists globally is a beautiful idea.

Unfortunately it quickly turned to favor the tech users/traders of NFTs and the NFT platforms themselves way more than benefiting the actual artists.

So I’m a hard pass on NFTs. Now.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

This a two part answer for me, and the goal is split almost 50/50.

I get a huge sense of value and purpose out of helping our clients. There’s nothing much better to me than clarifying the strategy, audience, positioning, script, look, feel, sound, length, and then nailing a perfect video for our clients that actually does what it was suppose to.

Nothing better, that is, than all of that combined with really beautiful work. So that’s my 50/50 split.

I love the strategy and goal-oriented side of video marketing equally to the creative pursuit of something beautiful. Even better when they can combine. That’s why I’m in this business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.tellstrategicdesign.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tellstrategicdesign/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/18147455
• Other: https://vimeo.com/tellstrategicdesign

Image Credits

Krystal Anderson – Executive Producer