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

Alright, Thommy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One of the most important things we can do as business owners is ensure that our customers feel appreciated. What’s something you’ve done or seen a business owner do to help a customer feel valued?

At the beginning of the pandemic, March 2020, we noticed that many local businesses were afraid to spend money on marketing, and a lot of these businesses went silent. Knowing how customer engagement drives sales, my team and I created the LemonAid program where we offered free social media graphics to local businesses to help promote themselves in these difficult times. This program was so popular that when word got around, we were able to help 37 business, created over 100 ads, and donated more than 100 design hours to businesses in need. Although we did this because it was the right thing to do, we did end up getting a lot of local press coverage. I was also awarded the City of Hamilton, Ohio’s Small Business Person of the year in 2020. Although it was never confirmed, I assume it was because due in large part to our LemonAid program.

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

I was the weird kid that knew EXACTLY what I wanted to do for a living at the ripe age of 8 years old. Around 1983, My dad started his own company, Long’s Handyman Service, and he went to the library to check out all these books about logo design and typography. I watched him draw the letter L in a dozen different ways, and I was immediately hooked. I was obsessed with typefaces and letter forms. Also, after a trip to a cousin’s house and finding out he went to the Art Academy of Cincinnati, I asked him if they had a “logo degree” — remember I was 8! Once I found out this was a career choice, I knew what school I wanted to go to, and my mind was set. During high school career fairs watching all the other students scrambling to try find a career option they liked, I just sat back and said “I am going to art school.” There was no other option for me. At 17, I entered a school-wide contest to redesign the Fairfield City Schools logo, and my design was chosen — that sealed the deal.

I pitch LemonGrenade as a “Full Brain” studio, meaning we can do everything from brand strategy, create marketing plans, etc. (left side of the brain) as well as handle all creative needs (right side of the brain). Our services can be boiled down to two buckets: branding and marketing. For new businesses or organizations that need a new identity, we create a complete branding package, and on the marketing side, we do it all — digital, print, video, you name it.

What sets us apart from others? We are a small agency of 8 creatives, so a client can contact one of our designers directly to help speed up the communications. We provide excellent work AND we can do it fast as well which is rare — usually you can have one or the other, and we provide both.

What I am most proud of? My team. I was always told by previous employers and business coach to always hire people that are better than you. In my 25-year career, I can honestly say the team at LemonGrenade is the best team I have ever worked with. Culture is very, very important with a small team, and I have actually turned away super talented designers because their personality didn’t really fit in with our core values and culture. I built the creative agency that I always wanted to work for — an agency that is all about the team.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

4 words: Don’t be a jerk. We are fortunate enough that 99% of our new business comes from referrals. Clients are our partners — we look for long-term clients and not one-off projects. If you treat a client like they are part of your own team, they tend to stay as on-going clients. I have seen so many Creative Directors talk down to clients stating that they are the experts and the client needs to let them just do their jobs. When our clients want to see something that we know is not right for their brand, we will still show them that creative but explain why it doesn’t work and show them a strategy that better aligns with their brand.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Solving our client’s problems with two simple things: images and words. I love getting to know their pain-points and figuring out a plan with my team to help solve their challenges with great creative. I love all the handwritten thank you notes that we proudly display here in the studio. I love opening our studio to all the schools in the area and letting their students come here for field trips and job shadowing. I wish I could have experienced visiting a creative agency when I was in my middle or high school. Many of the kids have no idea “commercial art” is a career option, and I love seeing their enthusiasm when they are here. We love helping non-profits and giving back to our community here in southwest Ohio.

Contact Info:

• Website: [email protected]
• Instagram: lemongrenadecreative
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lemongrenadecreative

Image Credits
2022 LemonGrenade Creative We took all the photos internally. We own the rights