Candid interviews and actionable advice from industry-leading experts and entrepreneurs.
Jeff Parker
Founder & Principal
Mission: We help inspired clients discover and craft their stories in a way that moves people.
Founded: 2004
Santa Ana, CA
Jeff Parker is the Founder & Principal of AkinsParker, a full-service creative agency. He leads offices and teams in California, Florida, and Great Lakes whose relationship-driven approach has made them trusted partners to inspired companies nationwide.
[AT]: How did you get your start before deciding to build AkinsParker?
[JP]: Originally I was a creative director at a larger agency. I got to a point in my career where I started to have opinions and see things that I would want to do differently in terms of client relationships. I also saw things that I wanted to do creatively that may not have been possible.
In creative industries and in advertising agencies, unfortunately, I'd say there's ageism there. There aren’t a lot of 60-year-old creative directors. And I don't have definitive answers as to why that is. Even when I was in my early 30s, I didn't want to end up at 55 as a creative director somewhere. I knew it was better to build my own company.
[AT]: When did you first launch your website?
[JP]: We knew we needed a website right away. I think right now we're on our fourth or fifth-generation website. And a little breaking news - we're also in the process of rebranding!
This next launch is a little more about us and a little less about our portfolio of work. It will be more about who we are as a company.
[AT]: How did you build your team? Or when did you realize that you and your business partner needed more help?
[JP]: We started out as two people in a room doing the work, answering the phones, etc. As business picked up, we started to listen more to the business. For us, we had the workflow down, but we needed to add skills that we didn't have - that we weren't experts in. For us, our first hire was our accountant who I'm really pleased to say still works with us after 16 years.
[AT]: As you scaled, what questions did you ask yourselves?
[JP]: I think the dependency is how do I make my job easier by freeing up what I'm doing and giving it to someone else. I like the strategy of hiring disciplines that you don't have and then staying very close to the business for as long as you can. We also started to ask, why does the business exist? What do we expect it to do?
Fast forward 16 years. We’re now coming into a medium-size business where we opened up our third office. So the challenge is, how does the business grow without me if I can't be in every corner all the time. This is where values become so important. And some people roll their eyes at the mission, vision, values conversations, but it’s really our unique way of working that makes AkinsParker or any company able to operate and grow successfully.
[AT]: What can creative marketing agencies offer business owners and teams?
[JP]: Sometimes, when you’re in a company, you can get tunnel vision because you’re so close to your own products or your own offering. I think the outside perspective becomes really valuable to internal teams.
They’re also benefiting from new ideas and creativity that they don't necessarily have in-house. At AkinsParker, we like to help clients redefine the problem. I know that if we're reduced to just doing what the client says, we become in a way, less valuable to them. We're just production hands at that point to fill a need. Not to say we can’t offer that, but the greatest work happens when you're thinking of the best solution before you're actually building.
[AT]: As a business owner, why is it important to diversify your client base?
[JP]: That's a business strategy as much as a creative strategy. Business-wise, if you're too embedded in one industry, when inevitably that industry is down, like right now, then you sink with it. Whereas, when you also do work in other industries, it makes up for the difference.
Creatively, it works for us too because it motivates our team more to work on different types of projects.
[AT]: What are the top tools that help you run your business more efficiently?
[JP]: 1.) QuickBooks - a small business software for our financials.
2.) Slack - for team communications and project workflow.
3.) Adobe Creative Suite - we're getting more into animations and motion graphics, doing a lot of videos. The platforms are core to our business.
4.) Monday - also a workflow product. It's replacing some aspects of what we use Slack for, but we're integrating different pieces of the two.
The true test for us has been if the technology has very quick uptake on the team. Then I know that it's probably good for us. If the training feels really hard and very deliberate, it likely won't be a success.
[AT]: What advice would you offer business owners?
[JP]: Being a perfectionist and creatively driven person, one lesson I’d offer is don't be afraid to just act and move forward.
More often than not, the people I know who’ve built successful businesses didn’t make it because they had reached the top of the heap in terms of design capabilities or client relationships or because they’re the best planners. They knew what they didn't know. And they marched forward with blind confidence and trusted themselves to make it work. There’s something special about boldly jumping in.
To learn more about how AkinsParker can support your marketing needs, visit their website.
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