An Open Letter to Everyone Who Has Helped Make Creative Work for 15 Years
In 2012, President Barack Obama gave what was, at the time, a pretty standard campaign speech. As we all well know, standards and norms have taken a back seat to vitriol and fabrications in our political discourse. However, at the time, President Obama’s critics seized on a couple of fairly anodyne remarks that, in my estimation and experience, were undeniably true.
[L]ook, if you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own … I’m always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart… There are a lot of smart people out there [who might think] [i]t must be because I worked harder than everybody else. Let me tell you something — there are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there. If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that. The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together.
A little over a year before that speech, Fahrenheit Creative Group opened its doors at 921 N. Congress Street in Jackson, Mississippi. A few months before that, I had been approached by a fellow church member who had led a small agency for years about starting a Black-owned, full-service marketing firm. I had only really come to understand what a marketing agency was and did about five years earlier, when I was introduced to GTM, a marketing and branded entertainment agency launched by five sharp brothers who I admire and appreciate: Karl Carter, Courtney Counts, Darius Evans, Shawn Howard, and Kembo Tom. Had I not met those brothers and experienced GTM, Fahrenheit Creative Group as we know it likely would not exist.
I didn’t get here on my own.
Back to 2011. So, Olivia Goodheart, FCG co-founder and former colleague, saw something in me, and we started an agency on $1,000 and a dream. Our office at 921 N. Congress was on the vacant side of the Mississippi Head Start Association office, where my mom still serves as executive director. It was two small offices at a rate we could afford. But, looking back, I also think it grounded us in doing the work that really matters for clients and being proximal to the places where we want to create new possibilities.
A lot of somebodies along the way gave us some help.
About two years in, we landed our first big contract: a $90,000 project to create a campaign supporting the Mississippi Department of Education Office of Compulsory Attendance’s dropout prevention efforts. That contract and the subsequent renewal enabled us to purchase the 215 W. Capitol Street building in downtown Jackson, where things started to get interesting.
There are a whole lot of hardworking people out there.
By that time, Olivia had moved on to new opportunities, so I had to hire my first team member: Tarrenta Thomas. I am deeply grateful that Tarrenta took a chance on supporting the dream I was building at the time. Not long after Tarrenta joined, a graduating Belhaven senior named Katy Veldhorst (now Hendricks) walked through the back door of the warehouse, arm in sling and portfolio in hand (that included a creative ad for Chaco flip-flops and an interesting use of actual ketchup and mustard). Katy celebrated her tenth year with the agency last year. Over that time, the agency grew due to the amazing work and creativity of people like Saddi Thompson (my actual brother), Anetra Yearwood, Dr. Elaina Range Jackson, Courtney Counts (yes, that Courtney Counts), Reshonda Perryman, Anissa Hidouk, Willette Thomas, Christine Hunt, M.B. Humphrey, Spencer Davis, Kerry Nash (aka Cocky McFly), Cassidy Birchfield, Amara Johnson, Jalisia Manning, Kennedy Jones, Joecephus Martin, Daniel Thompson, Liynaa Johnson, Lena Horne, Abiola Afolabi, Tasia Muse, Sandra Grady, Iman Terry, KiSondrea Bradford, Asia Mangum, Gabriel Austin, Aquita Brown, Crystal Richmond, Bettina Okafor, Amira and Aisha Carson, Halle Coleman, Renard Elliott, Amber Gillespie, Willie McCaleb, Quinn Garrett, Kajah Kennedy, Amber Parker, Aleesha Smith, and Mary Katherine Oglesby.
We succeed because we do things together.
All of those people helped make Fahrenheit Creative Group what it is now, and courageous, creative, curious, clever, and compassionate folks like Darius Curtis, Alexis Jones, Amanda Graves, Sherri Levi, Shantae Perry, Delores Thomas, Leah Marshall, and Von Gordon (and of course, Katy Hendricks) are helping shape the future of the agency, as we continue to fight for justice, equity, and the community we love dearly.
So, I didn’t get here on my own, and I didn’t build this alone (although I do love a good Franklin Saint clip). That’s why we’re celebrating by connecting, learning, and sharing what we’ve learned and where we want to go. Because we can’t get there on our own.
Peace.