Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Sekin.
Chris, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I am a copywriter who is a native of Dallas and never strayed too far from home from the start, which for me, was at The Richards Group in the late 80’s. I stayed there for several years and became a Group Creative Director. I left to become ECD at a digital shop and then at another small agency, to get more insights as to what it was like to run a small agency. Then, in late 2008, when the economy was not so hot, my art director partner, Kent Johnson, and I launched Johnson & Sekin. We have been growing ever since and we’ve never looked back. It has been a tremendously rewarding experience as we have built a truly unique culture, where creative thrives and the personal happiness of our teammates and our clients is always our focus.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has been a smooth road, but like any growing business, we have had our challenges. But that’s all part of the maturation process in business.
You learn from your mistakes, and those of others, and you become stronger. We were very blessed because we were awarded a retainer account, right out of the gate. This allowed us to establish a firm foundation for growth. Since my partner and I both come from the creative side of the business, we were determined to have a creatively driven agency. And for us, that meant building an agency full of creative thinkers, no matter what their discipline. We wanted creatives who could talk strategy and we wanted account people who knew how to sell great creative work. Early on, we started producing award-winning work, become the most awarded agency of any size in North Texas region over the last several years. This allowed us to attract the best creative talent and, in turn, more clients who wanted the best creative talent working on their brands.
Johnson & Sekin Branding Agency – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Johnson & Sekin is a full-service branding agency. A lot of smaller agencies say that, but they end up farming much of their work out to third parties. We actually have the talent and teams on staff who personally create branding in the form of TV, radio, outdoor, point-of-sale, positioning, anything and everything surrounding digital including website design (we have developers on staff) and extensive video content production, social media, even interior design for some of restaurant clients and corporate interiors.
We are known to be a very creative boutique – we are not giant – we have 30+ people on staff. But a high proportion of our staff is made up of writers, art directors and designers. Also, we spend a lot of time on causes very important to us, including Meat Fight which benefits Multiple Sclerosis, the American Heart Association, Blake’s Snow Shack – operated by the youngest Down’s Syndrome business owner in Texas, and providing meals to the underprivileged through our longtime client, Caliber Collision. I am exceedingly proud that we partner with people who realize you can be profitable and do good in the world. On that note, I’m incredibly happy that we have our own Director of Happiness on staff. Her role is to monitor the hearts and souls of our teammates and clients, making sure they have everything they need to be happy, healthy and productive.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Truthfully, the proudest moment of my career happens every time my agency wins a new piece of business. I am incredibly humbled and grateful every time someone entrusts us with their brand and any marketing problem they may have or opportunity that we may find on their horizon. On top of that, a top point in my career is when our Group Creative Director, Shannon Phillips, was the subject of a survivor video for a very large event for the American Heart Association. It was their annual Cotes du Coeur event, which raises money for heart research. We needed to suggest a survivor to be the star of the show, which was done on behalf of Caliber Collision. So we suggested Shannon, because she was born with a pacemaker. Now a mom with two teenage daughters of her own, Shannon became the symbol for hope and a positive attitude for hundreds of people at this event – which raised over $4 million in one evening. Not only did Shannon star in the video and speak at the event, she also designed all of the materials for the event itself, including banners, programs, menus and more. Many tears of joy were shed that night. And important messages were shared. Our relationship with the American Heart Association has continued to strengthen ever since.
Contact Info:
- Address: 800 Jackson Street,
Suite 300
Dallas, TX 75202 - Website: www.johnsonandsekin.com
- Phone: 214-244-0690
- Email: chris@johnsonandsekin.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/johnsonandsekin
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/johnsonandsekin
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/johnsonandsekin
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/company-beta/1438172
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