Today we’d like to introduce you to Ross Cromartie.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Ross. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Ever since I was a kid, I loved saying, “I could do better” after watching TV commercials. Now that I’m running a brand agency, I realize how hard it actually is. But I love my job. I’ve always wanted to be creative while building a business, so I’m doing exactly what I want to be.
I started my career in private equity with a focus on commercial property. Some people might think that’s a far cry from advertising, but what we were really doing was looking for opportunities to find value, add value, and market our investments — so there are a lot of similarities. I learned a lot about thinking strategically, evaluating markets, and modeling + measuring ROI that I still use constantly at RBA. I got the chance to jump into the world of branding and advertising due to a series of awesome coincidences. I had a few things happen at work that put me in the position to take a risk, and a supportive network of family and friends who encouraged me to do something crazy by starting my own firm.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
We started our company with a ton of bad ideas, but we were good at learning quickly and constantly evolved our approach. One of the biggest challenges of starting any company is building a great company culture.
In the beginning, we basically had nothing written down, and so we had a lot of arguments about how to do things. Nothing quite like getting a roomful of creative people trying to agree on a singular process! Building company culture is one of the things they teach the least about in business school, so we have had to do a ton of learning on the job. We’ve invested in entrepreneurial systems, workshops, seminars, master classes, and group sessions in pursuit of better team dynamics. It’s been really amazing to see the transformation over the last few years. I can confidently say that our investment in building our team culture has been amazingly successful, and we all really cherish our work fam. It also has made us a lot more effective at our jobs, because happy creatives do way better work.
RBA (Formerly RocketBrand) – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
RBA is a full-service brand and advertising agency. Our purpose is to help good people do great things. We specialize in working with challenger brands – that is, brands who have a passion that outpaces their resources. We love working with companies who are eager to take on their competition and have a bit of a chip on their shoulder.
What we do ranges across almost the whole spectrum of marketing services and includes brand design, strategic messaging and communications, advertising (traditional and digital), and content creation (video, web, photography & VR). We are most proud of our commitment to building a great company culture that feels like a family. There are a lot of great agencies out there, so finding a group you mesh well with is really important. I think what sets us apart is our authenticity and our approach. We were born in a digital era, but we take a holistic approach, and transparency is woven into our DNA. We say “the truth is the most powerful thing in advertising,” so we tell clients what we really think – even when it’s uncomfortable.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I have been blessed throughout my life with an incredibly supportive family and fortunate circumstances. Obviously, to start with, I was born in the greatest state in the world – Texas and in the best city in the world – Dallas. So huge leg up to start with right there. I was able to attend great schools and learn a lot before getting to start my career.
And I while I did have the misfortune to start my career around the time of the ’08 recession (in Arizona no less), I am very grateful for that experience. Learning the ropes during a downturn builds character, and I think I avoided a lot of mistakes that may have been more tempting if I hadn’t seen so many people go bust early in my career. Seeing people who had been doing really well suddenly in a tough spot really gave me perspective and maybe even a little maturity (don’t tell my wife that though or she’ll try to fact-check you).
Contact Info:
- Address: 1350 Manufacturing, Ste 203
- Website: www.therba.com
- Phone: 2146495205
- Email: ross@therba.com
- Instagram: rba.dtx
Image Credit:
All credits to RBA photographers
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