Q&A WITH STEVEN ASBURY.

"Hey, purple scarf!" 

It was my identifier in the email I had sent Steven Asbury, designer for and founder of Asbury Design, the previous day asking to meet.

I had the great privilege of sitting down with Asbury to pick his brain about all he's accomplished and exactly what he can accredit his success to. & I'm happy to share some of the points in our discussion that strongly resonated with me.

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Q: What were some of biggest trials you face when you started up your agency?

The hard part for any agency is getting traction. Agencies are like restaurants. In my short time here, I've seen a lot of people open agencies and then close...I mean I've probably seen at least five agencies just in this market that have sprung up and gone away just in the last five years...The skills it takes to be good at something are often different the skills it takes to run a business in that industry. You can be a great chef, that doesn’t mean you’re a great restaurateur.

[Upon getting started,] I knew a lot about what I did and not a lot about how to run a business. 

Q: What are some of the benefits of having a smaller agency that you, yourself own?

Yesterday’s a great example, I spent my days in meetings…in a larger agency maybe an account rep would be doing those.

 I think it's good for me for a couple reasons: one: the client gets to talk one-on-one with me. The other things is if I spot problems, I can discuss that right out. I had a client yesterday that I met with and they wanted to do something in their ad that I didn’t really think was a good idea but I was right there to say, "you know what? I understand where you're coming from…I think this might not work for you and here's why..." And we could have that discussion right there in person, on the spot.

I think that direct communication is valuable.

Q: Did you always know you would pursue a career in design/have your own agency?

It was really just kind of a leap of faith for me. Although for a while I toyed with the idea of going into architecture.

I've always been wired for design...designers are just wired differently--we think about what we put on when we get up in the morning--and that's a good thing.

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Some memorable quotes from Asbury:

"Two things make a great agency: great clients, and being able to do great work for those great clients."

"I'm a swing for the fences kind of guy. You might strike out, but you might hit a home run--so you

might as well try."

"I love my work."