Seven years ago, Rob Baird, Seth Gaffney, and Krystle Loyland left Mother NY to set up their own shop- Preacher.
I got the chance to sit down and have a chat with Rob and Seth. I learned they made a deliberate decision to locate to Austin- partly because Rob wanted to head back to Texas, but also because they wanted to impact, connect, and contribute to a place with a diverse artistic culture. They added an art gallery to their agency space from the get-go.
In the conversation, we talk about the importance of having a point of view as an agency, the advantage of having skilled practitioners from different disciplines as founders, working with friends, and building a "family" culture that is strong enough to support a cast of 60 folks.
Importantly, they've learned from some of the best along the way, and instead of jettisoning some of that thinking- they've used it as a foundation to build from; they clearly have tremendous respect for their alma mater- Mother; they parted as friends, and the larger agency has consistently supported them from the sidelines.