Conversations with Andy Brenits

Today we’d like to introduce you to Andy Brenits.

Hi Andy, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My creative story started when I was a very young child, coloring perfectly within the lines of my coloring books but using unexpected colors in the spaces. And when the pieces of paper I was drawing on were too small, I decided it was perfectly OK to express the stories I needed to tell visually with grand scenes on the walls of the family room.

Fortunately, my parents decided to send me to art and drawing classes rather than admonish me.

Later, I designed and drew by hand (because Macs hadn’t been invented yet) all of the signs for the car wash my friend, and I ran to raise money for comic books (our main inspiration for art) at the time. My first professional freelance project came at 15 when I designed a line of T-shirts for a local surf shop in Long Island, NY (yes, LI has surf shops) and designed the new uniforms for my high school track team. I knew then that design, branding, and marketing were what I wanted to do.

I earned a BFA in graphic design at the School of Visual Arts in New York City and a Master’s Degree in Design Management from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn.

Before founding Brenits Creative, I lead in-house creative teams at GAP, Banana Republic, NFL, KPMG, and Arizona Public Service. An experienced mentor and teacher, Andy has taught undergraduate and graduate classes at Pratt Institute, Rowan University, The Art Institute of Phoenix, Sessions.edu, Columbia University, and most recently, Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). I’ve been accepted as faculty at Grand Canyon University but have not taught a class yet.

Today, I own and run Brenits Creative, an integrated branding, marketing, and creative strategy firm based here in Phoenix (but with clients all over the country) that helps growing businesses and individuals working (mostly) by themselves to compete with big brands by developing and maintaining a consistent way to look, communicate and act.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
When I was in college, I had a sculpture professor tell me, “you’ll never make it in this field,” despite earning a scholarship and being awarded a grant for my work in, you guessed it, sculpture. I don’t know if he really felt that way or was trying to fuel my fire and ambition, but here I am nearly 30 years later and I think I’ve had a successful career so far.

This is actually the second time I’ve owned my own agency. The first one was founded in 1999 and did really well for a few years until the tech bubble burst and the attacks on the World Trade Center on 9/11. At the time, most of my clients were located in or near the World Trade Center. Not only did many of my clients die when the towers fell, but other agencies in the area that I worked with closed. It was a struggle to keep the doors open, and I ultimately had to close down and take a job in-house.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Though my background is in graphic design, I’ve spent most of my career developing brand and marketing strategies for companies, both large and small.

My agency, Brenits Creative, helps growing businesses and business owners who are working by themselves to compete with name brands. We specialize in brand positioning & messaging strategy, naming & visual identity, and brand marketing.

Our BrandStorm process and IdeaStorming sessions are among our more popular services with small businesses.

So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
Most clients start working with us by scheduling either a pick-my-brain session for big ideas, or a BrandStorm to get a strategic roadmap for what they should do next to grow their brand. We also offer brand and marketing coaching for entrepreneurs still in boot-strapping mode who need a push in the right direction.

Pricing:

• I offer free consultations.
• Pick my brain for 60-minutes and get an hour of ideas and strategies that you can act on right away to grow your brand. Fee: $250

Contact Info:

• Website: https://brenits.com

Image Credits
Peter Speyer