Meet Neill Fox of Foxnoggin in Central/Arcadia

Neill Fox, owner/creative director of Foxnoggin, with hand-selected team members for development of an awareness program for eBay Inc. Safety & Security. From left to right: Kathy Fox (office manager), Annie Choi (designer), Christophe Juenot on the roof (illustrator), Juliet Chamberlain (artist representative), Lesley Kitts (senior designer) and Dan Corredor (marketing and strategic partner) along with The Preventors (Travelia, Protecto, Healio and Alerta), characters created for a quarterly comic book to promote awareness of safety and security topics across the 20,000+ global workforce.

Today we’d like to introduce you to Neill Fox.

Neill, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Born in England. Moved to Northern Ireland at age 7. Move to NC at age 11. Attended NC State in Applied Mathematics, Graduated with a degree in Graphic Design and a minor in Spanish. Moved to Phoenix in 1989 to work for Richardson or Richardson. After stints at Mullen Advertising and Young Associates, started Foxnoggin-Thinking Design in July of 2001.

Specifically kept the company small with only contract employees and a team of respected partners and vendors. Enables Foxnoggin to function as an out-of-house freelance creative entity for larger Advertising, Design or Public Relations/Marketing firms, while at the same time growing a steady portfolio of diverse clientele over the last 19 years.

Employing both sides of the brain (analytical thinking + creative solutions), we’ve managed to do our most meaningful work for multiple non-profits around the Valley including Valley of the Sun United Way, Honor Health Foundation, North Central Parenting Group, Christianity Engaged, National Kidney Foundation, Crisis Response Network, A 2nd Act, Frontdoors Magazine, Rancho Feliz Charitable Foundation and many others. And at the same time forge decades-long relationships with other amazing companies including eBay, Inc., Synopsys, Calvis Wyant Luxury Homes, Creighton School District, First Solar, the Navajo Nation, Universal Technical Institute, etc.

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?
Being an entrepreneur is never easy. And with no formal business training, running a small design firm can always be a challenge. I went out on my own 3 months before 9/11, which actually turned out to be fortuitous as businesses began to shy away from larger agencies and look for creative ways to spend their meager budgets. We’ve always tried to be a flexible and responsive partner with whomever we work with, whether it be a small start up to an established Silicon Valley enterprise.

In 2008 we took a hit (as did everyone!), but reaching out to friends, past clients, colleagues and new connections has always garnered a terrific response. And it’s these word-of-mouth connections that have supported us over the years. About 3 years ago, it seemed almost time to hang up the shingle as business ground to halt. It’s at those times you thank fate/friends/family who pick you up and make you believe in yourself.

I’ve always been a shy English boy at heart and while that hasn’t served me well in creating a multi-million-dollar business, it has opened up special connections and trusting relationships based on integrity, honesty and hard work. When situations got tough as a kid, my father always told me to “use my noggin.” I still do.

What were you like growing up?
My transition from being born in England, spending my elementary years in Northern Ireland during a time of great unrest in a small village of 300 people to emigrating to the US and growing up in the South and subsequently ending up in Phoenix, I’ve definitely lived up to the directive “Go West, young man!

The cultural changes/challenges/adversities along the way I think have only made me stronger. And having an international perspective on things has always served me well.

Contact Info:

• Address: 3242 East Indian School Road
• Website: www.foxnoggin.com
• Phone: 602.818.1555
• Email: neill@foxnoggin.com

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