Meet Decatur Associate Creative Director: Michael Rivera

Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Rivera.

Michael, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
From very young, I knew I always wanted to do something in the creative world, and that passion has never left me. Upon deciding that I was going feet first into the creative world in high school I began researching art schools and found that SCAD was going to be a perfect fit for me. While I was in college I had many professors that were inspiring and helped steer me into advertising. Upon graduating my first job was roughly 2 hours to work and I’m sure I could have been paid more to say “welcome to Walmart” but it was a position in my desired career path so I stuck to it. After 2 years or so there I decided to look for something new and began taking on freelance work. One of the first jobs I took was for a boutique agency that was a team of 1 :). I knocked out the project and we began working together quite often. After about a month of freelance we decided to take the agency to the next level, we rented office space in Richmond Hill Georgia and began taking on any and all types of projects from our 1 room no windows office. After about 6 months of that, we had a sales staff of 3 and had a design intern. After a year we ended up moving our office to River Street in Savannah GA with a staff of 9 full-time employees. I help run and grow the agency for 3 years until I decided to sell my part of the business and make a move into a strong focus in the digital world. Savannah only provided a limited amount of this work so I began to seek other areas to help grow and strengthen my career. After meeting my now Fiancé Johanna Anderson, which by the way is also a very talented writer and Interior Designer, at a conference that I helped put together with American Advertising Federation, we both decided that neither market we were in could support our career goals so Atlanta became our target. Once here I have worked for a couple boutique agencies and a couple larger ones as well. I am currently at Big Red Rooster as an ACD and am loving it. I am the digital expert in the office and have worked on large enterprise project in both the digital and traditional spaces. One project that I am particularly proud of working on here is the largest mobile multitouch screen application in the US. I have also worked on many global accounts in my career ( Rheem manufacturing , ATT, Piedmont Healthcare, Cannondale, Zoetis (formerly phiser animal health),ticket master and mars drinks.

Has it been a smooth road?
Definitely not a smooth road, a career in the advertising world takes a special kind of dedication and commitment from not only yourself but your family as well. Long hours, crazy demanding clients and very little pay at the beginning led to many doubts about choosing the right career. Thankfully I stayed the path and am more than happy for the trajectory that my career has been going in the past few years.

So, what should we be on the lookout for, what’s next in store for you?
Continued work towards creating unique compelling creative stories that are not only visually attractive but will also help clients reach their goals. I’m also looking forward to continuing to be a mentor, manager, and motivator guiding the creative teams which I have the pleasure to work with.

Let’s dig a little deeper into your story. What was the hardest time you’ve had?
The most difficult part of my career was easily in the beginning when you have to basically accept any position to get your foot into the industry. My first several jobs were very poorly paid and required multiple jobs to continue working towards my goals. I was able to make my way through by blind ambition that I would make a creative career work for me. Long hours, over delivering on projects and continued curiosity in learning more about all aspects of the advertising world.

Are there days when you feel like you’ve done everything you wanted to, careerwise – the “I’ve made it” kind of moments?
When E2 Marketing went from just a very small shop in Richmond hill GA to a team of 15 and an office on river street in savannah GA with waterfront views. This was the first time that I felt like my career was a smart choice. The next big jump was the move from savannah to Atlanta to begin working on national client work and begin the journey of managing and curating creative talent.

Contact Info:

• Website: michaelrivera.me
• Email: mriver21@gmail.com
• Instagram: bonesrivera
• Other: https://dribbble.com/bones_rivera

Image Credit:
mars drinks , and anything Rheem related was done while working with Big Red Rooster. Working Class Studio was done while working with South Point Media. The VPI logo and anything animal related as well as Cannondale was done with Brown Bag Marketing