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Meet Skot Waldron of Multiple Atlanta in Norcross

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Skot Waldron.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I attended school at The Portfolio Center in Atlanta from 2000-2002. I went through school like any normal student/designer would. During my last quarter, I was approached by the admin at the school about an interview in Chicago. Of course, I wasn’t about to turn that down, so along with two other classmates, flew up to Chicago. All three of us interviewed, hung out, schmoozed a bit, then flew back home. A few days after that I was offered a job at SamataMason. Then, two weeks after the offer my wife and I moved to Chicago, away from the south, away from family, away from everything familiar.

That set me on a path of independence and really finding out who I was as a designer and as a person. The partners at SamataMason gave me every opportunity to grow and learn. We were “small” (about 20 people) so we all wore a lot of hats. I built amazing relationships with amazing people while I was there. Despite our love for the people and the city (I mean, who thought it was a good idea to build one of the biggest cities in the U.S. on the side of a lake?! While beautiful, it makes for horrible traffic conditions at all times of the day or night. Yes, I know about Atlanta traffic. Still, I don’t think it has anything on Chicago), it was time to move home after 7 years of the blistering cold and wind. We were pregnant and we missed the south (no, they don’t have grits in Chicago). Our families were here and we needed to come home. The partners at SamataMason offered me a partnership at that time and the opportunity to open our Atlanta office. Uhhh, hell yeah, I’ll do that!

So, pregnant wife? Check. Moving truck? Check. New adventure? Check.

I come from a family of entrepreneurs. I had lots of help getting things rolling and people to hit up for advice. That wasn’t a problem. Finding new business in a new market for us? That was a different story. It was tough. Just me, in my home office figuring out how I was going to grow. Despite the typical struggles, we grew. I started teaching at the Portfolio Center, which is where I snagged my first employee after about a year of being in business. That next year, I met a few other people that became part of the team, and we started cranking out the work.

We landed a new client, Chase Bank. Competing with five other Manhattan-based ad agencies can be a bit intimidating. What we thought was great, and a tremendous example of who we were as a team, was that fact that we built every comp on the home dining room table of one of my employees. Her husband was spray mounting books and we were running to Staples for extra supplies. We walked into that presentation as the underdogs and came out on top, beating out three other agencies. We still like to think about Chase or those other agencies picturing us huddled around a dining room table in Virginia Highlands knowing that they probably wouldn’t have given us the time of day had they known. We didn’t need 10,000 sq. ft. of space in Manhattan, or shiny conference rooms with 300 people on the payroll to produce something great. What we did need was:

1. A solid vision
2. A strategy for implementation
3. A desire to fight, despite our size and resources
4. A sense of unity that no matter what, we could walk away knowing we rocked it.

Design has always been a part of who I am. It’s what’s shaped my world and the world of my family. I’m 39 now and thinking about how I was to spend the rest of my life. Creating great work for great people brings tremendous amounts of satisfaction. I never want to stop being a part of that. But, teaching, mentoring, shaping, and empowering people is my “why”. Why I get up in the morning. Why I do what I do. Why I strive to grow. Whether it’s a student, an employee, or a new client, my goal is to walk away from that relationship knowing that I was able to share a little bit of what I know to help them on their own journey. And, at the same time, learning from them what I need to learn to be better.

I’m a people person. I dig people. Relationships are what make or break us. I’ve learned that we can create great work, and not-so-great work, but the relationships we’ve built along the way are what will stick. They are the people that will continue to shape our lives regardless of our positions in an agency or our places in life.

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?
Building a business always has its ups and downs. There is no such thing as “consistency”. Once you feel secure in one area, something else pops up and throws you for a loop. Figuring out how to scale has to be one of the biggest challenges, along with taking the necessary risks.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Multiple Atlanta – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Multiple Inc. is team of strategists, designers, researchers, brand consultants, marketers, content creators, web developers, video producers, and certified HubSpot partners focused on helping clients innovate, differentiate, and communicate.

We bring extensive experience, structure, and a proven process to help our clients clarify their message, develop their brand, and drive quality traffic through digital marketing strategies.

So, we are first and foremost “brand people”. Everything we do considers the brand first. We aren’t a website company, or a brochure company. We believe in providing long-term value in whichever way possible. We’re highly focused on digital strategy and bringing more consistency and strategy to our client’s online efforts.

What makes us different? I said it before. We are “brand people”. There are a lot of agencies that focus solely on generating leads for your business without any thought of how it affects your overall brand. Design isn’t really a consideration, nor is the entire brand strategy (if there is one). We understand and preach branding. It should be at the core of who you are and what you do. Your marketing will fall apart without a strong brand to support it.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
I noted earlier that while design will always be part of who I am, my big focus is going to be on education and empowering those around me. I’ve been in this industry for 16 years and feel that I have something to give.

I’ve started publishing a little more to my new blog, www.thoughtsofabrandstrategist.com

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Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.

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