Courtney Campbell
Owner, Campbell Creative
Industry: Branding + Design
WPO Chapter: Broward / Palm Beach
WPO Member Since: 2017
Tell us about your company.
We are a branding + positioning agency that prides ourselves on passionate, real work and lasting relationships. We partner with our clients to concisely and creatively communicate their brand stories to consumers across all touchpoints from print to digital to the built space. We create uniquely branded experiences at every turn for our clients, whether in their printed materials or in their physical spaces that we bring to life. We bring fresh ideas, strategic solutions and unique creative to each relationship. We go beyond traditional media. We break the rules. We find all of the ways that your brand will make people TALK. And then we get to work.
How has being a WPO member helped your business?
Being a WPO member has helped me elevate my game. The organization has given me the tools and resources I needed to convert a business I created truly by accident into a company I am running today with a clear vision, intention, and eye to the future.
What’s your favorite WPO event you’ve attended?
The Annual Conference is my favorite event each year. I love the opportunity to learn and grow combined with the chance to meet new people.
What challenges have you faced as a woman in business?
As a woman in the advertising space, I have always been in the minority. From the day I first entered the space out of college to today, it is an industry where males continue to own the top roles. I never really saw this as a challenge per say, but rather a space I needed to learn how to outsmart. I learned how to stay feminine and true to myself but still win in the boardroom AND win over those coffees and cocktails. It was about relationships and the long game. I believed in my clients and to this day I only partner with brands that I am passionate about, both the company and what they are trying to bring to the world.
What inspired you to start your business?
I joke to this day that my business plan was “Don’t be homeless.” I moved to San Francisco when the bottom fell out of the market and I quickly found myself too qualified to get a job. Unemployable with a year lease and a life out my window I had dreamed of…Failure wasn’t an option, I’d just gotten here. So, I “Craigslisted” myself into a company. I started with small jobs, jobs that were quite frankly well below my skill set and I worked the market every day. The first year I broke even (which for me meant matching my salary from the year before). Every year after that I doubled the company year over year.
What’s the best business advice you’ve ever received?
You never know where opportunity is waiting. Sometimes, saying “yes” to the thing you think you are too good for opens doors and gives you access to things you never could have touched before. It proved to be quite true for me and something I always try to remember. The other piece of perspective it took me a few years to realize is that it isn’t about finding people in a particular industry or with a particular budget. Rather, it is about finding like-minded people… if you can find that in a client, you will win almost every time.
What advice would you give to other women entrepreneurs?
That moment right before you think you are about to hit the asphalt, that’s the moment where everything can shift and true greatness happens.
Connect with Courtney:
