What happens when a global creative director trades 200-person agencies for a team of seven and starts making more work than ever? Alex Goulart, Founder and Executive Creative Director of Fire Kite, spent two decades creating campaigns for Gillette, Nissan, Honda, and Qatar Airways across Europe and the US before launching his own agency in Franklin, Tennessee. He joins Mark Scrivner to share the Ben Franklin story behind Fire Kite, why strategy has to come before audacity, and how a small team became the most awarded agency at the local Addys. Topics include creative agency growth, brand platform strategy, cause marketing, Nashville’s creative scene, new business development, and creative collaboration.

Episode Highlights

00:00 – Alex shows off a replica of Ben Franklin’s kite
10:28 – Why Alex left big agencies to start Fire Kite
14:01 – The Ben Franklin story behind the Fire Kite name
19:42 – The alien abduction insurance ad in The Wall Street Journal
23:34 – King Tut, charity: water, and a love ballad to the penny
30:20 – Why Nashville’s creative energy feels raw and unformulaic
34:27 – Instinct Sessions and the power of small beginnings
40:30 – A goal to end human trafficking in Nashville in our lifetime