Written by Peter Deltondo
Sometimes in life things come full circle. Today is one of those days. Mike Jones & Creative South are both joining the Unfold family today.
Having been a part of the Creative South team myself the past 10 years, I know how hard it is to put this event on for us all. It’s a labor of love that requires giving up a lot of family time on nights and weekends all year long, and about 3-4 weeks of absolute chaos leading up to and shortly after the event each year. The question arose, how much better could we help make this event if we gave Mike the opportunity to work on Creative South with time and a team dedicated to it? This event has played such a critical role in our lives and the lives of our team. How could we empower Mike to take it to the next level?
When a Brand Designer position became available recently that light bulb went off. Could Mike fill both the designer role and have time to focus on Creative South? The answer was yes. At Unfold, we focus on client work Monday through Thursday and reserve Friday for our own internal initiatives and team growth/learning. The perfect role arose. Mike could remain the amazing creative he is, fulfilled with building brands and working alongside the team. On Fridays his focus will be on taking Creative South to that next level.
When we look at our team, we realized how Creative South has been the starting point for so many members of our team. We’re a team of 32, and nearly half of our team has come together after meeting at this event. It’s where I met my Partners here at Unfold, Eddie & David before Unfold ever existed. It’s where we became friends with our teammates before the opportunities arose to hire them. It’s the event that our team bonds at more than anything else we do or go together to as a team. We’ve recognized that Creative South has been a focal point for our recruiting efforts, friendships, meeting new clients, or getting to know awesome designers who we’ve been able to bring in as collaborative partners on projects (something that often goes both ways). We wanted to further strengthen this bond between Creative South and Unfold.
We’ll be there to help Mike focus on the things he does best and assist where he needs us. He’ll have the support of the Unfold team to help with various aspects of design needs, marketing, logistics and accounting. Our goal is to give him the time and resources he needs to take what is our (and hopefully yours too) favorite event to somehow become better than it already is. We’re really excited about this next chapter for Mike, Creative South & Unfold.
We’re excited for this next year and the years to come for the Creative South Family to see this event continue to get better and better with every passing year and be the staple event we all look forward to every year.
