Meet David Feldman

We had the good fortune of connecting with David Feldman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi David, how do you define success?
Money is often how people define success. I do think it’s a good yardstick to measure growth, because there’s a number behind it and you can compare numbers over numbers. But it doesn’t make me feel successful, because I could be working for someone else and making a similar amount of money but not feel the same success as I do being a business owner. I feel successful when clients trust 3 Owl with their marketing budgets, when they’re willing to invest in my experience and my knowledge, and also to invest in the team that I have spent years building. It means I’ve helped a client see a bigger picture, and they trust us to bring that to life. So I feel successful before the project has even started, when I know that they’re willing to invest in our ideas. I feel successful when I can take something I’ve learned working with a client in one industry, and apply it to a client in a completely different industry to create something new. At 3 Owl, we’ve worked with clients ranging anywhere from restaurants and retail alcohol packaging to universities and clinical testing networks to arts and cultural organizations and venues. I’m always learning, and the best learning comes when you can take insights gained in one industry and apply them to challenges in a very different one. I find that very satisfying. I feel successful when I can push creatives to do work that’s better than what they thought they could do. I’m not really a creative director, but I give guidance and suggestions: “Here’s something I saw that could really elevate this project.” I ask a lot of questions: “Have you thought about this? Have you considered this?” I’ve had some of our creatives say, after a project is done, “I look at this work, and I can’t believe it’s mine. Thank you for pushing me.” I love that. And I feel successful when we hit our metrics. For clients whose goals can be quantified and measured, we set up metrics and start tracking from the beginning. Then we get to work figuring out how to hit them. That can be a little scary, but I love the feeling of really crushing those metrics.

What should our readers know about your business?
3 Owl is a tech-forward creative agency. The three owls in our name are branding, technology, and strategy. Strategy is what brings the branding and technology together. Our teams collaborate closely. Our designers understand code, and our developers understand design. We’re a small shop that scales to take on large projects, so you get the white glove service of a boutique agency without having to go to four different vendors to get all you need. We’re very much an Atlanta company. The other day, I drove past Center Stage, which we had rebranded then integrated their online platform. I headed over to Kroger and was walking down the aisle when I saw a local beer that we’d designed the packaging for. The next day my friends and I had Taco Mac when we watched the game, and they’re a longstanding client too. It’s nice to be able to contribute to these Atlanta brands I love. I really love Atlanta. I love buying stuff locally. I love meeting other creatives, collaborating with them, helping. I love that there are so many big national companies in Atlanta, and all the smaller ones too. In the last six months, I’ve learned to be confident in myself. As someone in Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) told me, owning a business is sometimes wanting to crawl under your desk in the fetal position, and, the same day, jumping up and down to celebrate a success. The ups and downs can be pretty intense. But talking to other entrepreneurs, you realize that so much of what you’re dealing with, others are dealing with too. You’re going to have setbacks; everybody does. But when you develop confidence in yourself and your skills, the highs are just as high, but the lows are not as low. There are phases of business growth, and you know you’re in a new phase when a challenge you used to have is something you just shrug at now. It’s kind of fun to think back: What stressed you out a year ago or three years ago? Five years ago, the kind of stuff that we now handle in five minutes would take me a day or two to figure out. So some things get easier, but there are always new challenges. The challenges evolve if your business is growing; that’s just part of growth. Even if you don’t grow your business and you try to keep everything the same, the world’s going to change, so the challenges will change.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’ll take them on a tour of my favorite bites of Atlanta. We’ll start with the okonomiyaki at Gaja Korean Bar in East Atlanta. Then the Invincible Dan Dan Mazemen at Ton Ton in Ponce City Market. Finally, whatever Jarrett Stieber is serving that day at Little Bear. For music, we’ll go to Grocery on Home, a Grant Park house that was turned into a music venue. I once saw Brian Blade there on a Saturday night, and that Sunday night he was in L.A. winning a Grammy. Matt Arnett has had some jaw-dropping artists in there. I have also legitimately planned my friends’ trips to Atlanta around an ATL Collective show. I co-founded the organization and sit on the board, so I’ll take them to the green room, meet the artists, and hang out backstage. I like to give friends that whole experience. At some point, we’ll take a walk along the Forward Warrior mural project, next to the Atlanta BeltLine in Cabbagetown, where I live in the Stacks Lofts. In fact, we’ll tour the rooftops of the Stacks too. It’s the oldest residential building in the city and the ninth oldest standing building. For drinks, we’ll go to the Brick Store Pub in Decatur for a beer, then over to Kimball House for a cocktail, probably a drink called The Brooklyn, which you have to order off the menu. That’s my favorite drink in Atlanta. For coffee, Chrome Yellow is definitely my favorite spot. It was actually one of my largest tax deductions of 2016. But for buying coffee beans, I’ve also been really impressed with Portrait Coffee. If they can make it to Atlanta for the opening or closing night of the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival, that’s always really special. I’m really proud that Atlanta has the largest Jewish film festival in the world. I also really enjoy the Plaza Theatre. Anytime there’s a guest speaker there before a movie, maybe a director doing a q&a before or after the movie, that’s always so special.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Shoutout to Andrew Jones, founder and principal of Pompier+Partners, a consultancy that helps clients embrace change and develop strategies for renewal and growth. I have become a better marketer and become better with clients because of him. Talking with Andrew on the phone is truly like having an executive MBA course. We recently partnered up on a project, with Andrew doing a lot of the marketing strategy and 3 Owl handling the creative, but we talk often outside of that project. Whenever I call, he’s always quick to respond. He’s always so thoughtful. He’s always so generous with his knowledge, and he gives it to me straight. I’m hearing myself say phrases that I’ve heard him say to clients. It’s helped me with some breakthrough pitches. Recently, I was talking to a new healthcare client, and they were telling me that they needed a rebrand really quickly. I was thinking of sending them a recent Forbes article I wrote about why branding shouldn’t be rushed, but first I asked them why they were in such a hurry. And they said, well, our print material is not that great. I could tell that their sales people were just hungry for new print material, and in my head I heard Andrew say, “Anytime you do a rebrand, you’re essentially going to be changing the tires on a moving car.” You can’t tell the car to stop so you can do the rebranding and then restart. So I shared that metaphor with the client, and she replied, “Oh my god, that’s exactly what we’re doing.” I then offered that we could use their existing brand to update their print materials and make them a lot cleaner. We spent a day or two on that work, and that bought us another month to get the rebrand right. I learned all that from Andrew.

Website: https://3owl.agency/