The latest episode of Inspiring Futures features an interview with John Geletka

John is the owner and founder of Geletka + - a small agency located in the West Loop of Chicago

The agency started five years ago.

John's an artist by training but has done several different jobs in his career including corporate marketing, but he's also an entrepreneur at heart.

It was fascinating to talk to a small agency owner and get his thoughts on the market and the business today.

On Starting an Agency During COVID

"We had a, we had like a really good start. We looked at our engagements a little bit differently and it wasn't a big shift. A lot of people do it. So it's nothing innovative, but, during a time like COVID where there's rapid uncertainty, we would take up, let's call it a 50 to a hundred grand project and we turn it into a retainer and break it up over six and 12 months. So we were always, we're able to like run the discipline, help our clients out financially in uncertain times, and then run the business with a level of discipline."

What Clients Want

"What clients and complex industries don't want is something, you know some hotshot coming in and just telling them what to do and what's cool. They want somebody to sit down and learn the business. Empathize with them go all in and learn about their customers that they've known for 10, 20, or 30 years. And that takes like that takes time. They're also looking for that outside perspective I think a lot of folks are welcome to it as long as you sit down and understand them."

What He Wants from Talent

 "I mean, there's a sort of a roll your sleeves up graft aspect here that's required, there's a danger with a prima donna with the attitude of "that's kind of beyond me".

Why the Interest in Web 3?

"There's an awesome art culture in there, There is a gaming culture that's the next layer of the art. I call it a subculture because you have all these little mini-cultures. And they interact with each other a little bit."

Integrating AI into the Process

"We buy the big chunk of our organization seats on Mid-journey and GPT. And we give them access and range to use it as a tool.  AI, from my perspective, is a great accelerator. It is by no means a replacement for great creative. It is by no means this is the machine that we're going to produce AI-driven content or copy, but it can, it can help storyboard faster, it can help do research faster, it can help round out headlines, it can help they can help do things. But what it can't do, it's not a replacement for a writer. It's not a replacement for a designer."