Today we’d like to introduce you to Josh Graef.
Josh, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I grew up in rural Pennsylvania farmlands. Modest upbringing, always enjoyed creating, building, woodworking, and engineering projects as a kid. I went to a performing arts high school where I learned design across multiple mediums. I got a degree in Visual Communication Design from Kent State University, where I learned about branding, visual design, and business marketing. After school, I moved across the country without a job/apartment and just the belongings I could fit in my car. I had no friends/family so moving straight into a sketchy apartment downtown was a wild ride. I’ve moved about 5 times in the past few years, worked at various agencies and for various clients before starting my own brand experience design business in 2018. Since then I’ve been steadily supporting various agencies and clients with their branding, UI, UX, and design needs. I pride myself on providing more intimate collaboration than you can receive from larger agencies. I also provide much higher quality services and customer support than you can expect from cheaper freelancers or staffing agencies. Small to medium-sized companies choose Pioneer when they need the job to get done right, but can’t afford the luxuries of a large agency. I work lean, remotely, and have a network to support me through any needs. My goal is to keep the group remote but grow slowly and steadily over the years to take on bigger clients and growing the Pioneer team to support more quality designers, strategists, writers, and experience-makers.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
– Severe bed bugs when I moved downtown initially. I had no job yet so I just had to suffer through some intense bites/itching/bleeding for a few months.
– Some unfortunate neighborhoods/living conditions/roommates on my journey to Pacific Beach and living with my girlfriend.
– I worked at an agency for one day and quit because it was terrible.
– Embarrassing client calls as I learned how to sell my services on my own initially.
– Getting ghosted by existing clients after some bad pitches for new projects.
– Other than that, it’s been fairly smooth sailing.
Please tell us about Pioneer Brand Supply.
Pioneer Brand Supply specializes in brand identities and experiences. Ambitious and scaling teams partner with us to launch, define, and iterate their brand identity, packaging, websites, and entire brand communications. We’re not marketers, we’re not bullshitters, and we don’t pitch services you don’t need. In a sea of competitors offering cheap logos, unintelligent brand identities, and over-inflated prices for experiences — we pride ourselves on the true value we provide.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
Nothing.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1426 Oliver Avenue
- Website: www.pioneermade.com (under construction)
- Phone: 724-495-9808
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @pioneerbrandsupply
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