We’re looking forward to introducing you to Billy Rae. Check out our conversation below.
Billy, a huge thanks to you for investing the time to share your wisdom with those who are seeking it. We think it’s so important for us to share stories with our neighbors, friends and community because knowledge multiples when we share with each other. Let’s jump in: What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
I love to be on the water and to explore abandoned places… when the two are combined, that’s even better. One of my most recent joys has been going to an old pump house that is not longer in use and it sits nestled up against the river that I kayak down. Most people drive by it and don’t think twice about it but as someone who appreciates aethetics and things with stories, I find myself venturing back here and down into the river often. Discovery inspires the soul, water stills it, in my opinion.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
BRIM DESIGN began as a side freelance graphic design and photography business for me at the age of 14. It started as a dream to be able to one day provide my family with opportunities, and turned into a primary hub for empowering small businesses, organizations, and people alike.
Through the years it has grown to become a full-service branding agency. BRIM DESIGN is a Christ and Community centered business that is dedicated to enriching others’ lives through award-winning design, photography, videography, strategy, and coaching.
One of our primary focuses is helping people actualize their vision for their business or organization. We literally educate professionals on building their business from the brand up. Since BRIM DESIGN was founded by a teenager, we are familiar with the startup journey and are committed to making our clients’ visions and passions come to life in a seamless, beautiful, and impactful way. One that produces practical, personal, and professional results.
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
I don’t know that anyone experiences a singular moment, but in my case, I’d like to speak to a series of moments that occurred over the last several months.
Entrepreneurs (seasoned ones at least) are very familiar with the concept of adaptation. They know that starting, owning, and running a business or organization is one of those things that is forever changing and forever requiring a different, more experienced and enlighted version of you. I’ve recently come through a season of change that stretched me further than I’ve ever had to go before. It led to significant shifts in my personal life and professional life. I’ve come out the other side of it, properly blown away by our community… the community that grew us and the community that we created around the BRIM DESIGN brand.
I truly believe that, outside of growing together with people, the metrics we use to measure success in business are often a perfect miss. Do revenue building, reach statistics, and conversion rates have an important place? Absolutely. But none of that matters if you’ve left your community unimpacted. Our community has also shown up for us during this season of change. They have met us in this season and continued to entrust their brands and stories to us all while encouraging us into new and bolder things. How can you not look at the world differently when experiencing the most sincere and gracious side of human beings?
It reminds me that most of us, even those of us deeply rooted in the professional and entrepreneurial world, want to and intimately respect keeping the main things the main things. I personally find that temperature of small business ownership an exciting and motivating one.
What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Everyone at some point in their life is faced with the same choices. We can choose to learn from our choices or make excuses for them.
Anybody can talk up a story where by and large they’ve accomplished what they’ve set out to do, never faced any real adversity, and never been confronted with the real cost of hard choices and personal growth.
But the amazing people… those are the ones that have suffered greatly, they have endured long and often unbearable seasons of difficulty, they have been beaten down with the outlook of impossibility and isolation, they have been left with nothing but their character and mindset… and they built something beautiful despite the odds. These are the people that don’t let hard seasons and failures become an excuse for not rising and treating people with integrity. These are the people who value every last opportunity and see the wonder in the smallest things. These are the people who impact the world one conversation and example at a time. And none of that kind of growth comes from overt success. The winners are really just the losers who kept rising.
So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. Whom do you admire for their character, not their power?
My sister and my person, Ryan. She is one of those people who lingers in the soul in the best way. Once people meet her, they tend to want to stay nearby (unfortunately for her introverted nature). She is the most incredible balance of grit and grace. At first glance, you might think she’s a small and soft-spoken woman who likes to keep to herself, but if you’ve ever had the privilege of observing her, you’d see the most amazing display of character. My sister is a bit of a warrior and a bit of a poet. She loves fiercely and that love motivates her to fight for what’s right with tact and wisdom that is a rarity these days. She sits under and pours over good and godly teaching, which she allows to make and mold her into someone who is effortlessly enriching and even safeguarding other people’s lives. Her attitude is somehow both perfectly meek and inexplicably strong. She does everything with excellence, multiplying what is good and right and true about every scenario she and those blessed to know her find themself.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. What do you think people will most misunderstand about your legacy?
I think at face value, the efforts of my professional life would be summed up in a way that most people would quantify as “brand and business building,” and they wouldn’t be entirely wrong…that’s certainly part of it. But I hope that those people whose businesses and organizations we’ve had the privilege to serve and whose stories we’ve had the privilege to step into would say that there was something different about their experience. I hope they would say that for us, it was far more than building businesses… it was about reaching, enriching, and demonstrating the intrinsic value of people. I truly believe every single person has intrinsic value given to them by God Almighty, the creator of the universe, and the most rewarding thing you can do in this life, personally and professionally, is demonstrate that as intentionally and truth-grounded as possible to them so they can know that kind of love and fulfillment.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.brimdesign.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brimdesign/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BRIMdesign
