Four Black Sheep move up making this a real “Promoted Post”

When it comes to our agency, we don’t beat around the bush about how important the people are.

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How to interview like a late night talk show host

Barbara Walters, Stephen Colbert, David Letterman—we’re coming for you.

Barbara Walters, Stephen Colbert, David Letterman—we’re coming for you. Ever wonder how the pros make media interviews look so effortless?

Read on for a Top 10 Media Interview Tips List (you know, Letterman style) from a seasoned interview pro in his own right: Craig Cohen, host and executive producer of Houston Matters.

Condensed

Mentor Me This: Natalie Dishes on the Perks of Being in the Loop

It was a sweltering August day when I, at the age of 21, drove from my small hometown in Louisiana to Houston to start my new life with my new husband.

It was a sweltering August day when I, at the age of 21, drove from my small hometown in Louisiana to Houston to start my new life with my new husband. He likes to joke that he never actually saw me driving my car because I’d followed him so closely that I wasn’t visible in the mirrors. I’d graduated that summer with my B.F.A. and was eager to begin my grown-up career in graphic design. Pedal to the metal, despite how intimidated I was heading in this new direction.

2 billion impressions is great, changing the future with college bound students is better

First impressions matter, right?  So what happens after 2 BILLION impressions?

First impressions matter, right?  So what happens after 2 BILLION impressions?  We found out with our Michelle Obama’s #CollegeSigningDay partnership this year.

How I Survived 30 Days of Biking in Houston

There are bike-friendly cities and then there’s… Houston.  When I tell people that I participated in #30DaysofBiking, I’m met with blank stares and more than a few questions.

The Art of Overcoming Fear, With Artist Katy Holton

Have you ever been frozen with fear? Felt like the stakes were too high?

Have you ever been frozen with fear? Felt like the stakes were too high? That there were too many obstacles in your path? Too many dragons to slay? That you’re stuck on the wrong side of a ravine, yet everything you’ve ever wanted was just on the other side? So has Katy Holton, a Houston-based artist from Austin’s design studio DesignGood. Katy took on our Blank Slate chalk wall this week to encourage the Flock to overcome fear through a dazzlingly bright explosion of colors. 

The best damn reading list you’re going to find if you’re looking for something to fill your soul in 2018.

2018: Booked Solid

Cha Cha Cha is Black Sheep’s community gathering that brings together nonprofits and people looking to get involved in the community.

Cha Cha Cha

It’s Okay To Talk Derby – Hard Hitting PR Lessons from Houston Roller Derby

If you’re familiar with roller derby from the 70s, you probably remember gigantic wooden-banked tracks, hardcore body slams and over-choreographed rail flips. Today, though, the game is more of a sport than a spectacle. After reemerging as an “old game, new sport” in 2003, contemporary roller derby has made considerable efforts to rebrand itself. And we have to say – these ladies have been on a serious roll.

The Houston Roller Derby Championship Bout is September 21 and we’ll be there, front and center. Sure, there’s always the risk of becoming a landing pad for a projectile derby girl, but who are we to shy away from anything?

Whether you’re wearing skates and taking names or trying to revitalize a PR campaign, we think you should listen up and take a few hard-hitting PR pointers from our own derby gal, intern Katie Thomson – or Betty Watchett. This gal GOES HARD.

This Ain’t Your Mama’s Roller Derby
Just as the game has reemerged into a more youthful, athletic and empowering sport, a good PR campaign should show a little rebellion, too. Textbook methods insist that you stick it to the old techniques and follow history’s classic marketing formulas. DON’T. It’s okay to try new moves by jumping the apex, especially if you can wow your audience AND stick the landing. Do something new and fresh. We’re not suggesting you completely reinvent the wheel, but try getting your “roll” on in a different fashion.

Great Jammers Always Get ‘Lead’
In roller derby, the first jammer (point scorer) to get out of the pack is awarded a special privilege called “lead jammer,” which allows her to stop the jam at any time. If she gets lead, she retains control.

If you get YOUR lead in a PR campaign, you’ll be racking up the points, too. The key to success is breaking out of the pack to get ahead of your competition. Take risks and do things no one else is doing by finding those holes. It may feel scary, but it really gives you the upper hand as a leader in the game.

Play the Star
The objective of roller derby is to block the opposing jammer – who wears a helmet covered with stars – out of bounds, while trying to balance getting your jammer past the other team’s blockers. All the while, you’re dodging hits and trying to keep up with everyone on the track. While it may seem intimidating, sticking to your guns is something every PR pro can get behind. Set your goals from the beginning and stay laser-focused. Do everything you can in your power to block out interfering details or issues. Multitasking and tangential thoughts can slow you down. Always push ahead and you’ll maintain your lead to be the big winner.

Roller derby shows us that you can reinvigorate your PR campaigns with new energy. Taking a step towards a new image might be risky (and some might always latch on to your old brand), but the outcome of a fresh perspective can inspire a new identity and appeal to a completely different market. Roller derby never remarketed itself as a completely new concept — it just promoted itself as a youthful, energized community and became a culture more fans could be a part of. Take some risks, step out in front of the competition and stay focused on what you want to convey.

If you find yourself sitting in the front row at Houston Roller Derby’s big game next Saturday, see the action up close and take some notes on rebranding. Remember, it’s okay to talk derby every once in a while – just prepare to cover that beer if a skater lands in your lap!

It’s Okay To Talk Derby – Hard-Hitting PR Lessons from Houston Roller Derby

Hung Up on a Rung: Ladders, inference, assumptions and YOU!

If you’re anything like me, your mind moves a mile a minute, and not always in a good way.

If you’re anything like me, your mind moves a mile a minute, and not always in a good way. You know that saying about assumptions? The one about you, and me, and a less pleasant term for a donkey? Yeah. Been there—painful. 

“We’re all going to have big losses in our lives, maybe a job or a career, relationships, love our youth.

The Beautiful Awful

“We’re all going to have big losses in our lives, maybe a job or a career, relationships, love our youth. We’re going to lose our health, people we love. These kinds of losses are out of our control. They’re unpredictable, and they bring us to our knees. And so I say, let them. Fall to your knees. Be humbled. Let go of trying to change it or even wanting it to be different. It just is.”

When you give the right old man an Instagram, he’s going to want to post—a lot.

When You Give an Old Man an Instagram

When you give the right old man an Instagram, he’s going to want to post—a lot. And when he wants to post, he’s going to need content. And when he needs content, a masterpiece emerges and the universal cuteness meter is blown to smithereens.

Locally based Brazilian graphic designer Renata Senna had a vision for our chalk wall as soon as we contacted her. Merging feminism with gorgeous illustrations and graphics, Senna envisioned a mighty image of Supergirl combined with a strong statement. Between us gals (And guys. And everyone.), this is one of our favorite Blank Slate pieces. Ever. It’s simple but packs a powerful message: The future is female.

Blank Slate — To Femininity And Beyond!

Locally based Brazilian graphic designer Renata Senna had a vision for our chalk wall as soon as we contacted her.

To Femininity and Beyond!

Wholesome Humor and Weird Twitter’s Jonny Sun

Internet culture is alive and real and moving and sometimes it scares me.

Internet culture is alive and real and moving and sometimes it scares me. But if I’m honest, I spend most of the time that I’m breathing on Twitter. I’ll never apologize. It’s part of me now. I sit down, fish my slightly-broken iPhone out of my pocket and get lost in the depths of Weird Twitter, basking in the never-ending bad memes that somehow leave a gross taste in my mouth and refresh me simultaneously.

Why an Out of Office Retreat is Good For Camaraderie

The Lady Gaga Guide to Forming Emotional Connections

You know that feeling when you jump out of a building? Nope.

You know that feeling when you jump out of a building? Nope. I haven’t either. Sheep rarely jump off stuff—that’s why you see them up so high in the mountains, surefooted and attached to the ground at the hooves.

ONE BILLION IMPRESSIONS. One billion. It’s an incredible amount.

ONE BILLION IMPRESSIONS

ONE BILLION IMPRESSIONS. One billion. It’s an incredible amount. It means that we’re on to something. That the right eyeballs are finding their way to Better Make Room’s message. That we’re breaking through to those we serve. Our journey to a billion has been wildly important for education around America, and to us as an agency.

He doesn’t need an introduction, but we’re going to give him one anyway: The Convoy Group’s Mark Austin is the man to talk to when you want to understand the current state of the Houston music scene and how important Record Store Day is to independent record stores.

Record Store Day: Q&A with Mark Austin

Record Store Day: The Remix

Pardon Our [Old] French, But Charity is a Four-Letter Word

The word charity conjures up Dickensian ideas of people struggling. Small street urchins in newsboy caps or little red-headed orphans singing their heart out. It’s not our favorite word. Not because the sentiment isn’t spot on—it is. The idea of charity is based on an Old French word, charité, meaning “benevolence for the poor.” It’s a beautiful thought: To be charitable is to be kind. To be kind is to care for your neighbors. And to care for your neighbors? There’s no more Houstonian trait than that. But the word “charity” itself comes with a lot of baggage. Like TSA, we’re here to open up that luggage, unpack it and repack it with a deeper meaning.

There’s a particular kind of project that doesn’t feel like a project.

It feels like something else entirely. Over Black Sheep’s 16 years, we’ve learned to recognize these engagements — the ones where the stakes are real, where the mission is load-bearing, where getting the story right genuinely changes what’s possible for the people an organization serves. We’ve also learned that these are the projects we want to fill our days with.

Right now, our roster is full of them. I want to talk about that — not as a highlight reel, but as a reflection of what we believe this work is for. And if you’re leading one of these organizations right now and it feels heavy or uncertain or like your story isn’t keeping pace with your mission, this is for you too.


Some projects aren’t a single scope — they’re a relationship, built over time, through the kind of trust that only comes from doing hard things together.

Houston Arts Alliance is in one of the most pivotal moments in its history. A new CEO — the first woman and person of color to lead the organization — has stepped into a role that carries both enormous expectation and extraordinary possibility. We are building alongside them from the ground up: immediate messaging and leadership transition tools, a mission and vision refresh, a public education campaign, a community engagement process and a full brand foundation. Long, layered, listening-first work. Some of our favorite kind.

Houston Parks Board is marking its 50th anniversary at the start of an exciting new chapter — bold new leadership, a visionary strategic plan and a future that has been a century in the making. We’re evolving their brand to match the scale of that moment. Being trusted when the foundation is strong and the future is wide open is its own kind of honor.

Good Reason Houston is an organization we know well — we built their original brand in 2018, and they’ve called on us at several points of strategic inflection since. This is one of those moments. The world these leaders are navigating looks almost nothing like it did seven years ago, and our work together right now is about finding language that tells their story with clarity and confidence for where things are today.

Civic Builders finances and develops school facilities across the country, making excellent schools possible in communities where the need is greatest. We completed a full messaging and positioning strategy with them, and we’re now deep into their visual identity system — in genuine collaboration with their extraordinary internal team. This partnership is the kind we aspire to: the work belongs to all of us.

The Greater Houston Partnership is building an AI-powered tool to connect educators, employers and community partners in ways that expand workforce opportunity. We’re building the brand that makes it accessible and credible from day one.

Fervo Energy is redefining what clean energy looks like. We are their strategic design agency — giving visual and creative form to the complexity of what they’re building, because a breakthrough technology deserves a story told with equal craft.

The University of Nevada, Reno trusted us to direct a digital campaign for their Black Youth Mental Health Initiative — designed to reach young people at the right moment, in the right channels and keep them connected to support that can change the trajectory of their lives. This follows our branding and strategy work for their CDC-sponsored Safer Nights opioid overdose prevention campaign last year.

The Center for Civic and Tech Life is now publishing a magazine for local election officials — the people who make democracy function at the ground level. We named and developed the publication’s visual identity, because this community deserves tools that reflect the seriousness of their work.

In collaboration with January Advisors, we’re working with the League of Women Voters Houston on a set of core values and a strategic plan built for what comes next. The League has been doing this work longer than most organizations have existed. Helping them articulate where they’re headed is not something we take lightly.

Much of this work is happening in Houston — the city where Black Sheep was founded, where many of us live and where we feel the stakes of these institutions personally. When you’re a Houstonian working on Houston, it stops being a client list and starts being something else.

It takes something to make this call. The leaders we work with aren’t doing it because things are easy — they’re doing it because they’ve decided that a story that can’t carry the mission is a liability they can’t afford. That takes clarity about what’s actually at stake. It takes a willingness to look honestly at the gap between where you are and how you’re being perceived. And it takes the kind of courage that doesn’t always get named as courage — the quiet decision to invest in something foundational when there are a hundred urgent things competing for the same resources.

But the thread running through all of it — local and national — is the same: find the organizations doing the most necessary work, and make sure their story is strong enough to carry their mission forward.

If your organization is in a moment that demands more clarity, more confidence or a story that finally matches where you’re headed — we’d love to be in that room with you.

A reflection on 16 years of learning which projects are worth our days — and the mission-driven organizations we're building alongside right now.

The Work That Doesn't Feel Like Work | Black Sheep Agency

What it takes to build a story strong enough to carry a mission forward.

A reflection on the partnerships filling our roster right now — and what it takes for mission-driven organizations to build a story strong enough to carry their work forward.

The Black Sheep blog is turning up the volume on community engagement, social media strategy, Houston happenings and what it means to lead a purpose-driven life.

The Black Sheep Agency | Social impact and nonprofit blog

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The Work That Doesn’t Feel Like Work