Ask about an activist, and sometimes all you’ll hear is they’re too mainstream, too liberal, too vocal, too aggressive, just another feminist, just another phase. It’s said with an inflection that seems to undermine the history, personal stories, emotions, struggles and successes accompanying the word.

Activism as Identity

Condensed

The disarming case to act right now on climate change | Greta Thunberg

There are no gray areas when it comes to survival.

In an effort to be a bit more well-versed in the ideas floating around and the concise communicating people tended to depict while speaking about them, I’d signed up to receive weekly TED Talks three weeks ago.

Did you let Valentine’s creep up on you? Were you bummed with the lack of creativity in this year’s crop of cards?

Valentine’s Printables

We are firm believers in the power of tiny habits – those small, daily, recurring actions that build up over time into something far greater than one single grand gesture.

The Mighty Power in Your Tiny Actions

How Being a Geophysicist Made Me a Better Communicator

I was working as a reporter for my hometown’s paper this past summer and a super 80’s Canadian rock band was coming to town, and I was tasked with interviewing the lead singer (when I say ‘super 80’s’ I mean I remember listening to them on cassette tape with my dad).

The fear of not belonging is a pretty freaky-strong psychological phenomena for us humans. In days gone by, social isolation could mean the difference between literal life and death.

Stuck in the middle with you

A few months ago, I felt the need to join the rest of the modern yuppie world and find a podcast to listen to on my commute to and from work

How a podcast made me feel less alone

I eat a lot of soup for lunch when I’m at work. (Let’s face it; I’m not responsible enough for weekly meal prep.) And I’m known for eating soup.

Art, Soup and Third-Party Credibility

I eat a lot of soup for lunch when I’m at work. (Let’s face it; I’m not responsible enough for weekly meal prep.) And I’m known for eating soup. Even in the summer. From a giant soup mug that Adam warns everyone about.

You just gotta rum with it.

I’ve been reading ‘And a Bottle of Rum, A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails.’

Jan Švankmajer - BREAKFAST (FOOD 1992)

Jan Švankmajer - Lunch (Food 1992).

A look into the Grotesque with Jan Svankmajer

Czech filmmaker Jan Svankmajer has been a major influence among young animators for his strange and often grotesque short films and unusual animation and editing style.

Find what matters in your life and how to take action to be the social-impact-driven human you want to be.

Distil your personal purpose for creating positive change

The Value of Knowing Your Personal Values

Embrace incrementalism to make huge change through tiny habits and daily action

The mighty power of tiny actions and incrementalism

In trying to define activism, we constantly use the phrase “bringing about positive change or progress in a community.”

The 10 Suggestions

Activism is changing and here’s what we know

We activate people around things that matter. It’s our bottom line. It’s who we are. We’re activators, or more colloquially, activists. And here’s the thing—activism is changing. We don’t know what the future holds; all we know is that we’re gonna be here for it. As part of that, Black Sheep is embarking on a year-long campaign that will dive into the uncharted depths of our work, shake us loose from what we think we know and open a realm of possibilities that we’ll share with you, our clients and just about anyone who is willing to listen.

We activate people around things that matter.

Regular

1969. Activist was defined as “a person who does things with decision and energy.”

Activist. What’s in a name?

A view from the inbox of Aimee Woodall: Tuesday, November 27, 2018

Bless This Mess: Fixing Giving Tuesday

We’re hiring for an Administrative Concierge/Jack of All Trades/Task Master/Office Mom/General Getter of Things Done. And, hey, you can even help us pick your title.

Are you the match we’re missing?

Beautiful new words to describe obscure emotions | John Koenig

Need to express an obscure feeling? Use your words.

Juliet Capulet isn’t the only one asking “what’s in a name?” As it turns out, the Shakespearean leading lady might have been onto
something 400 years ago.

Juliet Capulet isn’t the only one asking “what’s in a name?” As it turns out, the Shakespearean leading lady might have been onto

20 Bob Ross quotes from Joy of painting - "How to be happy by Bob Ross"

If I could have a penny for every time I’ve felt overwhelmed. Work’s crazy. Life’s crazy. There’re bills and deadlines to deal with every day. Adulting is hard.

Have a Happy Little Day

But you need a breather. I need a breather. We all need a breather. A breather that’ll give us back a slice of peace and positivity in a world full of problems and pessimism, remind us that shit’s going to be just fine.

Suspiria favourite clip

Hereditary (2018) - *Creepy scene* High quality *1080p*

Halloween is Wednesday, which means we’ve had an almost full month of haunted houses, grinning jack-o-lanterns, an unwanted proliferation of candy corn and horror movies.

Horror is where the heart is

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 designs, finances and builds educational facilities in underserved communities across the country. 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 partner — 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

We like to type as much as we like to listen.

We're not shy.

The Work That Doesn’t Feel Like Work