Vengeance. Money. Love. These are all words we’re saying so you read this blog about economics.

A couple years ago I read my first enjoyable non-fiction book.

A couple years ago I read my first enjoyable non-fiction book. I know there’s a lot of enjoyable non-fiction out there, but REALLY… the magic of Hogwarts has resulted in an entire theme park, whereas the history of Hispanics in the Mormon Zion* has resulted in, well, my falling asleep on a hot pink highlighter.

Condensed

Pounding the tarmac through the seasons, a band of runners are brazenly challenged with intimate questions as they pace their routes. Liberated from responsibilities, their guards drop dramatically, releasing funny and brutally frank confessions, and weaving a powerful narrative behind the anonymous masses.

A film by Matan Rochlitz & Ivo Gormley.

#therunners

**OFFICIAL SELECTION - SHEFFIELD DOC/FEST 2013**
** HONOURABLE MENTION - LONDON SHORT FILM FESTIVAL 2014**
**OFFICIAL SELECTION - OPEN CITY DOCS, LONDON 2013**
**OFFICIAL SELECTION - NEW ORLEANS FILM FESTIVAL 2013**
**OFFICIAL SELECTION - KAOHSIUNG FILM FESTIVAL, TAIWAN 2013**

The Runners on The Guardian: 
theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/the-running-blog/2013/nov/15/the-runners-film-interviewing-people-jogging

The Runners

At Black Sheep, we love ideas: New ideas. Bold ideas. Crazy ideas. Audacious ideas.

Why Are You Running Today?

Why LinkedIn Is The Best Tool You’re Not Using

It’s time to move LinkedIn from being an afterthought to being a first thought.

It’s time to move LinkedIn from being an afterthought to being a first thought. If you’re using the platform the same way you were three or four years ago, it’s time to do some serious catching up. There’s a professional content revolution underway and those involved are on LinkedIn roughly 8 hours a week reading, publishing, sharing and liking just about everything.

Learn from locals #storyhopper

Over the last few years, I’ve spent a lot of time in airports.

Spend The Night With The Locals

Over the last few years, I’ve spent a lot of time in airports. There’s something I love about airports—maybe it’s the promise of adventure, or the $15 coffee, or the fact that security always, always, always pulls me out of line to search me and I end up having to frantically rush to make it to the gate in time.

I’ll Snap To That: International Beer Day

Tomorrow is a day for merrymaking; a day to carouse, celebrate and conquer.

Tomorrow is a day for merrymaking; a day to carouse, celebrate and conquer. Tomorrow is International Beer Day. In honor of this crucial and clearly cherished holiday, we’re throwing a little something together for our friends.

“Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black.”

Rise of the Pop Up Brands

“Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black.”
—Henry Ford, 1909

Around 2008, I was going through the clearance section of Half Price Books in Austin and came across a chunky little thing with the clickbait-y title of 283 Useful Ideas from Japan.

My Friend Leonard

Around 2008, I was going through the clearance section of Half Price Books in Austin and came across a chunky little thing with the clickbait-y title of 283 Useful Ideas from Japan. The subheading of the book is “For Entrepreneurs and Everyone Else” and while the typeface on the front looked bad, I decided to not judge a book by its cover.

#ChaChaCha and #52Causes Wrap Up: No Champagne (or Hashtags) Left Behind

Did you know Houston has over 18,000 nonprofits?

Did you know Houston has over 18,000 nonprofits? That’s a lot of causes, missions and visions, with each organization working tirelessly to instill change and make Houston the best city it can be. But yet, there are still so many people in Houston who do not know all of the good work that goes on behind the scenes.

“Brainstorm with me for a second.” — said every person in #agencylife ever.

Thinking Caps + Lightbulb Moments

We’ve turned to each other for inspiration for seven years.

#SHEEPSPO

We’ve turned to each other for inspiration for seven years. Now, we’d like to share that inspiration with you, to give you a snapshot of what greases our gears and fuels our creativity every Monday morning.

Better Make Room July PSA

It’s been nine months—NINE—since the launch of our Better Make Room campaign at the White House.

Beating The Odds. ALL OF THE ODDS.

It’s been nine months—NINE—since the launch of our Better Make Room campaign at the White House. How is that possible, you ask? It’s crazy. We know.

In those nine months we’ve been working on rolling out the campaign as a part of the First Lady’s Reach Higher Initiative, created with the purpose of connecting Gen-Z with the resources and guidance they need to continue their education after high school. This campaign is all about shining the spotlight on students—WHERE IT BELONGS.

Houston—home of NASA, a crazy amount of bayous and, oh, like 20,000 nonprofits.

#ChaChaCha, No we aren’t dancing.

Houston—home of NASA, a crazy amount of bayous and, oh, like 20,000 nonprofits. Twenty. Thousand. Have you ever thought why? Because Houston is a giving city, people. We literally put our money where our mouths are and collectively help all kinds of organizations get what they need to thrive. But money is not the only way to support a worthy cause. Around the Black Sheep office, we’re always looking for ways to give back—whether that’s joining a nonprofit board, volunteering or learning about new causes.

GET IN THE CAR. WE ARE GOING ON A MAGIKARPET RIDE.

We know it’s highly likely that you—yes, you who is reading this—is already on Pokémon GO (shout out to Red Team).

We know it’s highly likely that you—yes, you who is reading this—is already on Pokémon GO (shout out to Red Team). If not, you’ve been aware of it. How could you not be? Everyone on your Facebook timeline and Twitter feed is losing their damn minds about it. So, what’s all the fuss about? THIS: Pokémon Go is making people get outside and find things using augmented reality, which makes your boring neighborhood a magical, fantastical realm. In short, it’s hot shit.

SO. MUCH. HAPPENING. VidCon started, so we’ve got hordes of screaming adolescent girls obsessing over top Viners in California.

FINALLY. The Bacon Has Arrived.

SO. MUCH. HAPPENING.VidConstarted, so we’ve got hordes of screaming adolescent girls obsessing over top Viners in California. Sorry Mom—we can’t imagine what it’s like to chaperone a party that goes on for three days. YouTube Red launched their original seriesEscape The Night, which has the incredibly original “death at a dinner party” theme going on. We’re still trying to figure out how that will fit into our already-strenuous Netflix regime.

June 17-23 Is The Official National Week of Making. #ThanksObama.

“Makers and builders and doers—of all ages and backgrounds—have pushed our country forward, developing creative solutions to important challenges and proving that ordinary Americans are capable of achieving the extraordinary when they have access to the resources they need.

“Makers and builders and doers—of all ages and backgrounds—have pushed our country forward, developing creative solutions to important challenges and proving that ordinary Americans are capable of achieving the extraordinary when they have access to the resources they need. During National Week of Making, we celebrate the tinkerers and dreamers whose talent and drive have brought new ideas to life, and we recommit to cultivating the next generation of problem solvers.” -President Obama

Panning way out, Facebook just graced 1.5 billion people with 360 Video.

A Literal Facebook Ollie

The 2016 Internet Trends Report Dropped and It’s Hotter than Beyonce’s Lemonade

For digital data nerds, the day Mary Meeker’s Internet Trend Report comes out is the equivalent of Christmas Day.

For digital data nerds, the dayMary Meeker’s Internet Trend Reportcomes out is the equivalent of Christmas Day. The report is packed with data driven factoids that– trust us–you will need to know if you want to stay relevant.

When Hashtags Lose Steam

It’s been two years. TWO. YEARS. Think about how many experiences you’ve had. How many people you’ve met. How many things you’ve accomplished in the two years years since the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls erupted across the world, spurring on the attention of celebrities with millions of followers and social media newbies alike. The world was engulfed in a social media wildfire and people were tweeting that shit out with a vengeance.

Google I/O: Daydreaming of Androids and Artificial Intelligence

If you didn’t keep up with every giant tech company announcement this week, don’t worry, that’s all we did (after client meetings and brainstorming sessions, duh).

If you didn’t keep up with every giant tech company announcement this week, don’t worry, that’s all we did (after client meetings and brainstorming sessions, duh). Google is currently in the midst of Google I/O, a three-day annual developer conference and once again, they totally brought it and are throwing down on the innovation game.

If you were living under a rock this weekend (or not checking in on our #52 Causes), then you probably missed out on Houston’s annual Hackathon.

What The Hack We Did This Weekend

If you were living under a rock this weekend (or not checking in on our #52 Causes), then you probably missed out on Houston’s annual Hackathon. The good news is that we got you covered. The bad news is that you missed out on some serious cool points.

Regular

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