If there’s anything I would have changed, maybe I’d be two inches taller and a shade quicker on my jump shot. But, alas, it wasn’t to be, and at heart, I'm a designer. When I left school, my portfolio was hand-painted — everybody wanted digital chops, and I was sporting my analog swagger.
Thankfully, the creative work I was able to turn out using the tools of the trade landed me in some great firms with some good mentors. In 2002, after the .com bomb, ten years into my career, I took a leap and went out on my own. In 2005, I merged with Jonathan Fisher and started BrandExtract. Within a year, we acquired BravoZulu and welcomed Malcolm Wolter, Donovan Buck, and Greg Weir as partners.
Over the years, we’ve shepherded brands through all kinds of storms: market crashes, energy slumps, pandemics, actual hurricanes, and those slow-moving drizzle days that test a company’s soul. More than 150 people have come through our doors — interns with good hair and seasoned leaders with even better stories. We’ve built, shrunk, grown, managed, and learned, always striving to handle it all gracefully (or at least not full-blown panic).
Foundation Built on Grit, Humor, and Trust
BrandExtract started with a simple ambition: to help companies tell their stories truthfully and memorably. We never wanted to be the biggest; we wanted to be the most trusted—an extension of our clients’ vision, not just another vendor.
That meant walking with clients through transitions as pivotal as family business hand-offs and as complex as public offerings, mergers, and divestitures. Sometimes we were the voice of calm during chaos, sometimes the creative adrenaline during moments of reinvention. In every instance, the value was in connection to the client, the team, and the truth of their story.
Work that Matters: The Projects That Shaped Us
Rather than being bombarded with percentages and stats, here are a few stories that say it best:
Transocean
In helping Transocean articulate its “Boundless” deep-water leadership and vision for the company, we helped take the strategy of a new leader and help them transform the business. Not only did we take pride in helping the company move forward from a challenging time, but we also helped a friend establish his vision for the company's future and industry.
Chemstations
It was a blast taking a niche engineering software firm and making its brand accessible to the broader chemical industry. We refreshed Chemstations’ identity and messaging to be approachable, human, and even a touch witty — a rare thing for process engineers. In a world where “user interfaces” are often just gray boxes and spreadsheets, making software feel like a tool people want to use is a win.
Skyward Specialty
When Houston International Insurance Group sought a fresh start, the solution wasn’t a new logo. It was a new name, a new vision, and a new industry narrative. We guided a complete brand transformation with Skyward Specialty, resulting in a rebrand launched internally and externally, helping them provide market impact and position for sustainable growth. That kind of top-down, bottom-up transformation is what we love most.
Oxy
Rebranding Oxy as a carbon management leader demanded bold thinking. We reshaped their public perception from classic energy giant to forward-thinking carbon innovation partner as we were able to “Zero In” on Oxy’s story and highlight their vision, values, and commitment to being an energy partner that works across the spectrum. The case study reminded us that brand isn’t what you say — it’s what people believe.
Millar
Our partnership with Millar began at a pivotal crossroads: new leadership, ambitious growth goals, and a need to recapture the legacy and innovation of the brand for a modern era. We revitalized their purpose, clarified product architecture, and strategically reintroduced Millar to legacy and new markets. One of the most ambitious phases was branding their new 56,000-square-foot headquarters in Pearland, Texas. We created environmental design, signage, and interactive spaces to ensure their history of life-saving technology and innovation came alive for every visitor and team member. Our work turned Millar from a catheter manufacturer into a global OEM partner, helping inspire new revenue streams and internal pride — and showing, brick by branded brick, how transformation happens from the inside out.
WillScot
For WillScot, visible leadership in the modular space required more than a strong product. We supported their ascent with multi-platform creative, including digital campaigns and environmental graphics that communicated innovation and reliability to a crowded market. We helped take them public, acquire three of their largest competitors, and ensure their customers knew they were “Ready to Work.” The result? WillScot didn’t just stand out — they stood alone, with industry recognition and client growth following naturally.
Lessons Learned… Some the Hard Way
This work isn’t all high-fives and awards. Twenty years in, here’s what sticks:
- You can’t make everyone happy. The sooner one accepts this, the easier life—and leadership — become. I tried, flubbed, and learned that absolute respect beats fleeting approval and compassionate honesty trumps vague kindness every time.
- Some days, you’re not proud. Fear and indecision lead to bad communication and awkward silences. The best leaders are honest, own their mistakes and strive to rebuild trust, even when uncomfortable.
- Thinking small is safe—thinking big is scary. We pushed clients to dream bigger while sometimes hesitating ourselves. Making bold moves required prayer, belief, teamwork, and plenty of pep talks.
- Your people are the story. Some thrived, some failed, but every teammate left a mark. Talent and commitment determine brand efficacy more than branding campaigns or platitudes ever could. The better we cared for each other, the more successful we were.
- Partners, not vendors. The magic happens when clients sit shoulder-to-shoulder with us, solving problems together. The best results always come from shared investment and commitment.
Beyond Creative — Performance and Culture
Today, BrandExtract is just as comfortable measuring KPIs as crafting taglines. Our brand process goes far deeper than design—to leadership, culture, and the measurable value of strategy expression. Skyward’s full-scale launch, Chemstations’ reimagined customer experience, Oxy’s bold reinvention: each is proof that brand is performance, not just gloss.
Our podcast “Solving for B°” explores these themes—how strategy, AI, voice, and empathy will shape the future of branding. It features real conversations, real lessons, and no hype. We have so much fun doing it, and it’s an excellent overview of our history and the smart people we’ve had here at BrandExtract.
Community, Team, Family: The Why That Endures
We didn’t just build brands; we built community. Our team has donated its time to various non-profits across Houston for years. We’ve taught our craft to students at Universities and added even more value to the countless interns we’ve taken under our wing. Those who have left BE have gone on to drive high-powered creative teams and lead private and public organizations. We’re proud of our impact and the lives we’ve been committed to improving. And, none of this would have happened without family — my wife, who encouraged the leap when she saw I was unhappy in my current situation, my kids, who went on late-night press checks and early morning client meetings with me, and my parents and their blend of entrepreneurial daring and creative energy.
The Next Chapter: A Focus on Measurable Impact
If there’s a single theme for the next twenty years, it’s brand building through performance. Technology, AI, and data will keep changing the rules, but authentic storytelling will always win. Using every tool at our fingertips combined with smart, talented people, we’re focused on helping clients measure what matters — customer loyalty, culture, investor confidence, and sales efficacy.
If I ever get worried, I remember: telling an honest story with a dash of humility and a pinch of humor is timeless — even if, someday, the robots want to take a crack at it.
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