Today we’d like to introduce you to Brandon Forschino.
Hi Brandon, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My journey to entrepreneurship is one that began as early as age 10. I have fond memories of walking my lawn mower, weedeater, and gas can strategically placed around my neighborhood, where I would spend summers mowing lawns to help my parents buy school clothes and shoes for the upcoming school years. In addition, my grandfather worked at a nursery in town that was famous for growing hibiscus plants. Occasionally, I would inherit extra plants and set up a hibiscus stand at the end of my driveway for passing cars. When I left for college, I planned on becoming an Architect. In addition to business, I always had the itch to build something. Naturally, Architecture seemed like the best fit to satisfy my desire. However, in my first semester, I saw a need I believed I could fill. I started a blog site in my dorm room that allowed current, prospective, and past students to share their college experience in six main categories; Academics, Athletics, Dorms, Social Life, Clubs & Organizations, and Fraternity/Sorority life. Eventually, an angel investor took heed of the idea and offered to invest in the concept. It quickly outgrew my dorm room. We had a great team of developers building a state of the art software that would show real-time where the hot spots were on and off campus. Today, you would recognize this feature in Snapchat.
I decided to leave the School of Architecture and focus on growing this business. I traveled the country visiting and implementing this app with some of the top colleges and universities around the country. After three years, we went through a merger and acquisition with another software company. I spent a year as VP of Marketing & Business Development before finding my next career. Leaving entrepreneurship behind, I tried several careers, from staffing and recruiting to nonprofit marketing. Eventually, I found myself back in business when my first son was born. Also birthed was Out of Dust Marketing, a full-service marketing and communication agency that provided digital marketing and public relations services. Today, I proudly serve as the CEO of Out of Dust Marketing. I have intentionally scaled back the agency to focus exclusively on social media marketing and multimedia. In addition, I provide personal and professional development/consulting for startups and small businesses. I enjoy coaching, speaking, and leading others to bring their ideas to life.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has not been a smooth road. As an avid journaler since my Senior Year of High School, I can recall how bumpy the journey has been. Most of the struggles result from the disconnect between what I want to do and God’s plans for my life. Avoiding what I know in my heart are the right things to do. Along the way, I adopted a life verse found in the Book of Proverbs, chapter 16, verse 9: “The human heart plans the way, but the Lord directs the steps. This profound wisdom has helped me course correct many times. The greatest lesson I have learned is that we are all called to do something extraordinary in life. However, we must learn how to become ordinary first. I believe humility is the key to success—service above self. When all of these values align, we can see great things happen.
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about Out of Dust Marketing?
Out of Dust Marketing is a Social Media Marketing & Video Production Agency that focuses exclusively on identifying our client’s potential reach on social media and developing strategies to reach that potential. We focus exclusively on delivering our customer’s message on social media using video production and photography to tell their story effectively and consistently. We scaled our agency back to focus on this marketing channel as it is the most important and effective channel for increasing brand awareness and strengthing relationships. I am telling today’s stories for tomorrow’s archive.
Do you have any advice for those just starting?
Before you begin, it’s important to consider the following:
- You’re why. I have learned that purpose precedes passion. In the days when we are less passionate about what we do, our purpose will prevail.
- Your identity. Who are we? Why do we exist? For what purpose are we starting this journey? More times than not, in my business journey, I have helped business owners overcome an identity crisis. They have either drifted from their original mission or need more awareness to see themselves for who they are or how their customers perceive them.
- Know Your Audience. Do we know who they are? Or do we assume they are a certain demographic? It’s important to analyze data to learn more about our audience. The key to success is knowing your audience and communicating properly with them.
Contact Info:
- Website: Personal website is www.brandonforschino.com and my company website is www.outofdustmarketing.com
- Instagram: @brandon.forschino
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brandon.forschino
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonforschino/
