Today we’d like to introduce you to Drew VanDrese.
Hi Drew, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Always been drawn to a good story — especially one based in Michigan! Mine began in the Upper Peninsula, where I was born and raised a “Yooper” on the shores of Lake Superior. Life’s first and second blessings came in quick succession, as winning the geographic lottery to be a Marquette native was immediately paired with the double-barrel jackpot of a devoted set of parents and an extended support system who combined to invest endless amounts of love & belief while laying the foundation for the person I’d become. The journey continued on in Ann Arbor, where a lifelong dream came true when I was admitted to the University of Michigan. It was there at U-M where I learned to be a professional while working on staff for Hall of Fame Coach Red Berenson with Michigan’s prestigious varsity hockey program in a role that completely changed my life. None of it could have happened without the support of my community and the drive they helped cultivate from a young age.
Ever since elementary school, I’ve consistently gravitated towards opportunities to represent my peers and ensure their voices are amplified. These days, I continue to channel those same instincts and skills by leading a creative agency with a people-first approach that prioritizes genuine relationships with partners as we assist with marketing strategy and collateral. Authenticity is the name of the game as our exceptional team works to tell the stories of the people, brands, and industries we have the privilege of working with.
After staying on for an additional year with the hockey program following four years of undergrad, Coach Berenson convinced me to follow in his footsteps by pursuing a graduate degree at Michigan’s Ross School of Business. Spending time in a top-ranked Master of Management program with a focus on Marketing and Strategy courses as part of a diverse cohort full of talented individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds helped prepare me for a smooth transition to the business world. Since joining Yellow Dog Creative eight years ago, I’ve been fortunate to continuously learn on the job while working my way up through the ranks. The most rewarding part has been the immense amount of time I’ve gotten to spend as part of a YDC crew embedded in partner communities from coast to coast working to capture their stories on their turf around the continent for over 180 video shoots and counting.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I almost hesitate to discuss the struggles because I know it’s all relative. With that said, as with all small businesses, there have certainly been ups and downs featuring unexpected turns and lessons to be learned along the way. Just in the past year we’ve dealt with a daunting one-two punch in the form of A.I.’s steady creep into the generative space as well as the dramatic rise in airfare and travel expenses due to soaring worldwide gas prices.
From a different lens, our decision to have such a broad “service area” covering a large portion of a hemisphere means there are so many companies & people out there to meet, and so little time to do so in a genuine manner. It can be challenging to work with folks in communities spread across the U.S. and Canada, but it also makes for a vibrant and overflowing pool of potential partners. These days, I’ve come to cherish every opportunity I get to carve out time for researching up-and-coming brands in any given market around the country. It’s critical that I stay up to date on the latest and greatest when it comes to stories worth telling.
One last variable I’ll mention is the amount of industry consolidation we’ve seen across the residential home services just in the past 6-8 years. The plumbing, HVAC, and electrical trades, which make up a large portion of our primary niche, have been undergoing a deep transformation over the past few years. As with everything else, there are some doing it really well and some who the jury’s still out on, but the magic remains in finding the right people to connect and form bonds with.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Yellow Dog Creative was created out of necessity to tell the stories of the skilled trades across North America with professional, cinematic-looking videography and production over a decade ago. Originally named “Swick Media Services” after the company (Swick Home Services) that it spun out from, we rebranded to YDC at the beginning of 2020.
For years, our team has made no bones about our background and expertise when it comes to life in the blue collar industries, often documenting our journey across social media with a #MarketTheTrades hashtag while proudly embracing a reputation as the “Storytellers of the Trades.” It’s been exhilarating to widen our scope recently and allow our exceptional creative team to apply their talents across a wider variety of industries as we work to amplify stories of brands and people of all backgrounds.
We acted with intention in recent years to methodically add new services that meet our partners’ needs and ensure more aspects of their marketing efforts are dialed in. Our team is big on brand-building, community investment, and an abiding people-first mentality to help our partners become companies of choice for their area.
As far as pride, I could go on and on. I’ll try to sum it up with this: it’s an incredible feeling to help curate a culture that people want to belong to. It’s a massive privilege to know YDC plays a role in offering careers and creative outlets for the immensely-talented group of storytellers and strategists that we are blessed to have on staff. No eyes are rolling when it’s time to put on Yellow Dog gear. Instead, it’s shared pride — a beautiful thing.
Branding, recruitment, storytelling, calls-to-action, etc. Whatever it may be! We’ve even filmed a pair of rap videos for a pair of plumbing partners (ask me for the link!) so there is nothing we will not try. If anyone is curious about how we’d bring their vision or brand to life or how we might be able to help streamline their marketing efforts, I’d love to have a conversation.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I go back to what I said early on in terms of the immediate blessings I was bestowed with at birth. Oftentimes, so much can seemingly be determined by your zip code. With that in mind, it was great luck to enter the world in 49855’s neck of the woods and grow up in a wonderful community that offered me boundless opportunities in a wonderful public school career at Marquette Area Public Schools. Combined with my parents, it was the teachers and support staff throughout 13 years of schooling across five MAPS campuses who put in the work to help me achieve my first dream of becoming a University of Michigan Wolverine. Compound that good fortune with the best friends a person can find and a wonderful family, and there’s not much more a guy could ask for. Perhaps thicker hair, but such is life.
From a work perspective, the talent we’ve accumulated on the YDC team is humbling, and some of that is luck, too. I am steadfast in my belief that the creative vision and raw talent we have on staff ought to be seen by more people. That’s why I’ve been so excited to branch out into new industries and look for alternative ways to put their tremendous skillsets to use, because there’s no sense in being lucky if you aren’t going to leverage it!
On a personal note: when it comes to luck, I can’t help but point to the relationship I formed with Coach Berenson and the seismic impact he had on the direction of my life through his advice to lean into the business world by leveraging what he characterized as an “infectious eagerness” and going back for a master’s degree. The ability to spend five years as part of a program with a championship pedigree that demanded excellence at every turn was a gift from God that fueled my evolution into the professional I am today. As a bonus, it’s turned into a lifelong bond with the program and generations of letterwinners.
There is no doubt in my mind that none of this happens without all of these blessings put together, plus countless others. I hope to seize every opportunity I’m given because too many folks have poured themselves into my success for me to take it for granted.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.YellowDogCreative.com
- Instagram: https://www.Instagram.com/YellowDog_Creative/
- Facebook: https://www.Facebook.com/MarketTheTrades
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drewvan/
