Today we’d like to introduce you to Bryan Jimenez.
Hi Bryan, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m a formally unschooled founder, brand strategist, and creative director at Archimedes Strategic Branding, a branding & consulting firm focused on helping organizations innovate and spark A-HA moments. I was raised in a broken home in the bad part of Pomona CA, in the heart of one of the US’s most dangerous gangs. My early struggles ultimately led me to my first creative work in Ontario CA. In 2006 I co-founded my first business, a small publishing company. In 2010 I discovered MOOCs and utilized them to bolster my knowledge, both via autodidact study and independent college coursework, mainly via Coursera’s online platform, which collaborates with many of the world’s top universities. Coursera, upon learning of my difficult personal journey and my determination to overcome adversity, I was invited by Coursera to their exclusive Coursera Partners Conference.
The added education I received helped lead me to collaborate on strategic and creative projects with large brands such as Harley-Davidson, Pepsi, the US Department of Energy, Wacom, and Holley, among others. In 2017, I helped break the Electric Vehicle World Hypermiling Record, demonstrating the power of collaborative ingenuity even without massive corporate funding. In late 2018, I began focusing on helping startup organizations improve their brands, not just their branding, and also improve their fundamental capacity for fostering creativity and sparking breakthrough innovations. In 2020, I had the new opportunity to create and produce a technology-focused podcast for an influential Youtuber, creating 50+ episodes.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
I spent quite some time aimlessly wandering around before I found answers, my career, and my passions. The first half of my life was rather chaotic. I grew up verbally, emotionally, and physically abused, I’ve been shot at, I’ve been in a half dozen car crashes including one in which the car flipped over 5 times and burst into flames, also been in a violent crash caused by a high-speed police pursuit (the cops weren’t chasing me), I’ve been in the middle of a hostage situation, I’ve been in a point-blank police shootout, etc, etc, etc.
Without a father figure most of my life I felt I had no direction or help. The public school system confounded me so I did rather poorly there. A specific incident at school intensified my desire to question authority and the status quo. I couldn’t go to college since I had to work full-time to provide for my mother and 3 young brothers (plus I didn’t have the grades or the money to go), so I took the only path I felt I could take… crime. Just kidding. The path was autodidaction (self-teaching). In the second half of my life, I felt I was transformed as I focused more on the arts and self-discovery, not just personal self-discovery, but also as part of all humankind. Participating in artistic endeavors helped me to find solace, find a voice and discover the power of creativity.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
I’m the founder, brand strategist & creative director of the brand consulting firm Archimedes Strategic Branding, where I build brands, create breakthrough branding and strategically craft memorable multimedia branded experiences. I’m also the host of The Archimedes Effect podcast and a burgeoning public speaker on topics like overcoming adversity and sparking breakthrough innovation.
Effective branding can only be created when there is a clear understanding of the business, the brand, and its objectives. Without clarity, in these areas, the branding efforts will ultimately fail. Branding is a form of communication, and without clarity of the business, the brand, and its objectives there is no clarity of the messaging needed to accomplish those objectives, neither then can there be clarity of the branding that is needed to communicate said messaging. A major turning point for me was when I took an Ivy League marketing course authorized by the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Business School, offered through Coursera. It changed my entire perspective on how design relates to an organization. I had heard the word “brand” mentioned for years, but its meaning and importance now became very clear to me, as well as the relationship between design, business, and communications in marketing. I use a multidisciplinary approach to discover solutions others can’t see. Also, I use a proven strategic brand methodology, a formula, for repeating success in branding, in building brands, for improving existing brands, and for re-energizing brands so they can reach their next level. This allowed me to start consulting as a Brand Strategist where I run brand strategy workshops that can supercharge businesses.
I also do re-brands. But, please don’t resort to “logo contests” (my goodness, they make me cringe). Logo contests are possibly the worst way to rebrand because it’s really just playing “pretend rebrand”. Instead, look for professional graphic designers with some understanding of brand strategy, or hire a creative agency or brand consultancy that knows how to build brands that take into consideration your business goals.
My firm also provides auxiliary services such as full commercial printing, promos/merch, activations, social media management, digital marketing, and media services.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
One of my deepest realizations was that of understanding that we in fact live in a type of analog to Plato’s cave, where, as the Dr. Seuss quote implies, simple things are occulted and confused by things that only appear complex.
It’s quite similar when thinking of rebranding and building brands. Once the needed steps are clarified and understood, the main ideas are actually quite simple. I have found that what makes things difficult sometimes is that some simple things can have several facets to them, giving them an appearance of complexity.
This is where many find it challenging, to keep track of many simple variables that appear intimidatingly complex.
Many complex ideas have very simple premises that underly them, and many seemingly unrelated ideas have very simple and related interconnections that tie them together. Having enough general knowledge of multiple domains allows one to see how the dots connect, even when others cannot see the interconnections, usually because their vision is overly narrow or hyper-focused. This is one of the ways I am able to see future trends, new innovative solutions, and non-obvious insights and opportunities. Combined with my proven methodology for complex problem-solving and for brand building, I’m ready for anything.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://archimedes.agency
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/archimedes_branding/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArchimedesBrandingLA
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/BryanArchimedes
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRO0LaFFY-cmxMATXydaBgQ
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/archimedes-strategic-branding-upland
- Other: https://anchor.fm/the-archimedes-effect
