Rising Stars: Meet Brent Blossom

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brent Blossom.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I grew up very, very poor. I’m one of five, born in a barn in Cheribusco, Indiana. We later moved to a section-8 housing project a couple of hours away with hopes that my parents could find better jobs.

One night, I was sitting on the counter next to the stove where my dad was cooking dinner – swinging my legs and asking a hundred questions of course. I looked over at my dad and asked: “Why do we have pancakes every night? All my friends have chicken and hamburgers and casseroles.”

Get ready… Because my dad’s response is the reason your reading this letter…

My dad turned to me and said with glassy eyes and bottom lip quivering as he flipped another pancake for the thousandth time: “Brent, we have pancakes every night because we GET to! How many of your friends get to have sweet syrup and yummy soft pancakes every night of the week?! You get dessert for dinner every single night!”

It was in that moment that my dad chose to paint a picture of MORE not less, of OPPORTUNITY not lack. We don’t always get to decide what happens to us, but we do get to decide how we see it, learn from it and grow into better people because of it.

The Lesson: Beauty is a choice we make.

When I was 19, I decided to become a full-time humanitarian aid. I traveled the world for seven years hosting orphanages in China, feeding and bathing lepers in the Tibetan region, building bathrooms and gates for tent cities in Haiti, and hosting medical clinics for battered prostitutes in the Czech Republic.

During my travels, not only did I see the deepest devastation this world holds within its bowels; but I also witnessed an awe-inspiring, life-changing beauty in the eyes of real people while in the midst of some of the most incredible landscapes and sunsets this world so freely displays to all who open their eyes to it.

Throughout my life, I have come to believe two things: #1 The deadliest disease known to man is hopelessness, and #2 beauty is the cure. Therefore, Helm + Oar exists to capture this beautiful world on canvas and place it in every space where hope and beauty is profoundly desired.

Beauty Is A Choice We Make.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Launching and building Helm & Oar has been the most challenging thing I’ve ever done in my life. The risk of leaving the beloved 9-5 security blanket behind as a single dad can seem overwhelming and at times, impossible.

I think the primary struggle for me has been self-belief. Doubting great ideas for fear of failure is a struggle very close to home.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Formerly Executive Creative Director for Strikepoint Media, an integrated marketing agency in Laguna Beach, California. I have launched two successful marketing agencies in Orlando, Florida, the last of which is still in operation and thriving to this day.

I have spent the past 14 years working with clients like Facebook, Red Bull, Disney, Vitamin Shoppe, Cru, LuLu Lemon and many more providing excellent brand experiences on multiple mediums. With my unique ability to empathize with brand and business objectives, coupled with a sharp eye for detail, I bring a strong strategic foundation to any project I’m a part of.

It is now time to take my 14+ years of branding and marketing experience and invest it into my new company, Helm + Oar. I am very excited for what is to come!

Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
My industry is growing quickly with more hungry competitors springing up every month it seems. I believe that this industry is beginning to demand new ways to stay relevant and differentiated. Through product innovation, new marketing angles and hooks and new emerging styles of artwork, galleries are doing their best right now to provide a unique product to their customers, one that perhaps nobody else can provide.

In the next 5-10 years, I believe there will be a select handful of galleries who survive and the rest will fall by the wayside and take their shot in another e-commerce vertical.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://helmandoar.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/helmandoar/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/helmandoar/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/helm-oar
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy1t8b-LjYfat7C0CO9tpWg