A version of this interview article was published on PostScript, Powered by Brand Chain, Featuring Randy Blakeslee, Co-Founder of Symboliq Media.
“With open curiosity and listening, companies will find there’s ample opportunity for growth and prosperity. Listening and diving into the why connects a mission to the message you wish to communicate, drives creativity and fosters a process of true understanding.
The power of active listening and curiosity is evident in the work being done at Symboliq Media. Randy Blakeslee, co-founder of Symboliq, knows the value of engaging with clients with a sense of genuine curiosity in order to get to the core of what a client needs — whether it’s branding, social media, web design, content creation or SEO.
Having rebuilt over the past five years, the team at Symboliq has adapted and grown with these changing times. They’ve built a solid foundation to cultivate their own inclusive company culture, bringing a fresh and close perspective to their approach with clients.
Blakeslee has been self-employed since the age of 22 and he brings over 30 years of marketing experience to Symboliq, along with an entrepreneurial spirit. Driven with this energy, he and his team are opportunistic and show a dynamic, diverse approach to their work.
“We have a ton of different product lines that we work with, [as well as] corporations,” Blakeslee explains. “We work with their branding, their mission statement, why they’re in business today, what is the purposeful meaning behind what they want to do. I had to relearn that myself when we rebuilt our company five years ago.”
The company began as a digital marketing group that helped companies get on social media and increase their brand’s online presence. The work included strategies for Facebook and LinkedIn, where they helped businesses connect, engage in discussions, evolve their brand and create posts — from crafting the logo to building design, branding and brochures for sales and marketing efforts.
They’ve since transitioned from doing work with local small businesses’ social media to building out clients’ entire websites, giving them the tools they need to be better at what they do, including marketing services. From there, they help coach their clients to succeed within their space.
As Blakeslee considered how they wanted to build and where they wanted to go in the future, he gave serious thought to their mission and intent.
“We sat down and thought about what we do,” he says. “We base everything on the purpose of why. It helps [us and our clients] clearly understand where they want to go.”
When Blakeslee talks about finding the why, he’s diving into “the true purpose and meaning” of a company. His team takes those insights and turns them into the client’s North Star. “We make it transparent, to be heard through all the noise,” Blakeslee says, sharing that it makes the client’s path to success that more clear. “It’s an efficient way of doing things, if you do it from the core, build your team around the same strong belief structure, and brand around that. And then you create that methodology of I’m doing everything for a purpose.”
With many client success stories to celebrate in the past few years, Blakeslee reflected on a recent accomplishment.
“We did a really big platform build for a client controlled force in Batavia, Illinois,” Blakeslee shares, noting the client had been with another company that wasn’t moving the project along. He was able to secure a meeting through relationship building and ultimately win the business.
“For over a year, we built out a completely new platform [for the client] … an online testing certification platform for all of their training nationwide.” The final product allowed test takers to pay online, get receipts, take exams and gain access to a video training platform. It was a win for everyone involved.
Looking to the future, Blakeslee intends to continue to build relationships while keeping company values at the core to establish the best results for clients.
At the end of the day for Blakeslee and Symboliq, it’s all about leaving a good impression. “When we work with clients, we want to make sure that … they have a stamp in their mind that says, ‘You know, we work with one of the better companies that we could have. They’re affordable. They’re great. They’re honest. Their ethics are good. Their morals are high and their quality is unbelievable.”
