“… and what do you do?” merging purpose with the need to talk

Isn’t it interesting that, “What do you do?” is one of the first questions that we ask someone we’ve just met. On one level it’s an easy subject to give someone to talk about but on another, it is a way to find out about what they value and spend half their life working at.

Winston and I have known each other for years but, until we both joined Facebook we didn’t know that we had so much in common. Since we live in different cities, Winston in Ozark and I in Springfield there have only been the occasional social event to chat about family, work and opinions on current events.

Recently, I posted a drawing I made for my newest nephew in Edinburgh, Scotland. This drew a compliment from Winston and his comment, “I didn’t know that you did artwork.” This interaction led to us to meet for coffee and talk about our past work experience, family, and our mutual desire to do work that aligned with our values but also grew us in new directions. That is the ground from which SMART group is growing. And seeing the power of social media to draw people who share common interests, values and talents to support each other. Like us.

I have friends and have read about more and more people who are starting new agencies, businesses and organizations to do the same thing in their lives. These people need our patronage, encouragement and support to succeed. We want to work with them.

We believe our experience and talent in art, business, design, and communication combined with the use of different social media tools can help these people and their ideas succeed. Beyond advertising or marketing and more like introducing mutual friends at a social event, who you know have a lot in common. Helping tell stories when you know there’re not quite coming across or adding illustration to what’s being said to enhance the laugh or understanding.

So, that’s SMART Group & Gallery.

What do you do?