Business Profile: Paul Feith Blends Creativity, Tech Savvy

Paul Feith’s career path may have taken a few twists and turns over the years, but two things have always been clear: Feith loves being creative and he is a confirmed tech geek.

Feith’s love of technology and his creativity eventually led him to the perfect career in design. Today, through his company Paul Gregory Media, he helps businesses get their messages across to customers through branding, website design and advertising/marketing materials.

He didn’t start out in graphic design and marketing. Actually, he earned a degree in commercial music composition. He played in a band and for a while he produced music for bands.

“I was always a geek at heart,” he said. “To make ends meet I was a database programmer.”

Feith worked as a programmer for about eight years. He had his own business in his native New Jersey and built a clientele. Then he got married and moved to Naperville.

The move helped him start fresh.

He answered a job ad for a Fortune 500 company. That company turned out to be Playboy. He was the second person hired at the time for the company’s web division, which was brand new.

The job had a lot of perks yet he was lured away. Start-ups were the thing and were popping up all over. He began working for mypoints.com, in its pre-IPO phase.

“They doubled my salary and gave me a boatload of stock options,” he said.

However, the start-up bubble burst two years later, the stock options didn’t amount to anything and he was out looking for another job.

Unlike some people in the tech industry, he not only had web-programming experience, he was creative and could talk to people.

Feith said he found another job at another start-up and realized how much he loved the work. Even though the hours were long, he liked being involved in a business just getting off the ground and working to make things happen.

Within a few months that company’s funding ran out and his job was gone.

“I couldn’t get a job. I couldn’t find anything in IT,” he said. “In December 2001, after several months of trying, we fired our nanny and I decided to become a stay-at-home dad.”

Feith said at first it was a challenge, but after six-months, he wouldn’t have changed a thing. The time with his daughters has allowed them to build a strong relationship.

He was a stay-at-home dad for five years but soon he began to dabble in design work.

“I had a knack for it,” he said. “I wasn’t doing it professionally and I wasn’t charging a lot for it.”

When he began to consider going back to work he knew he had a blank slate.

“I could go back into IT, but I didn’t enjoy it,” he said. “I thought I haven’t worked in five years, why don’t I do something I’m passionate about?”

He contemplated a few different fields and settled on design.

“I love computers. I love graphics. I love creativity,” he said. “It’s the perfect marriage.”

When he launched his graphic design and marketing business in 2006 he relied on word of mouth, but at the time he didn’t know many people, he said. He picked up some small jobs and some small money.

He started with a shoestring budget, investing about $4,000 into software and $6,000 into a computer, he said.

A year into business he had a meeting that changed his perspective and his future.

A cigar aficionado, he met two members at a cigar shop. They shared with him the benefits of the organization and he joined at the highest level, although it was a huge chunk of his marketing budget, $3,200.

He made sure that he attended every chamber event he could and used the membership to his advantage and he began to make connections.

He offered to do a makeover for business owner Bob Jung that turned Feith’s business on its head. He redesigned a flier for free, hoping the results would speak for themselves and he would have a client.

The risk paid off and he went on to create an entire campaign for Jung, Feith said.

Feith’s clients are like him, small businesses trying to build their customer base and brand name. He works with business-to-business firms in professional services and health care industries, such as doctors, lawyers and chiropractors.

“A lot of people know they need marketing but are not sure where or what to do,” he said.

He has a team of contractors he assembles for each project, which allows him to choose the best people with the expertise needed for each individual project. At the heart of his business is branding, then the firm builds the collateral materials, including marketing and advertising. And, they offer website design.

While the economy took a dive over the last several years, Feith said his business has continued to grow.

When he started his business, the average revenue he earned per client was about $1,400. Today that has increased to about $15,000 per client.

Over the years he learned one lesson, that more business is not necessarily good business. At one point he was trying to get more jobs but often they were small jobs that didn’t pay enough, he said.

“It’s not about the quantity of customers,” he said. “It’s better to have quality jobs.”

He enjoys trying to make the materials as distinctive as the clients and businesses he represents, he said. With each job, he said, he is reinventing the wheel but for some people that will burn them out.

Although he has a team of contractors that he uses regularly, he still is very hands on with the business and design. In the future, he hopes to take on the role of a director.

“My dream was to have my own studio in 10 years and I’m on the path,” Feith said. “It’s started out well and I’m on track five years into it. I’m pleased with the level of revenue and the clients I have.”