The Vivace Way: Building a business founded on friendship and community

Welcome back to Connection Request, my newsletter and podcast that explore creative entrepreneurship, connection, and creativity.

Building a business is personal.

That might be one of those business adages that everyone knows, but it's not one I was aware of until I started this journey of entrepreneurship. The journey began in 2022 when I left LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group) after an 11-year tenure that itself started at 汤森路透 .

At Vivace, the creative studio and consultancy I have the privilege of being a part of, we certainly think about critical and traditional business metrics like revenue, profit, and loss. But in truth, it’s the relationships, the people, and the community that create the steady drumbeat of who we are, why we exist, and what we do.

As such, I try to use my personal channels and platform to share the honest and ongoing journey of what it's like to start and build a creative business.

Why?

Well, this form of building in public is new to me as a business owner, but very much shaped by the world I've grown up in. As a millennial, most of my life has coincided with the rise of the internet and the impact that large-scale tech platforms have on society. Which means, for me, posting things on the internet about my life as it evolves is just sort of the way I grew up. It conveniently also coincides with some of my current obsessions: building businesses and brands, creative work, media in its many forms, music and art, and community.

But I digress. Today, I wanted to share a deeper dive on the Vivace journey with you, dear reader.

In the second episode of our third season of Connection Request, my podcast of the same name as this newsletter, we devoted the whole show to our origin story. You can watch on YouTube below or listen on your favorite podcast platform of choice like Apple or Spotify.

Vivace's origins

As we discuss in the conversation, expertly guest-hosted by Vivace's head of Media Mimi Hayton , when my co-founder, friend, and long-time collaborator Ryan Sheppard and I started Vivace, we didn’t want to build just another consultancy or agency. Which of course is what I imagine most consultancy and agency founders say.

Vivace began with a simple, yet typical of Ryan, bold question he sent to me an in email:

“Do you still want to start the world’s best content marketing agency with me?”

We had talked about it for years, sometimes as a serious goal, sometimes as a daydream. For whatever reason, in that moment we were both ready. We realized that the friendship and partnership we had built over a decade wasn’t just a foundation for collaboration—it was a blueprint for our business.

Relationships over revenue

From day one, we committed to a core principle: relationships over revenue. This was important to establish because we take our friendship very seriously. I made it clear to Ryan that our friendship was more important to me than any business, and that if the two ever grew to be too much at odds, we'd need to have a serious conversation about it.

It’s a line in the sand for us, a constant reminder that people are always at the center of our work. Especially as a business building a community for our talent, clients, partners, and fellow creatives and entrepreneurs, we always want to do our best to balance people and profit.

This principle also shapes how we grow. We are privileged to be in a position of not needing to seek out hundreds of clients and projects. We are focused on building long-term, meaningful partnerships with clients who are looking for something more than a simple transaction.

They also share our deeply held belief that every business has a story to tell. And that investing in a strong brand and quality content will always be the best way for any commercial organization to create a sustainable, long-lasting impact.

Prioritizing mental health in business

Another one of both my and Ryan's favorite practices we have built into the DNA of Vivace is checking in frequently on each other's mental health. Being vulnerable and talking openly about our emotions and struggles perhaps may not have been the (business) worlds that either of us grew up in, but it has been an important part of how we together deal with both the highs, lows, and in-betweens that both business and life throw our way.

One of the most important, and often overlooked, aspects of co-founding Vivace is how Ryan and I prioritize each other’s mental health. Building a business is rewarding, but it’s also stressful, and it takes a real toll. That’s why checking in on how we’re really doing—not just at work, but personally—has become part of the Vivace way. As we continue running at pace in our second year, it'll be an integral part of how we continue to operate.

// let's connect //

Thanks for reading Connection Request, as always. Questions, comments, or feedback? Do drop me a comment or DM; I'd love to hear from you. Copyedits and letters to the editor can be sent to joel @ vivace content dot com.

If you like this kind of content, please follow our work and journey at any of the links below.

See you next time. ??

Connection Request: newsletter / podcast / youtube / twitter / tiktok

Joel Leeman: linkedin / twitter / instagram

Vivace: linkedin / twitter / instagram / website