1) How many hats do you wear at Forty (and which one makes you look the best)?
In the physical sense I only wear one particular type of hat and I wear it damn well (look at the picture and try to control your inner desire please). In the workalogical sense, a bajillion. Working at Forty affords me the luxury to try my hand at A LOT of different things. I'm like Blossom with how many hats I get to wear in a given week. Some of the more common tasks I participate in are design, strategy, video production, podcast production, and web development. Luckily this jives well with my personality as I tend to get burnt outonly doing one particular type of thing for too long.
2) What were the last three lunch spots Forty crashed?
We are eating machines, one look at my stomach and you will be convinced of this fact. I believe the last three places we hit up were Liberty Market (a team favorite), Pei Wei, and Fresh & Easy. Now I know what you may be thinking, "Fresh and Easy? That's a grocery store, not a lunch spot!" Well you my friend are wrong, it's the lunchiest lunch spot that ever lunched.
3) What was the starting point for you and the Forty Agency?
It all started with Refresh Phoenix a few years ago. At the time Refresh was a brand new group that was created by complete unknowns in the valley for the sole purpose of just getting everyone connected together. Well it freaking worked. I got to learn about Forty and meet the individual members and I grew to love them. Eventually my love turned into an outstretched hand that screamed "Hey please pay me." It first started out as some contract work, most of which was done very diligently on my part and one project that I completely screwed up beyond all belief. I was man enough to admit my mistakes and shortcomings so eventually Forty hired me! Those fools.
4) What is the biggest nag your clients have?
They are just always complaining about how incredibly awesome we are and how we cannot be real because no real human beings could possibly be this incredibly amazing. Then I wake up from that dream and go to work where a variety of issues come up day to day. I think the single biggest nag our clients have is that we typically spend a lot of time in the research phase of projects. The value our clients receive from the initial getting to know their business inside and out isn't very
easily realized early on. Sometimes it can take quite a long time before we are comfortable suggesting a strategy and in a clients eyes, this understandably seem like a waste of time. We are constantly working hard on changing this perception.
5) If I take a look inside your co. refrigerator what are the first five things I find?
I looked in their earlier today and in order I will tell you what I saw. One raw egg sitting on top of what looks to be a sandwich, Diet Coke, a sticker, something that can only be described as used string cheese, and Go Fast energy drinks.
6) How do you tackle and define stress in this industry?
Tackling stress is our forte! I have never worked with a happier bunch of people in my life. I think the secret is we hire people based primarily on personality. Skills can be taught but personality is one tough beast to change. Getting someone that just doesn't fit the culture can be damaging to the team as a whole and can lead to frustration and stress. By having the right kind of people working together, we have formed a group that actively helps each other in times of need and thereby completely avoids the stress most other companies in the industry have trouble with.
7) What is one word that sums up Sunny Thaper?
Happy.
8) Why does Forty kick so much ass? Your online presence has mastered transparency and initiating discussion UNDER a company rather than ABOUT a company. What are your thoughts?
It all comes back to the type of personality we tend to hire. Each one of us is naturally open, honest, funny, and intelligent. When you get people like that together, the online presence almost takes care of itself. One of the biggest downfalls I have seen for other companies that are trying to get an online identity is they apply rules, or procedures, or guidelines. Forty has absolutely none of that. Each person is allowed to control their own identity online however they like and I think because of this others tend to see us in a much more genuine light and end up interacting with us on a much more personal level.
9) The greatest piece of work Forty has completed during your tenure, in your opinion?
Alright, here's the deal. I know what I'm about to say will sound cheesy or totally corporate but I assure you, I am being completely and utterly honest here... I don't think we have a single piece of work that is better than the rest. EVERY client and project gets treated with the same care and dedication as every other project we do. We have been known to turn down awesome huge projects solely because one member of our team wasn't excited about it. We only take on projects that we have actual interest in and because of this, we always give it our all. Go ahead, say it.... bullshit right? Well let us prove it to you, come by, talk to us, see for yourself!
10) So... you know we'd get here... what was the last thing to get stuck in your beard?
The scientific name of the last thing to get stuck in my beard is Hylochoerus Meinertzhageni. It was stuck in there for so long that eventually it died and was cooked solely by the heat that exists in my beard. In the end it made a delicious meal for the entire office.
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