Adam Nelson
Brand Co-founder & Creative leader
anartdirector@gmail.com | (404) 643-8230
Profile
Brand Co-Founder & Senior Brand Creative spanning two decades of experience as a creative and a decade building and running a CPG business. Grew and led Blonde Beard’s placement in over 1,000 retail stores, while maintaining profitability and managing a successful fundraising round. Proven skills in brand development, team leadership, innovation, campaign development, relationship management, process creation and sales.
Work Experience
Blonde Beard’s, Co-Founder / President, 2017 - Now
Created a CPG brand from the ground up and grew it to $500,000 in annual revenue, while operating on a 40% margin
Profitable under boot strap funding for the first 6 years, followed by a successful fund-raising round of $370 K
Built a dependable team of outsourced employees, including manufacturing, fulfilment, sales, marketing and creative teams
Innovate new products based on market trends & sales data, creating products that are in-line with the market’s demand
Push sales velocities by creating competitive pricing and a strategic promotion schedules while maintaining a healthy margin
Strategically grow into new sales pipelines based on brand fit, target market, demographics, and competition
Manage and nurture relationships with key accounts ensuring our relationship is on solid footing and address any issues
Head of creative
Developed, executed and maintain the entirety of Blonde Beard’s award winning brand identity, which has been paramount to success
Build and lead outsourced creative teams, pushing to innovate the brand while maintaining its strong brand standards and voice
Outsourced and managed e-commerce agency that executed online campaigns across Shopify and Amazon, boosting our revenue by 250%
Successfully execute profitable email campaigns with a 4:1 ROAS
Develop and create environmental design for trade shows, in-store displays, demos and local events
Head of operations
Lead manufacturing and fulfillment teams, including creating and training SOPs, daily communications and solving problems
Manage relationships with vendors to avoid supply chain issues, while watching the market to keep COGs as low as possible
Expert in inventory management, balancing inventory levels and cash flow, preventing over or under manufacturing or purchasing
Manage distributors & customer fulfilment and bill back deductions, sales velocities and monitoring fill rate
Manage team members who manage other logistics, including trade show logistics, booking freight, and customer service
Adam Nelson Creative Co., FREELANCE CREATIVE, 2017 - Now
Created brand identities, campaigns, social media content, websites, package designs, pitch decks, and many other kinds of brand elements
Clients include Common Good, Amelie & Co., Grenadier, Decision Council, Grit, Strada, Pineapple Agency, Keep Social Media Social, Rapyd, Barnhart, Vladimir Jones, 160over90, Fixafire, Piggy Back, Food Bank of the Rockies, Kimberly Timmons Interiors
Cactus, Inc., SENIOR ART DIRECTOR, 2015 - 2017
Launched campaigns, worked on re-brands and helped win pitches.
Clients include Colorado Lottery, Odell Brewing, Colorado Dept. of Health and Education, Vail Health
Karsh Hagan, SENIOR ART DIRECTOR, 2014 - 2015
Sold and produced campaigns, pitched new business, led other creatives
Clients include Innovage Senior Care, Colorado Tourism, Visit Denver, Pinnacle Bank, Bank of Colorado
Victors and Spoils, ASSOCIATE CREATIVE DIRECTOR, 2013 - 2014
Produced award winning work
Clients include Bank Midwest, Ciroc Vodka and JCPenny
Barnhart Communications, SENIOR ART DIRECTOR, 2011 - 2013
Launched campaigns, led other creatives and helped win pitches.
Clients include Wyoming Tourism, Back Country Access, History Colorado Center, Foothills Animal Shelter
GSD&M, ART DIRECTOR, 2010 - 2011
Worked on national brands, art directed photoshoots
Clients include Ace hardware, Zales, Horseshoe Casino
David & Goliath, JR. ART DIRECTOR / ART DIRECTOR, 2006- 2010
Started my career, learned from the best, won pitches and won awards
Clients include KIA Motors, Cazadores Tequila, Mammoth Mountain, Universal Studios
Skills
Leadership Creative Direction, Brand Development, Relationship Management, Package Design, Solving Problems, Fundraising, Innovation, Art Direction, SOP Creation, Sales, Supply Chain, Inventory Management, Environmental Design
Education
The Creative Circus, 2013 - 2014
The University of Georgia, 1999 - 2004
Awards & Press
One Show, Good Food Awards, Communications Arts, Art Director’s Club of Denver, Mercury Awards, Creativity Magazine, Denver 9 News, Scovie Awards, Westward Magazine, The Addys, The Beldings, Denver Fifty, Seed Magazine, 5280 Magazine, Countless influencers
Biggest lessons learned
1. Never Stop Innovating
2. Art Sells
3. Raise Funds First
Contact