Wilmington, May 4th, 2022

Located in Wilmington, Delaware, First Ascent is an award-winning digital marketing and creative agency. It fuses marketing intelligence and creative problem-solving with development, strategy, and pure grit to produce the most effective communications possible for its clients, both businesses and nonprofits.

John Himics is the President and Partner at First Ascent. In an interview with TIA, he offered an inside look into the agency, describing his role and the things that make First Ascent stand out. Himics also described the agency’s development process and the methodology they use to achieve their goals and targets.

To kick things off please can you describe to us a little bit about your city and why it is a great place to work?

First Ascent is headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware. Wilmington is a fantastic small city in the center of the east coast. It’s small enough to get to know people yet large enough to have great organizations that are nurturing talent like Zip Code Wilmington, nonprofits like Delaware Center for Justice. And we have access to Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore, DC, and Boston within a quick train ride. We also have a lively restaurant and arts scene. If you’re in Wilmington, you have to stop at The Queen for a show!

Can you tell us about your role and what you’re focusing on?

As a co-founder and President, my role is primarily focused on building relationships: developing new business, building partnerships with other organizations, developing the team, and finding opportunities to give back to the community that supports us. This can look like events, pitches, writing articles or taking people out to lunch. In fact, in 2019 I made the new year’s resolution to take at least one person out to lunch a week, and I’m excited to be getting back to that now in 2022 after a 2 year hiatus.

What makes First Ascent stand out?

First Ascent is a unique combination of a few core values.
1) Treat people well. We believe in respectful and positive team experience, internal and with clients, and we hire and fire staff and clients based on their ability to treat people well.
2) Design is a multiplier of effort. Great design makes storytelling and messaging easier and more likely to stick with the target audiences.
3) Bring your passions to work. People are excited by different things, and the more we embrace everyone’s passions and that diversity of thought, the stronger our team is and the stronger our results are.

Can you walk me through your development processes?

First Ascent completes all development in-house and has four full-time and two part-time developers on our team. Our lead developer is located here in Delaware and manages the rest of the team, who work remotely from various different regions. Our development team works very closely with our content and design teams. Our process is collaborative between the development team, content team, and design teams and that tight communication creates higher quality work, faster.

How can leadership create and then cultivate an inclusive workplace?

Be excited about what your people are excited about! Never dismiss something that a team member says. They shared that thought because it was interesting or important to them, show that they are important to you by listening and engaging with positive enthusiasm. Besides that, I think it’s important to err on the side of acceptance and positivity with all interactions.

Do you have a particular methodology to help others achieve their goals?

We have a deep belief in systems building, project management, and partnerships. Systems create the constraints necessary for great work to be completed, and a healthy and trusting partnership between agency and client allows for a free flow of questions, brainstorming, and more success than a “vendor” style relationship allows.

What recommendations would you give to clients to help streamline the process between their vision and your process?

To streamline the process of creating digital products, remember to not get ahead of yourself. The audience has to come before content. Content has to come before design. Production and systematizing happens after the first drafts are complete. Take the time to learn the necessary information in each step, before attempting to “get ahead” on the next step.

Tell us about a recent project you’ve worked on that you’re proud of. What particularly brought out the best in you?

One recent project we are particularly proud of is the identity and website we created for the Delaware Center for Justice (DCJ), which recently won an Anthem Award. It was a challenge rebranding an organization with over 100 years of history, as well as developing a modern web experience that would address all of DCJ’s audiences. We were honored to have the organization’s trust and were allowed the creative freedom to create a memorable and engaging brand.

Where do you see the metaverse going? What impact will it have on your services?

As an agency that believes in high-touch partnerships with time set aside to be true partners in all things digital marketing, I don’t see the metaverse catching on within the next 5 years. I think the interactions in the metaverse add extra steps to what can be accomplished in other means without a comparable additional value yet. However, I’m excited to see how the metaverse matures and to help clients create as much value on the platform as possible.

When looking at the advertising landscape today, what makes you think “wow”?

Even as a Millenial myself, I look at the newest generation entering the agency ecosystem and think “wow,” particularly around video. To Gen Z, video is their native language, and many of them have experience with video editing on their phones in middle and high school. Video is still seen as large and complex to many older generations, but to Gen Z, they see it as bare minimum.

How would you describe the creative industry in Delaware compared to other major cities?

Delaware is in a unique geographic position where the cost of living is low, the access to amenities is high, and the density is reasonably low. That means that creatives looking for a slightly slower lifestyle than in a major city like NYC or LA, can live, work, and play here without giving up access to large city markets and opportunities. That is a unique strength of Delaware.

Can you outline the three most crucial skills any innovation specialist should possess?

1. A“figure it out” attitude. There is no handbook for marketing or digital media, and you must constantly be learning and adapting to new challenges.
2. The ability to explain ideas. There is a skill to explaining an idea to a variety of audiences with a variety of experiences and still being able to be fully understood.
3. The patience to actively listen. You can’t convince someone to solve a problem they don’t believe they have. Often “convincing” isn’t the goal, but instead asking questions and actively listening is a stronger skillset.

From your personal standpoint, what global issues are you most passionate about and why?

I am most passionate about “raising the floor” for standard of living around the world, and in the US. It is expensive to be poor, and the current government, culture, and society does not provide support to many people. In our modern-day, post-scarcity world, people deserve to have a decent life, enough financial freedom to have decision making power in their own lives, and enough support to feel content as a human being. That’s why I’m excited that we have the opportunity to work with so many nonprofit organizations that are trying to make a difference and create a better world.

Please share a fun-fact that not many people know about you.

First Ascent is a rock-climbing term that means the first time a route is successfully completed. I was a rock-climbing instructor in high school and college. Rock climbing taught me to compete, not against others, but against my previous best self.

Thanks John!

• Learn more about First Ascent at: https://firstascentdesign.com/
• Follow First Ascent on social media:

Twitter

Facebook

Instagram

artsContentcreativesDelawareDesignDigital ProductsDiversityFirst AscentJohn HimicsLeadershipmessagingpartnersPeopleProduction