Bobby Rodriguez, Advertising and Consulting, Texas

Bobby Rodriguez, Advertising and Consulting Company, Texas

Talk for a few minutes with Bobby Rodriguez, and you’ll learn there is no wall between his life and his work. Being a professional creative is far more holistic than that.

“Sometimes creativity strikes in the middle of the night, and I will wake up at 3 a.m. with an idea in my head, and go get on my computer. I typically get to my computer around 9 or 10 a.m. each day, work until early evening, then take my dog out for a walk, or get dinner with some friends, and get back to work from 8 p.m. to around 11 or so. I love working late at night when it’s quiet, nobody is trying to get a hold of me. I can just kind of lose myself in my work.”

Bobby runs his own advertising and consulting company called SR3 Creative in Texas. He has worked with nonprofits, corporations, and about 80 political races at all levels—from city council and school board and mayoral races, to state legislature and national congressional races.

Bobby expanded SR3 Creative quickly through word-of-mouth referrals and hard work. He’s built a network of other 1099 independent contractors that he’s met in his travels, each at the top of their game in specific creative areas. He brings them in on projects depending on the budget and needs of his clients—and they do the same with Bobby for their own clients.

“It’s a win for everybody involved,” he explains. “It’s cheaper for our clients to get a great product by outsourcing it to this nationwide network of people who can do this work, and then we can pick the team and equipment that will make the best product for them.”

Staying flexible allows Bobby to keep costs under control for his clients without sacrificing quality. However, that flexibility may vanish, thanks to a new Department of Labor (DOL) rule that threatens to reclassify millions of self-employed contractors as full-time W-2 employees.

“It would hurt everyone in my creative network—and it would hurt our underdog clients too,” he warns. “We all love saying that Main Street drives our economy, but smaller operations have to get their names out there just like the large chains do. They need digital content to compete, and they can’t afford a full-time marketer. If you take away their ability to afford advertising, you’re taking away their ability to compete.”

The DOL rule also threatens to take away Bobby’s ability to recharge his creative energy. “There are times I need to take a day off, go outside, touch some grass, breathe some fresh air, maybe surprise my mom and take her out to lunch.” If he was at a firm 8-to-5, those moments to reset and seek inspiration wouldn’t be part of his life—and his work products would suffer for it. 

“Creative types don’t fit the mold of other corporate jobs,” he says. “Our brains are just wired differently.”