July 26, 2024 • 12 mins
Ever wondered how a successful digital branding expert got started and what fuels their creative journey? Join us on today's episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast as we sit down with Kimber Flynn, the inspiring CEO and founder of Indiblu Creative. From her early beginnings in Spartanburg to her education at Winthrop and eventual move to South Charlotte, Kimber shares her unique path that led to the creation of her 22-year-old company. Discover how her passion for design and making a difference paved the way for exciting roles in various industries before she ultimately launched her own digital branding and marketing firm.
Explore how Kimber's innovative approach, including the early adoption of virtual teams, has set her company apart. Whether it's collaborating a new name or logo for a global company or crafting award-winning sustainability reports for Delta Air Lines and Estee Lauder, Kimber's enthusiasm and dedication to her craft shine through. Tune in to get a behind-the-scenes look at her work with educational clients and local entrepreneurs, and gain valuable insights into the creative process behind effective branding and marketing. This episode is packed with inspiration and practical advice for anyone passionate about design and business development.
Indiblu Creative
Kimber Flynn
704.516.0145
kimber@indiblucreative.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Regina League.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Good morning Kimber.
How are you?
Speaker 3 (00:13):
I am good.
Thank you so much.
It's so good to see you, Regina.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Yes, I am so excited to be speaking with you today.
Everyone, this is Kimber Flynnand she is the CEO and founder
of Indiblu Creative, and I'msuper excited as well because
she is a South Charlottebusiness gal like me.
And first of all, welcome andtell me what you do.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
My company is a digital branding and marketing
company.
We're over 22 years old andbased here in Charlotte.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Wow, so are you from the area.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
I actually am.
I grew up in Spartanburg butwent to Winthrop and have always
just kind of, you know, movedup here after graduation, and my
entire family moved up here aswell.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
So, yeah, we're natives moved up here as well.
So, yeah, we're natives.
For 22 years you've had thisbusiness.
You're the founder CEO.
Tell me your journey, like howdid you get into this and what
exactly do you do and who do youdo it for?
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Yeah, for sure, I've always loved design.
I've always loved typography,you know, working with fonts and
colors and things like that.
So you know, I studied graphicdesign at Winthrop and my first
job out of college was with abranding agency, which was
really exciting because I got towork with companies all over
(01:39):
the world naming products likethe Pontiac Sunfire or Hershey's
Sweetest Shapes, yes, anddeveloping logos for things like
that.
And so from that ad agencyexperience I went on to work for
a local large architectural andengineering firm and I worked
(02:02):
in business development andreally loved doing proposals and
presentations.
And then I worked at QueensUniversity for a while and was
their design director.
So from there I reallydeveloped a love of working with
educational clients, higher ednonprofits, really just
(02:22):
companies.
Where I could make a differencewas, you know, kind of when I
stepped out and created IndibluCreative, working with people
from you know top ad agencieswho might be on sabbatical or
who are moms now, who weren'tworking full time.
I employed them and we created,you know, virtual teams back
(02:43):
when virtual teams weren't evena thing 22 years ago.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
For our listeners tell me.
You know who might be a goodconnection for you and the kind
of businesses or people you canhelp.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
Definitely.
Well, I definitely have apassion for education and
schools, so I love working withcolleges and doing alumni
magazines and all kinds ofthings like that is just a
passion of mine.
I still work.
I worked with Converse recentlyon a complete rebrand of their
program, so that was fun becauseI've worked with that client
(03:23):
for a very long time.
Another client of mine I like todo, you know, long form design
is what is called now reports,so annual reports for nonprofits
or for corporations.
I do sustainability and ESGreports.
(Speaker 2 Host (03:41):
What What is ESG?
What does that mean?
)Environmental, and governance
reports, which is, you know,it's a whole big thing now about
regulations where it might haveto become a law that you know
companies have to disclose whatthey're doing to further their
environmental goals, whatthey're doing in governance and
what they're doing for theiremployees, such as training,
(04:03):
equality, diversity and thingslike that.
So some of my clients are DeltaAirlines, Estee Lauder, Expedia
.
So I do work with larger brandsas well.
But probably you know, like Isaid, I really enjoy working
with the, even the localentrepreneur who is just trying
to to create their own business,their own brand and, you know,
(04:27):
get that out into the world.
I love helping to create thatas well.
So anything related to you knowdesign and helping people
market themselves.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
I guess, yeah, that has to be exciting, very
fulfilling, and you know youdesign and helping people market
themselves and you know you getto use your creative passion.
Obviously, and I can't evenimagine so a client could, you
might work with them a shortperiod of time, a long period of
time?
Tell me the process.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Yeah, Well, with entrepreneurs, you know it'd be
a shorter time frame, obviously.
But yeah, with these larger-kind of clients and reports and
marketing pieces, you know I canwork six to eight months at a
time with them and usually youknow it's yearly, so it's
something that happens everyyear.
(05:14):
I also enjoy doingpresentations and interactive
presentations, so that might bea one-off and helping somebody
create, maybe, board educationpieces about sustainability or
about, you know, educating theirboard with the college
university about their new brandyou know, their brand guide and
(05:34):
things like that.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Yeah, what are some projects you're currently
working on?
You don't have to name thecompany, but what kind of things
?
Speaker 3 (05:41):
I'm working with a really prominent golf company
right now on theirsustainability report, which is
really exciting, and alsoworking with a very large global
company that's in 100 countries.
I think they have 35,000employees, if I'm not mistaken,
but they do sell toothpaste.
(06:02):
That's all I'm going to say.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Well, everybody uses toothpaste, so that's a good
thing to be in.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
They have a lot of brands, but yeah, that's one of
their things, but yeah, it's fun.
And I'm also working with ahotel out of Las Vegas which is
a very large hotel as well, andthat's kind of a really fun
project.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
That is super cool.
So the name Indiblu Creative,what?
How did?
What does that mean to you?
Speaker 3 (06:31):
Yeah, that's kind of my background in my branding
agency days coming through.
It was my favorite color isindigo blue and I was just kind
of playing around with it and soI kind of meshed those two
words together.
So it's indi blu and I have athing for leaving letters off of
names, so blue is just a U andno E.
(06:52):
I had a cat named Ty and somost people would think his name
was T-Y but it was T-H-A-I,like Thai food.
You know I like to play aroundwith like unique kind of
combinations.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
I'm going to spell Indiblu for our listeners, so
they know how to find you.
It's I-N-D-I-B-L-U.
Indiblu Creative.
That's amazing.
So when you're not doing allthis, which sounds like a very,
very big, busy world you live in, what do you do in your free
(07:25):
time?
Speaker 3 (07:26):
Well, I have a horse, so I love to ride horses and
just be around animals ingeneral.
I have two rescue dogs.
I love to kayak, I love, youknow, mountains, beach, but I
just moved into a log cabin homeand that is a whole unique
experience in itself.
But I have an acre and so I amgrowing dahlias.
(07:49):
I've never grown anything, sowe're going to try this.
I really have a passion forbeautiful, colorful flowers and
so we're going to try that.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
How fun is that.
So, now that you're runningyour business, do you have like
a team of people?
Do you work solo?
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Yeah, I do.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
The way the company's set up.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Yeah, I do have a team.
We're all virtual, of course,in this day and age, but I have
a team pretty much based acrossthe country, and we also work
internationally as well, and soI have consultants that help
with reports and you knowwriting.
I have, you know, an editor.
I have a full-time designer anda part-time designer.
(08:35):
I also have a social mediaperson.
This year we actually have twointerns for the summer and I'm
so excited, I'm like loving it--exciting.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Yeah, you're giving back.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
Yeah, I do, I love mentoring.
I really do.
That is one of my passions andso, yeah, I was really excited.
I have a social media internand also a web intern this
summer and, just like I said,it's so fulfilling and I enjoy
it so much.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Just curious what are some of the misconceptions
about your industry?
That this might be a goodchance to kind of share some
wisdom or, you know, tell peoplewhat those might be.
To clear it up.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
Yeah, I think you know, in the day and age of AI,
I think that a lot of peoplethink that you know a software
can do what I do, which is, Ithink, a huge misconception,
especially as the youngergeneration is growing up.
They think that you know we canjust go into a software program
and pop out a design or a brand.
(09:37):
But really to understand whoyou are, what makes you unique
and what you know positions youdifferently and something that
you can hang your hat on for,you know, the next 20, 50 years
is not something that's going tocome from a software.
It's going to come fromsomebody who really understands
you in the market and can createsome unique identity or name or
(09:59):
positioning for you as well, asyou know, just that personal
touch of just you know, havingreal people involved in
photography and in social mediaand things like that.
I just think right now, AIcannot replace the experience
that designers bring to thetable, because, you know, for
(10:19):
four years, you know, I wastaught a design eye, I guess is
what they called it then.
They're like the most importantthing that we're going to teach
you is to know what good designis and what bad design is, and,
quite frankly, I never forgotthat and that is really the
truth.
A lot of schools don't teachthat to be able to understand
(10:47):
the unique nuances of fonts andyou know leading and way things
communicate, even digitally,versus print, and things like
that.
It's just something that youknow comes with experience and I
hope that never goes away and Ihope that we continue to
utilize.
You know, designers, creativepeople in general, writers, you
know, I mean, I don't want tosee AI take over our entire
(11:09):
creative industry, I guess.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Yeah, it's a new world, isn't it?
Speaker 3 (11:14):
Yeah, use it as a tool but don't replace.
You know, that's kind of mything.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Good point, good point.
Well, tell our listeners howthey can reach you, contact you
to learn more.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
Yeah, for sure.
Well, my email, you can reachme at Kimber K-I-M-B-E-R at
Indiblu Creative dot com, andthat's I-N-D-I-B-L-U Creative
dot com.
You can also reach me by phoneand that is 704-516-0145.
(11:47):
And my website, of course, isindiblucreative.
com, so you can see some work upthere as well.
And, yeah, I would look forwardto having a conversation and
even if you just want to chat, Iwould welcome the opportunity.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Well, I can't wait to see you out in the community.
We appreciate your time todayand thank you so, so much.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
Oh, thank you for inviting me.
I have really enjoyed it.
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go toGNPSouthCharlotte.
com.
That's GNPSouthCharlotte.
com, or call 980-351-5719.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Regina League.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Good morning Kimber.
How are you?
Speaker 3 (00:13):
I am good.
Thank you so much.
It's so good to see you, Regina.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Yes, I am so excited to be speaking with you today.
Everyone, this is Kimber Flynnand she is the CEO and founder
of Indiblu Creative, and I'msuper excited as well because
she is a South Charlottebusiness gal like me.
And first of all, welcome andtell me what you do.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
My company is a digital branding and marketing
company.
We're over 22 years old andbased here in Charlotte.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Wow, so are you from the area.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
I actually am.
I grew up in Spartanburg butwent to Winthrop and have always
just kind of, you know, movedup here after graduation, and my
entire family moved up here aswell.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
So, yeah, we're natives moved up here as well.
So, yeah, we're natives.
For 22 years you've had thisbusiness.
You're the founder CEO.
Tell me your journey, like howdid you get into this and what
exactly do you do and who do youdo it for?
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Yeah, for sure, I've always loved design.
I've always loved typography,you know, working with fonts and
colors and things like that.
So you know, I studied graphicdesign at Winthrop and my first
job out of college was with abranding agency, which was
really exciting because I got towork with companies all over
(01:39):
the world naming products likethe Pontiac Sunfire or Hershey's
Sweetest Shapes, yes, anddeveloping logos for things like
that.
And so from that ad agencyexperience I went on to work for
a local large architectural andengineering firm and I worked
(02:02):
in business development andreally loved doing proposals and
presentations.
And then I worked at QueensUniversity for a while and was
their design director.
So from there I reallydeveloped a love of working with
educational clients, higher ednonprofits, really just
(02:22):
companies.
Where I could make a differencewas, you know, kind of when I
stepped out and created IndibluCreative, working with people
from you know top ad agencieswho might be on sabbatical or
who are moms now, who weren'tworking full time.
I employed them and we created,you know, virtual teams back
(02:43):
when virtual teams weren't evena thing 22 years ago.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
For our listeners tell me.
You know who might be a goodconnection for you and the kind
of businesses or people you canhelp.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
Definitely.
Well, I definitely have apassion for education and
schools, so I love working withcolleges and doing alumni
magazines and all kinds ofthings like that is just a
passion of mine.
I still work.
I worked with Converse recentlyon a complete rebrand of their
program, so that was fun becauseI've worked with that client
(03:23):
for a very long time.
Another client of mine I like todo, you know, long form design
is what is called now reports,so annual reports for nonprofits
or for corporations.
I do sustainability and ESGreports.
(Speaker 2 Host (03:41):
What What is ESG?
What does that mean?
)Environmental, and governance
reports, which is, you know,it's a whole big thing now about
regulations where it might haveto become a law that you know
companies have to disclose whatthey're doing to further their
environmental goals, whatthey're doing in governance and
what they're doing for theiremployees, such as training,
(04:03):
equality, diversity and thingslike that.
So some of my clients are DeltaAirlines, Estee Lauder, Expedia
.
So I do work with larger brandsas well.
But probably you know, like Isaid, I really enjoy working
with the, even the localentrepreneur who is just trying
to to create their own business,their own brand and, you know,
(04:27):
get that out into the world.
I love helping to create thatas well.
So anything related to you knowdesign and helping people
market themselves.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
I guess, yeah, that has to be exciting, very
fulfilling, and you know youdesign and helping people market
themselves and you know you getto use your creative passion.
Obviously, and I can't evenimagine so a client could, you
might work with them a shortperiod of time, a long period of
time?
Tell me the process.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Yeah, Well, with entrepreneurs, you know it'd be
a shorter time frame, obviously.
But yeah, with these larger-kind of clients and reports and
marketing pieces, you know I canwork six to eight months at a
time with them and usually youknow it's yearly, so it's
something that happens everyyear.
(05:14):
I also enjoy doingpresentations and interactive
presentations, so that might bea one-off and helping somebody
create, maybe, board educationpieces about sustainability or
about, you know, educating theirboard with the college
university about their new brandyou know, their brand guide and
(05:34):
things like that.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Yeah, what are some projects you're currently
working on?
You don't have to name thecompany, but what kind of things
?
Speaker 3 (05:41):
I'm working with a really prominent golf company
right now on theirsustainability report, which is
really exciting, and alsoworking with a very large global
company that's in 100 countries.
I think they have 35,000employees, if I'm not mistaken,
but they do sell toothpaste.
(06:02):
That's all I'm going to say.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Well, everybody uses toothpaste, so that's a good
thing to be in.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
They have a lot of brands, but yeah, that's one of
their things, but yeah, it's fun.
And I'm also working with ahotel out of Las Vegas which is
a very large hotel as well, andthat's kind of a really fun
project.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
That is super cool.
So the name Indiblu Creative,what?
How did?
What does that mean to you?
Speaker 3 (06:31):
Yeah, that's kind of my background in my branding
agency days coming through.
It was my favorite color isindigo blue and I was just kind
of playing around with it and soI kind of meshed those two
words together.
So it's indi blu and I have athing for leaving letters off of
names, so blue is just a U andno E.
(06:52):
I had a cat named Ty and somost people would think his name
was T-Y but it was T-H-A-I,like Thai food.
You know I like to play aroundwith like unique kind of
combinations.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
I'm going to spell Indiblu for our listeners, so
they know how to find you.
It's I-N-D-I-B-L-U.
Indiblu Creative.
That's amazing.
So when you're not doing allthis, which sounds like a very,
very big, busy world you live in, what do you do in your free
(07:25):
time?
Speaker 3 (07:26):
Well, I have a horse, so I love to ride horses and
just be around animals ingeneral.
I have two rescue dogs.
I love to kayak, I love, youknow, mountains, beach, but I
just moved into a log cabin homeand that is a whole unique
experience in itself.
But I have an acre and so I amgrowing dahlias.
(07:49):
I've never grown anything, sowe're going to try this.
I really have a passion forbeautiful, colorful flowers and
so we're going to try that.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
How fun is that.
So, now that you're runningyour business, do you have like
a team of people?
Do you work solo?
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Yeah, I do.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
The way the company's set up.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Yeah, I do have a team.
We're all virtual, of course,in this day and age, but I have
a team pretty much based acrossthe country, and we also work
internationally as well, and soI have consultants that help
with reports and you knowwriting.
I have, you know, an editor.
I have a full-time designer anda part-time designer.
(08:35):
I also have a social mediaperson.
This year we actually have twointerns for the summer and I'm
so excited, I'm like loving it--exciting.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Yeah, you're giving back.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
Yeah, I do, I love mentoring.
I really do.
That is one of my passions andso, yeah, I was really excited.
I have a social media internand also a web intern this
summer and, just like I said,it's so fulfilling and I enjoy
it so much.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Just curious what are some of the misconceptions
about your industry?
That this might be a goodchance to kind of share some
wisdom or, you know, tell peoplewhat those might be.
To clear it up.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
Yeah, I think you know, in the day and age of AI,
I think that a lot of peoplethink that you know a software
can do what I do, which is, Ithink, a huge misconception,
especially as the youngergeneration is growing up.
They think that you know we canjust go into a software program
and pop out a design or a brand.
(09:37):
But really to understand whoyou are, what makes you unique
and what you know positions youdifferently and something that
you can hang your hat on for,you know, the next 20, 50 years
is not something that's going tocome from a software.
It's going to come fromsomebody who really understands
you in the market and can createsome unique identity or name or
(09:59):
positioning for you as well, asyou know, just that personal
touch of just you know, havingreal people involved in
photography and in social mediaand things like that.
I just think right now, AIcannot replace the experience
that designers bring to thetable, because, you know, for
(10:19):
four years, you know, I wastaught a design eye, I guess is
what they called it then.
They're like the most importantthing that we're going to teach
you is to know what good designis and what bad design is, and,
quite frankly, I never forgotthat and that is really the
truth.
A lot of schools don't teachthat to be able to understand
(10:47):
the unique nuances of fonts andyou know leading and way things
communicate, even digitally,versus print, and things like
that.
It's just something that youknow comes with experience and I
hope that never goes away and Ihope that we continue to
utilize.
You know, designers, creativepeople in general, writers, you
know, I mean, I don't want tosee AI take over our entire
(11:09):
creative industry, I guess.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Yeah, it's a new world, isn't it?
Speaker 3 (11:14):
Yeah, use it as a tool but don't replace.
You know, that's kind of mything.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Good point, good point.
Well, tell our listeners howthey can reach you, contact you
to learn more.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
Yeah, for sure.
Well, my email, you can reachme at Kimber K-I-M-B-E-R at
Indiblu Creative dot com, andthat's I-N-D-I-B-L-U Creative
dot com.
You can also reach me by phoneand that is 704-516-0145.
(11:47):
And my website, of course, isindiblucreative.
com, so you can see some work upthere as well.
And, yeah, I would look forwardto having a conversation and
even if you just want to chat, Iwould welcome the opportunity.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Well, I can't wait to see you out in the community.
We appreciate your time todayand thank you so, so much.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
Oh, thank you for inviting me.
I have really enjoyed it.
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go toGNPSouthCharlotte.
com.
That's GNPSouthCharlotte.
com, or call 980-351-5719.
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