RWL240 From a Business of Two People to 100: Building a Remote Creative Agency

Remote work isn't just surviving in creative industries—it's helping companies like Elephant Skin thrive on a global scale. Founded in 2017 by architect Henrik Driesen, this remote-first creative agency has transformed from two people with a vision to over 100 professionals operating across three continents. Their meteoric growth offers a compelling blueprint for building borderless businesses in specialized fields.

The company's origin reveals its ethos perfectly. Named after a message on a post-it note—"develop your elephant skin, focus and keep moving forward"—the agency embraced resilience and perseverance as foundational values. These principles guided their expansion from a lean startup to a major player in architectural visualization, now serving clients like Hilton, Marriott, and Royal Caribbean across 30+ cities worldwide.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to the Remote Work Life podcast.
I'm Alex Wilson-Campbell and inthis episode I'm highlighting
Elephant Skin, a remote creativeagency in the real estate
sector.
The company was founded byHenrik Driesen and since 2017,
it's grown from a two-personstartup to a global operation

(00:20):
with more than 100 peopleworking across three continents.
What makes Elephant Skin standout isn't just the scale of its
growth, but how that growth hasbeen achieved through remote
work, through storytelling andthrough a focus on reshaping the
way real estate is presented tothe world.
Henrik's background is inarchitecture and urban planning,
and that's important becausewhat he created with Elephant

(00:43):
Skin wasn't just another designstudio.
It was a business built aroundnarrative, around visualizing
ideas in a way that connectswith people emotionally, not
just aesthetically.
At the start, he was workingalone, running things remotely
and traveling from city to cityto build relationships with

(01:03):
potential clients.
That early phase was lean, lowresources, high effort, but the
priority was always cleargenerate creative work that
tells a story, not just fillspace on a page or screen.
The name Elephant Skin camefrom something personal.
Giovanna, who's now the CEO,received a post-it note while

(01:23):
working in a tough landscapearchitecture job.
Her boss had written you needto develop your elephant skin
Focus and keep moving forward.
That message resilience,discipline, perseverance wasn't
just a note.
It became the foundation of thecompany's identity.
They kept the name, they keptthe mindset.
That mentality is one Iunderstand well.

(01:45):
Whether you're working solo ormanaging a remote business, the
ability to keep showing up, topush through the tough phases
often becomes the differencebetween surviving and scaling.
Elephant Skin was remote fromthe beginning.
It gave them flexibility but,more importantly, it gave them
access to a global talent pool.

(02:06):
Their team is now spread acrossMiami, sao Paulo, portland,
toronto and beyond.
They've added four physicaloffices, including in Lisbon,
but those serve as support hubsrather than core operations.
The work itself happensremotely.
They've structured the businesswith horizontal leadership and
flexible hours, all built ontrust and not built on control.

(02:28):
Henrik's spoken openly aboutthis.
While digital flexibility iscrucial, people still need
people.
They need interaction, feedback, moments of collaboration.
So they've shaped a culturewhere remote isn't isolating,
it's liberating but balanced,with connection when it's needed
.
Elephant Skin describes itselfas the creative intelligence for

(02:50):
real estate.
They work with developers,hospitality brands and
architecture firms offeringservices like brand development,
visual storytelling, cgi and 3Drendering, film and motion
design and virtual experiencesand immersive media.
Their clients include bigglobal names Hilton, marriott,

(03:12):
brookfield, royal Caribbean andthey've helped position those
brands in new developmentsaround the world.
The work itself is about morethan polished visuals, is about
more than polished visuals.
They embed themselves into thedeveloper's vision and create
assets that communicate alifestyle, a story, a purpose
behind the project.
They make the process easierfor clients by handling

(03:35):
everything from strategy tofinal production all under one
roof, and that's one of thereasons they've been able to
scale.
Instead of taking a serviceprovider approach, elephant Skin
positions themselves as astrategic partner.
They collaborate closely withdevelopers, starting early in

(03:57):
the design or branding process.
One of the standout features oftheir remote structure is how
they manage talent.
They don't recruit based onlocation or resume length.
They look for alignment, peoplewho understand the mission, who
want to work autonomously andwho value design as a tool for
connection, and they refer totheir team members as elephants,
which isn't about branding.
It's about a shared mindset.

(04:18):
That's how they've built acohesive culture across multiple
time zones.
I've seen this kind of claritymake or break teams right.
When your business is remote,your culture has to be
intentional.
Elephant Skin has done that well, from two people in 2017 to
more than 100 employees sixyears later.

(04:39):
Growth like that doesn't justhappen.
It comes from buildingsomething scalable, being
consistent and finding the rightclients.
Their presence now spans morethan 30 cities and four office
locations.
Their presence now spans morethan 30 cities and four office
locations.
They've delivered over 150projects across the US, brazil,
canada, vietnam, china, japanand Portugal.

(05:00):
Their latest move into Lisbongives them access to Europe's
high end design market and itsdeep talent base.
It's also a strategic play.
Europe's real estate market isevolving and elephant skin is
positioning itself to meet thatdemand head on.
The architectural visualizationmarket as a whole is expanding
rapidly, from under a billiondollars in 2016 to an expected

(05:24):
5.7 billion dollars by 2025.
They're already embedded inthat space and their
infrastructure is built to scalewith it.
There are a few lessons I'd takefrom what Henrik and their
infrastructure is built to scalewith it.
There are a few lessons I'dtake from what Henrik and the
team have built.
One remote work doesn't meandisconnected.
If anything, it forces you tobuild more intentionally with
your team, your clients and yoursystems.

(05:45):
Two, being clear on your nichematters.
They chose real estate earlyand stayed focused.
That allowed them to go deep,build authority and grow in a
structured way.
Three storytelling isn't justfor consumer brands.
It's a core business function,especially in sectors like real
estate, where buying decisionsare often emotional.

(06:05):
Four talent is everywhere, butyou have to build the systems
and culture that support remotecollaboration.
Elephant Skin has done thatwell, bringing together people
who care about the work andtrust one another to deliver it.
Five scaling isn't about speed.
It's about alignment betweenwhat you do, who you do it for

(06:26):
and how you choose to build andgrow.
That's it for this episode ofthe Remote Work Life podcast.
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