The Brutal Truth About Building a Creative Agency in NYC ft. Shortstache & Chelstache

Our 5 Positioning Tips to Land Bigger Clients (FREE): https://the505podcast.courses/5positi... 6 Questions to ask on Every Sales Call (FREE): https://the505podcast.courses/6questi... What’s up, Rock Nation! Today we’re joined by Garrett and Chelsea - The married creative duo behind Stache.Haus, a New York-based creative agency. A year ago, they left everything behind in LA, and moved across the country to launch a premium boutique agency in one of the most competitive cities in the world. In this episode, we break down what Instagram doesn’t show you - the sleepless nights, financial pressure, and learning how to fight for your business and your relationship. If you’re dreaming of launching your own agency one day, or just a creative wanting to learn how to work with bigger brands, this is the real behind-the-scenes of what it actually takes. Check out Garrett and Chelsea here: https://www.instagram.com/shortstache... https://www.instagram.com/chelstache/... https://www.instagram.com/stache.haus... SUSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER: https://the505podcast.ac-page.com/roc... The Creator Pricing Guide - The No BS Guide to Pricing Your Creative Services Coupon Code: ROCKNATION10 gets you $10 off at checkout for the boulders https://courses.thecreatorcoach.com/p... Join our Discord!   / discord   COP THE BFIGGY "ESSENTIALS" SFX PACK HERE: https://courses.thecreatorcoach.com/B... KG Presets Vol. 1 https://www.kostasgarcia.com/store-1/... Kostas’ Amazon Storefront: https://amzn.to/3GhId25 15% OFF Prism Lens FX with code: KOSTAS15 https://bit.ly/42sNdej Chase’s Totality LUT pack: https://www.chasealexanderfilm.com/co... Timestamps: 0:00 - Trailer 0:25 - Intro 0:52 - One Handed Crack 1:30 - Going all in on building an agency together 2:23 - The chaos of quitting, moving, and planning a wedding 3:51 - Dealing with NYC winter and emotional shock 5:19 - What Garrett gave up to start Stache.Haus 6:27 - Chelsea’s struggle to gain respect in a male-dominated space 7:59 - Why brand confusion is still a challenge 8:55 - How inbound leads split between Shortstache and Stache.Haus 10:58 - The moment they decided to launch the agency 12:09 - What makes their agency different from traditional production houses 14:25 - Agency frustrations: when bad ideas come from big budgets 17:28 - Brutal truths about launching a business in NYC 18:52 - Pressure, burnout, and financial fear 21:55 - No separation between work and life 23:20 - The cost of grinding 24/7 as a couple 25:32 - “I didn’t sign up for this” 26:43 - Building structure through calendars and time blocking 28:21 - Tools they use to run the business 30:14 - Their biggest financial mistake: no runway 31:50 - Emotional breaking point before the wedding 33:36 - Learning to love each other under extreme stress 35:25 - Becoming bulletproof through adversity 36:43 - How they decide if a client is a good fit 38:12 - Standing up to disrespectful clients 41:18 - Dream team structure for the agency 43:40 - The vision for a physical Stache.Haus location 45:45 - How Chelsea wants to evolve her role 47:08 - Garrett’s goal to stop touching the camera 50:00 - Why NYC accelerates brand relationships 52:16 - Boots-on-the-ground strategy for brand deals 54:51 - Creating campaigns that stand out from recap videos 56:23 - Their exact brand deal workflow and process 58:28 - Why every project starts with a phone call 1:01:32 - How they quote and budget campaigns 1:03:34 - Lessons learned from bad brand deals 1:07:04 - Why trust and boundaries with clients matter 1:10:25 - Advice for anyone starting a creative agency If you liked this episode please send it to a friend and take a screenshot for your story! And as always, we'd love to hear from you guys on what you'd like to hear us talk about or potential guests we should have on. DM US ON IG: (Our DM's are always open!) Bfiggy:   / bfiggy   Kostas:   / kostasg95   Chase:   / chaseronii   TikTok: Bfiggy: https://www.tiktok.com/bfiggy/ Kostas: https://www.tiktok.com/kostasgarcia/