Mentor Morning: Overture seeks creative talent

Join us this coming Saturday, Dec. 21, from 10 to noon at SVC.

Overture is a creative cooperative owned by its members. I’m writing this as a member and one of the five founders of Overture.

The short take

We need talented people, who have a record of helping clients, to apply for membership: new-business pros, account managers, data analysts, strategists, researchers, social media pros, writers, smartphone photographers and videographers, UX, UI, web and graphic designers.

And we need clients who understand how they will benefit from our creative skills and organizational concept if they work with Overture.

Overture invites you to join others who know how to help clients improve their organizations, grow and make the world a better place while producing sustainable revenue.

Interested? Come Saturday.

Why a creative cooperative?

Organizations owned by the people who work within them are accountable to those workers. With that empowerment comes a commitment to better work and a better work experience. Clients benefit by getting a better work product. Owning your own labor is tremendously empowering; both workers and clients benefit from that empowerment.

The United States is called a democracy. But most of us spend our days working for tyrannies. I’ve come to believe that living and participating in a democracy should consist of more than just voting. We should be able to participate in the decisions that affect our lives.

I now know that when I owned The Leonhardt Group I ran a small private tyranny. After selling the firm – an event that benefited only myself and my co-owner – I went on to C-level positions in two public companies. In both I learned the unpleasant reality of profits as the goal, with little regard for the people who made the profits possible.

My current consulting practice has exposed me to a broad sampling of the barriers creatives face throughout the developed world. My clients include individuals, small independent groups and in-house organizations providing a wide array of creative skills. In this phase of my career I’ve worked with many talented but struggling creatives whose income is limited by corporate goals that focus on shareholder profits at the expense of those who do the work to create those profits.

Work is where we spend our days. It’s time we controlled the profits from our personal contributions, and had a say in our own enterprise. And it’s time for our clients to benefit from the kind of commitment to great work that only empowered owners can provide.

This is all new

Overture is organized as a “worker self-directed enterprise.” It is democratically directed by its worker owners, and organized to provide all forms of creative activities to its clients. Self-directed means there is not a separate board of directors that dictates Overture’s activities. And by creative activities we mean that, in addition to the traditional creative services of design, advertising and entertainment, we’ll offer any form of creative service that could benefit our workers or our clients. Among the five founders we have an architect, a professional musician and a healthcare communications specialist, in addition to considerable advertising and design experience.

Are you a potential client who needs a new approach? Are you a creative who needs an assignment? Consider applying to join Overture.

How Overture works

Overture will provide services to clients and receive professional fees in return. All assignments will be estimated in advance using market rates, with all work billed in advance monthly.

All co-op members invest in and own one voting share in Overture. The initial capital raised from the member buy-in will be used to rent a workspace and pay startup expenses. A financial report will be issued to all members monthly.

Overture management positions will be appointed by founding members for the first year. After that, management positions will be elected by the members.

Commissions will be paid for bringing in new client projects, and for bringing in new members.

All members will receive an equal share of the profits. Profits will be paid quarterly.

Work performed for Overture’s business needs – financial management, operations management and so on – will be paid for once cash flow from client work permits.

Overture founders

Jessica Knapp, PhD – Writer, healthcare communications specialist

Ted Leonhardt – Creative industries consultant, writer, illustrator

Miriam Walsh Lisco – Marketplace strategist, designer, packaging expert

Laurel Wilson – Architect, designer, conceptualizer

Don Young – Brand builder, marketing advertising strategist, musician