Reflective EssayBen Bennett is the owner and founder of Massive Studios, located in Downtown Bozeman. He founded Massive fourteen years ago when he left the firm he was working for, risking everything he had worked for for the dream of one day owning his own successful firm. Let me back up to the very beginning. Ben was born and raised in Laramie, Wyoming. It was here that he gained his love the outdoors, especially biking. He always excelled at art, but never believed that it was a viable career choice, as people in his life never took it seriously. After graduating from Laramie High School, he headed up to Bozeman to start his college education at MSU. Initially he wanted to go into film production, making moving pictures, a hobby he had picked up from capturing the things he had loved doing in the outdoors as a kid. At the time, in the early 90’s, the MTA (Media Theater Arts) department was “revered as a great, up and coming school.” After spending a year in the program, he realized this was not the material he wanted and enjoyed working with. So, he made his final transfer to Graphic Design. Once her graduated, he moved to Seattle to see if he could make it in the big city. Spending a few years in the city taught him that he really did not want big city in his life, he missed the life he had started building in Bozeman. So he moved back, gaining employment as a freelance designer, then at an agency called Mercury, then the AD Group, and finally Palmquest Creative, working at each for around 2 years. After leaving Palmquest Creative, he started work towards creating Massive. Now, 14 years later, Massive is a thriving design agency, with over ten employees and hundreds of projects a year.
I was disappointed, as I did not receive much information that was related to my project. I learned about the life of an entrepreneur and the risks and rewards from starting a business, but what I gained the most out of the interview was a contact in the design and business world that is willing to help me achieve my dreams in the same industry. He gave me his personal contact information and said if I ever have any questions I can reach out. And this was more than I could have ever hoped to get out of this project. |