I'm Blake Hickey.

01 / Where it started

A wakeboard shop in Michigan.

I grew up in South Bend, Indiana, and spent almost every day after school, every weekend and every summer at my family's lake house in Sister Lakes, Michigan.

My first marketing job, in 2006, was at The Boarder Line, a watersports shop there, under owner Bill Boston. I made graphics and ads for the shop and for my own clothing line. Twenty years later, The Boarder Line is a client of mine today.

Before that, one of my first jobs was at my family's funeral home, which my grandfather started and my father ran. I ran the music and lighting during services and learned early how much the right music changes the feeling in a room.