March 2021 - Toren Reaves of KESA Content Design & Strategy
Early in 2020, I was laid off due to COVID-19. That same day, I decided to start Rochester’s first Black Owned and Operated Digital Marketing Agency - KESA. | Content Design & Strategy.
KESA offers a full suite of in-house services ranging from web development, photography, brand development, product design, campaign management, SEO/SEM, you name it.
It is also one of the largest Black-Owned marketing agencies in New York State. That said, I am currently the only employee.
Exactly.
2020 was almost impossibly challenging, but with the help of friends, family, and an incredible list of clients, I was able to turn this little start up into something I am incredibly proud of.
Quiet Thurston Blossom is my love letter to all those who have been there for me.
The shirt, the graphic work, the packaging, the photography, videography, direction, the campaign production – literally every aspect of the project – were designed and executed solely by me, making it the most personal endeavor I have ever been apart of in my professional career.
In a lot of ways, this has been in development my entire life.
When I graduated from high school in 2006, my yearbook was filled with signatures like, “if you ever get serious” or “I hope you figure it out”
But off in the corner of all those concerns, a teacher of mine wrote “you are ready now.”
When we met in 2004, Mr. Kane was one of the first people who immediately saw what I saw when I looked in the mirror.
Since starting KESA, I feel like I’ve “arrived,” for lack of a better term.
I feel like I’ve become what I imagined I could be, like I’ve somehow become the person Mr. Kane saw when he looked at me, if that makes sense.
Mr. Kane passed late 2019, but I wanted to dedicate whatever this feeling is to him - and to everyone, really - who rolled the dice on me, or saw what I saw, as well as encourage having the empathy to see others for what they may achieve, despite how far they may be from the goal.
So this silly little shirt, Quiet Thurston Blossom, is a love letter as much as it is a celebration of where I grew up and who we can become.
I've never done anything like this, but what does that mean, really? Good things can come from anywhere.
You are ready now.
