Once Upon A Time…

There was a young art student chasing a flicker of curiosity into a Barnes & Noble bookstore. (Me.) I didn’t find a lightning bolt of genius so much as a misplaced manual—The Dummies Guide to Creating a Web Page—shelved like a message in a bottle. It was fate.

I opened it and began copying code into a sketchbook, line by line, like a traveler tracing stars. When they kicked me out at eleven, I carried those penciled constellations back to my dorm. By two in the morning, my very first web page breathed on the screen. It didn’t serve much purpose just sitting there though. Before dawn, I purchased server space and published it. Now, it was a small flag planted on a map that didn’t exist the night before.

I sent the link to family and friends a few versions later and watched the ripple move outward. Within a few weeks, a friend of a friend asked me to build a site for his music business and slid $200 across the table when I was done. (Woah!) Curiosity wasn’t just a pastime anymore, but it could pay rent.

So, I walked into the county office and registered as a Sole-Proprietor with more nerves than paperwork. After graduation, I worked some at a design studio and taught art at my alma mater.

I loved the quiet before class and the chalk on the board, but the web work kept knocking and projects arrived faster than I could grade. In the spring of 2003, I stepped fully into Jason Hunter Design. Though, the company really began in 2000 at Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers. That night I had a graphic design assignment, and trekked into Barnes & Noble.

Over time, gifted collaborators joined me. We built for people and problems that needed solutions. Word traveled person to person (still my favorite algorithm) and today, entrepreneurship doesn’t feel like a summit to me. It feels like weather.

Some days bring clean wind and a clear horizon. Other days test the seams. I don’t try to command the sky. I check the rigging, trim the sail, and keep moving. I publish when the work is good, then listen for what the world says back. Fold the edges. Try again. It’s patient work, closer to tending the garden than spinning a wheel. Plant a page. Water it with attention. See what grows. Pull what doesn’t. The path appears as you walk it.

If you’re here because you’re building something, I know the feeling in your chest. Drive to the bookstore. Copy the code. Press publish. This is the heart of Jason Hunter Design. Not just an agency on a card, but to listen for the story under the surface, carry the lantern forward, and try to leave a clear trail behind.

Join JHD at The Nexus, an open and welcoming co-working space where neighbors and small business folks share ideas and encouragement. It’s built for creatives, business owners, freelancers, and anyone else who’s trying to make change. Come and say hello!

Visit The Nexus — 461 Sandy Creek Rd, Suite 4109, Fayetteville, GA

Learn more about joining the workspace: thenexus.community

Also, we can’t wait to see you at Artisans at The Avenue this weekend—a holiday pop-up market full of makers, dreamers, and holiday gifts! If you’d like to get involved as a vendor, or partner as a neighboring business, visit artisansattheavenue.com.