21: Building with Intention: A Purpose-Led Path to Creative Influence with Ben Rennie

What if the secret to impactful design isn’t talent or aesthetics, but responsibility to your community, the planet, and the people you’re building for?

As the co-founder of Reny, a certified B Corp agency, Ben Rennie has built his career around using design as a force for impact. The agency now works with global brands like Patagonia, Google, and Nike. But that wasn’t the starting line.

Ben started as a self-taught designer, shaping his craft over time while developing a worldview anchored in responsibility, sustainability, and community.

From Grassroots to Global Reach

What began as a personal practice turned into a studio and eventually, a full-scale agency operating on a global level. Reny didn’t grow because it chased trends. It grew because it stayed grounded in purpose, credibility, and long-term thinking.

Ben learned early on that visibility matters but alignment matters more. The work had to stand for something.

“Design should make you feel something or change something.”

Actionable Insight: Start with a clear vision, but be willing to evolve. Consistency over time is what creates traction in creative businesses.

Bonus: Spend 10 minutes today identifying one small creative habit you can repeat weekly. Pick something so simple you can’t avoid doing it.

Creative Control as a Business Strategy

A big part of Reny’s staying power comes from creative autonomy. Instead of relying on outside permission or gatekeepers, Ben built the platform around ownership: of ideas, of impact, and of the process itself.

That choice wasn’t just aesthetic. It was strategic.

“Design isn’t just about things that look good. It’s about the impact they make.”

When you control the work, you control the integrity.

Actionable Insight: Identify one area of your creative process where you can step into full ownership even if it makes you uncomfortable.

Bonus: Look up one independent designer or creative studio you admire and note how they control their platform.

Building a Brand People Notice

Work this intentional doesn’t spread by accident. Rennie put in the reps through strategic marketing, community-building, positioning, storytelling, and showing up where the right audience gathers.

Actionable Insight: Commit to being visible. Start small: post, publish, share, and see what resonates.

Bonus: Engage with at least 5 people in your audience this week. Not “posting at them” but actually interacting with them.

Balancing Work While Building the Vision

None of this happened overnight. There were years where the agency grew in the margins — nights, early mornings, pockets of time between responsibilities. Creative entrepreneurship is a long game, and Ben understood that early.

“It’s a long-ass marathon, not a sprint.”

That mindset of patience + forward motion became their competitive advantage.

Actionable Insight: Block out a small, consistent window of creation each week.

Bonus: Use a single 20–30 minute session to plan your one creative priority for the week.

What Ben’s Journey Teaches Us

• Passion might start the work, but persistence finishes it.
• Design is both a craft and a lever for change.
• Creative control requires boundaries and leadership.
• Brand recognition is earned through consistency and clarity.
• Growth comes from being visible, not waiting to be discovered.

Bringing It All Together

Ben didn’t wait for permission. He built his own lane — project by project, conversation by conversation, collaboration by collaboration. His story is proof that you don’t have to jump early to land big. You just have to stay committed long enough for your work to matter.

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