Today we’d like to introduce you to Thaddeus Blue II.
Thaddeus, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Once I graduated from University of Florida with my B.S. in Advertising, I began working on C-Town Athletics (CTA) and Blue Chip Collection (BCC) while doing the 9-5 thing. CTA began as a sports brand that curated Turkey Bowl Extravaganza, which is a flag football tournament/family fun day/thanksgiving food drive. Our mission with TBE is to promote brotherhood and teamwork in the community through sports, while giving back to the less fortunate. We are going on our 7th year and looks forward to helping our people during the trying times of 2020.
BCC, a sports-themed clothing line, was started in 2015 with the intentions of growing to be able to compete with Nike, Adidas etc. As my personal life change and ideas came, the clothing evolved to conveying messages about Black success. Our biggest to collection to date is the “Foreva Playa,” which can be heard throughout the music of MajorNine. Our Foreva Playa baseball jersey was a feature in MajorNine’s Valentine’s Day concert, along with our custom made dickie set.
Unfortunately, I have dissolved CTA and BCC as entities. Though they were successful and I learned a lot from grooming them, I feel it’s time to go in a different direction with my vision. Creative Circle Agency, established in 2019, was created by me and my high school friend, Chris Cadenhead. Creative Circle is a company that will put out all the future projects that’s on the schedule. Last year, we debuted the company by creating the commercial to the latest installment of the Forever Playa series. We will be launching a sports podcast show this year called “Playas Sanctuary,” and a clothing line whose named will be released at a later date.
During this time, I have also done work with companies such as Coral Studios, an advertising company based out of New York. I am an Operations Specialist for them and the liaison for all Miami-based projects. Our last project was a collaboration with Umbro, a soccer apparel company. The collaboration included our custom Coral Camo that was placed on soccer jerseys and shorts. We also worked with Nike on a pair of Air Max 95s, where a portion of the funds went to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, it wasn’t a smooth road. Right before the pandemic came, I fell into a funk and felt things were becoming stagnant. I had to do some deep self-evaluating to see where I was missing the mark. I’m probably my harshest critic because I hold myself on the highest of standard. During this time, I decided to get back to being creative and doing the necessary activities that keeps me motivated. From changing the people, I talk to for no reason, the information I was taking in on social media and not stretching myself too thin, leaving nothing for myself.
Creative Circle Agency – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Being that my company Creative Circle Agency is still new and growing, we aren’t known for much. Last year we wrote and produced our first commercial for the Foreva Playa collection from BCC. Last year also was the first year that Creative Circle was in charge of the Turkey Bowl Extravaganza. I must say this was one of our most successful years. We were able to partner up with more organizations such as Believe in Me Foundation, Miami-Dade fire department and Commissioner Barbara Jordan. What will set Creative Circle apart from others is our ambition to take chances. We will always recreate ourselves to thrive as the times change.
What I’m known most for is the “Foreva Playa” lifestyle brand and “Turkey Bowl Extravaganza.” These are my most proud accomplishments, besides gaining my MBA. Turkey Bowl, which was an idea that came from me and my friends playing football every thanksgiving morning during our college years. Foreva Playa, just came to me one day and once my graphic designer made the logo and we put it on some merchandise, the rest was history.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
A quality I have that I believe was the most important to my success is adaptability. No matter what role or situation I find myself in, I adapt and make the best of it. As a CEO or a team member, I understand that everybody has to be able to be one or the other at some point. It helps you understand that it’s ups and downs to everything. And gives you all perspectives that makes you able to adapt.
Contact Info:
- Email: ThadBlue@CreativeCircleAG.com
- Instagram: @TurkeyBowlXtrav
- Facebook: Creative Circle Agency
- Twitter: @CreativeCircleA
- Other: @CreativeCircleAG
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