Today we’d like to introduce you to Raven Dreibelbis.
Hi Raven, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I spent the early years of my career in corporate marketing and creative roles, working in video production for the United States Professional Tennis Association, managing advertising for a national senior living provider and leading financial services relationships for a global FinTech company.
I started my entrepreneurial journey when I was laid off from my corporate role during the 2008 recession. Shortly after the layoff, the company asked me to return as a part-time contractor. Ultimately, they became my first client.
After several years as a freelance marketing consultant, I launched Raven Creative in 2015. We’ve grown and evolved a lot over the past 10 years. Today, we’re a brand strategy and marketing firm, focused on helping growth-minded energy sector businesses develop, align and scale their marketing strategies for maximum ROI.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There have certainly been peaks and valley’s along the way. When I started out, I was a solopreneur fortunate enough to have a few clients who trusted me with their business. When I outgrew my own capacity and started hiring employees, it added a lot of complexity.
One of the challenges of building and growing an agency is transitioning from working in the business, to working ON the business. As a creative, it’s hard to step back and remove yourself from handling the day to day execution. But, I’ve learned that it’s truly the only way to grow a business.
Hiring and managing people is definitely one of the biggest challenges. There’s a big learning curve involved, and you have to accept that no one is going to do things exactly the same way you would. The silver lining is, sometimes they actually do it better. It wasn’t a straight line to get there, but today I can say I’m so proud of the team we’ve built at Raven Creative.
Another big curveball…a few years in, we relocated our family from Houston to Brisbane, Australia on a 4 year assignment for my husband’s job. I continued to run the agency from the other side of the world which came with a whole host of challenges.
One of the biggest challenges of running a small business — or being an entrepreneur in general — is managing imposter syndrome and the tendency to compare yourself to others. It’s easy to look at high-growth companies scaling at lightning speed and feel like your own progress doesn’t measure up. Even your biggest wins can start to feel small. That’s why it takes discipline to stay in your own lane, set your own goals, and stay grounded in why you do what you do. Over the years, I’ve had to consistently check in with myself to make sure the path I’m on still aligns with what’s right for me.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Raven Creative is a brand strategy and marketing firm serving clients in energy and infrastructure. From oil and gas to renewables, climate tech to aviation — we specialize in helping complex businesses cut through the noise and own their market position. We believe business moves faster when marketing is aligned, purposeful and built to scale. We make that happen by developing marketing strategies driven by business goals, rather than a checklist of expected assets and run-of-the-mill tactics.
We’ve been in business for more than 10 years, long enough to develop a deep understanding of the challenges that companies in highly-technical sectors are facing. Those insights led to the creation of the Disruptor Methodology — our proprietary, three-phase framework that helps businesses claim and grow their rightful place in the market.
When I started Raven Creative, I was young, and candidly, I had no idea what being an entrepreneur truly meant. Ten years in, I’ve come to understand the complexity, responsibility, and nuance of running a business — and I’m still learning every day. I’m proud to help our clients tackle high-stakes challenges, and equally proud to create meaningful work for a talented, driven team. Leadership hasn’t always been easy, but it’s a role I take seriously — and one I’m very grateful for.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
I believe we’ll continue to see a shift away from the traditional big-agency model toward smaller, more agile partners like Raven Creative — firms that can move quickly, integrate deeply with client teams, and flex across disciplines.
While AI is accelerating the speed of content creation, the output is only as strong as the input. That’s why agencies that lead with strategic thinking, business acumen, and deep market insight will outperform those focused solely on execution.
Storytelling will remain essential. As digital channels become more crowded and AI-generated content floods the market, brands that communicate with clarity, authenticity, and purpose will rise above the noise.
B2B brand strategy will be less about campaigns and more about building ecosystems of trust — earned through consistent value, thoughtful positioning, and meaningful engagement across the customer journey.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://rvncreative.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ravencreative?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZzNuMGc0NDhhcGQ5
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rvncreative
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/raven-creative
Image Credits
Paul Ladd, Ladd Photography
