BusinessReport.com

If you could have any job in any field, what would it be?

“On the way to orientation at LSU, my mother told my sister and I that we had to choose a career before we got there because they were splitting us up into groups by our major. I was appalled. How was I going to choose what I wanted to do for the rest of my life in just a few hours? I literally looked at the window and saw a billboard and said, ‘Hmmm, I like ads … I’ll do advertising.’ Just like that, and I somehow stuck with it and loved it every minute.”—Kristen Morrison

The inspiration for Red Six Media came to Kristen Morrison in the middle of the night just days before her spring graduation from LSU. She was trying to sleep, torn by her recent decision to accept a job in Washington D.C., and troubled by a friend’s upcoming move to Chicago to attend a pricey graduate school.

“Suddenly it hit me and I thought, ‘Why am I moving somewhere I don’t want to go and why is my friend putting himself in $50,000 worth of debt when we can do what we want right here?’” Morrison says with a confidence that belies her age. “We know how to do this and there is tremendous potential here.”

What the friends and partners know how to do, they say, is reach out to the young, hip, savvy and smart people of their generation using the latest tools of the New Age media trade. Their dream is to start an advertising and graphic design agency dedicated to offering creative, design and Web services to small businesses and local professionals, using an approach that differs from those of other agencies in this arguably oversaturated market.

“We know about social networking and Facebook and Twitter,” Morrison says. “Where other agencies in Baton Rouge are older and have to try to figure out what is the best way to reach people our age, we don’t have to guess. We know what people our age are into.”

Within days of her midnight epiphany, Morrison had assembled a team of partners to start Red Six Media. They include Trey Bartsch, who will handle print design and logos; Matthew Dardenne, who specializes in video work; James Spencer, a graphic designer; and Joe Martin, a Web designer. Morrison’s twin sister, Kayla, also is a partner in the company and is in charge of sales and business operations.

Kristen Morrison is majority owner of the company, though all six have an ownership stake. For now, they’re located in the business incubator through the E.J. Ourso College of Business on the LSU campus. They’re also funding the operations themselves. Because it’s such a new endeavor, they didn’t want to put themselves into debt.

“We’re actually paying to work, instead of the other way around,” Morrison says.

Red Six Media is so new it’s only been in business about a month. But so far so good. Morrison and the others have been heartened by the positive feedback they’ve gotten from parents, mentors and former professors alike. They’re also making inroads with their potential client base, which includes new business owners looking for turnkey marketing and desktop publishing services to established companies who need full-service advertising creations, media placement, and consulting.

“There are a lot of talented and wonderful agencies here in Baton Rouge,” Morrison says. “But we’re offering something no one else is. No other agency has its finger on the pulse of our generation like we do.”

The Red Six partners are also enthusiastic about the business opportunities presented in Baton Rouge. They see the local market as one of limitless possibilities, at least for those who know how to take advantage of them.

“There’s a lot of potential here,” she says. “You just need to tap into it.”

Click here to return to the Young Entrepreneurs cover story.