We had the good fortune of connecting with Byron Regej and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Byron, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
My career began in the publishing world and I worked for Condé Nast for 10 years in luxury lifestyle, focusing on fashion, beauty and travel. After the market crash of 2009, I left the publishing industry and spent the later part of my career in senior leadership roles across categories of tech, healthcare, finance and lifestyle on both the agency and brand sides. One of the biggest realizations from my experience in these worlds was the way marketing and branding was approached in a very promotional manner; the traditional mindset in how agencies approach the work, but also the missed opportunity for brands to show up in authentic ways. Coming from an editorial background, I saw this as an opportunity to provide value to brands by helping them find their truth with an editorial approach to marketing. People want authenticity, transparency and credible information. All qualities that an editorial approach do and apply to marketing but improve, add value and optimize the audience experience. It gives us permission to stop telling a brand’s story and start to share the brand’s perspective. It’s a mindset shift for traditional marketers, but you’ll see more and more brands are heading in this direction and understand the value it brings for long term growth, customer loyalty and platform for change.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
For me personally, when it comes to the work, I have to fully believe in the product or service of that client. A lot of companies will take on projects for the money or as a stepping stone to bigger projects (which is important at times) but the body of work and belief in that product/service is what is most important to me and informs all the decisions I make. Regej & Company is about finding the bigger meaning through the work we do, and help brands be part of a larger conversation through truth. Contextualizing the worlds of both brand and audience is telling the truth by saying what you mean, and meaning what you say.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
8am–9am Hike Runyon Canyon to Mulholland Drive 9am–10am Brunch at Ysabel
11am–1:30pm Beach day at my secret local spot in Malibu
1:30pm–2:30pm Lunch at Geoffreys, Malibu
4pm–6pm Art Gallery hop DTLA starting at the David Kordansky gallery
6:45pm–7:45pm Cocktails at Avec Nous, L’Ermitage Hotel
8pm–9:30pm Dinner at Horses on Sunset Blvd

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I started my career in NYC after moving from Australia once I graduated with my Bachelor’s in fine arts. I was fortunate enough to land my first job at SpotCo, a Broadway advertising agency in NYC. I was surrounded by some of the greatest mentors in the advertising industry and then later, a large part of my career at Condé Nast. I didn’t really recognize the value of this until later when I left the industry and had to apply my training in different settings like larger agencies with a lot of structure and corporate brands with layers of approval processes. These mentors taught me at an early age the fundamentals of working hard, what quality content means, original thinking and being audience-centric through design. Robert Best, Gail Anderson, Anna Wintour and Nina Garcia are some of the the mentors I’ve been lucky enough to learn and spend time around from what really laid a solid foundation for me to build upon and taught me great design—when to take risks and how to find your voice through copywriting and design. It’s really important to find people you respect and can learn from. People that can push you, and don’t hold you back. These are the people to surround yourself with for growth and help you in finding your voice.

Website: https://www.regej.com/

Instagram: www.instagram.com/byronregej/

Image Credits
Regej & Co

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