+1 Entrepreneur Interview: With a PH Digital
+1 Entrepreneur Interviews celebrate Fort Wayne area entrepreneurs who deserve an upvote. This post celebrates Stephen J. Bailey of With a PH Digital.
Every city needs a Stephen J. Bailey!
But you can’t have this one. He’s Fort Wayne’s. Well, to be honest, actually Fort Wayne is his.
Over the past few years, Stephen has grown a business that is best characterized as unabashed champion for all things Fort Wayne — and especially downtown Fort Wayne. He and his one employee are responsible for a huge amount of the promotions, websites, and social media that you interact with daily, from and about the Fort Wayne businesses and organizations that you love.
The People
When you meet Stephen and have the chance to talk with him for a bit, you will be struck be three things.
- He is the most optimistic, energetic person you have met, or probably ever will meet. If you are a curmudgeon, be careful — his optimism and energy are infectious.
- He loves our city (and is healthily obsessed with downtown Fort Wayne). He cares, actively [take another look at the photo above].
- He is a private person who prefers to remain behind the limelight that he shines on his clients and his community. So, he’ll probably feel uncomfortable reading this account that shines a light on him (sorry Stephen).
Entrepreneurship seems to have come naturally to Stephen. When he was 19, he started a real estate business, owned 4 houses by the time he was 20, and operated the business until the age of 25. After a couple of years in Louisiana chasing a relationship that crashed and burned, he returned to Fort Wayne.
Life hasn’t always been rosy for Stephen. At the age of 28, when he returned to Fort Wayne where he was born and raised, he went head to head with some of the heaviest issues anyone could face, including suicidal ideation. Stephen has learned, in some cases via the hard way, to appreciate life and its authenticity.
He soon got back on the entrepreneurial horse — this time by joining a local financial company and taking responsibility to manage and grow it.
In 2006, he crept toes-first part time into what would become With a PH Digital. His purpose for the business is very clear to him today: “To create an authentic existence for myself and in my community.”
The Business
Stephen feels called to tell stories about the people, places, and things in our Northeast Indiana region. He has always loved to write. The early days of writing on Blogger led him to working with other web platforms. But it is not just about writing — it’s about relationships. “The relationship is why I connect.”
Starting with web development, the business has added services one at a time, as Stephen learned and mastered each one. Today With a PH Digital offers six services.
- Web development
- SEO
- Social media management
- Digital marketing
- Photography
- Videography
Here’s the remarkable part. ALL of these services, for 30 or so clients, are produced by Stephen and his husband, who is With a PH Digital’s only employee. As Stephen puts it, “I only add a service if I can do it well.” He goes on about his own business philosophy, “I’ve never advertised or sought a client — I only work with organizations that I believe are meaningful, share my values, and do good work.” And, “There will never be more employees.”
He calls this intentional growth. If you listen to him talk about why he has adopted these principles, you will find something refreshing — he is intentionally building an authentic, relevant life, that includes, but is not dominated by, his business. When pundits talk about “lifestyle” businesses, they mean businesses that just make a living for the owner and nothing more. Stephen extends that well beyond the monetary definition to include 1) doing relevant work 2) for great people or organizations 3) in a masterful way. He characterizes it at times as “A living representation of me.” What he intentionally ignores is the “grow at all costs or die” mentality so prevalent in entrepreneur culture. Kudos, Stephen!
Ask Stephen about downtown Fort Wayne, especially the riverfront, and you will hear poetry like, “Let me tell you how wonderful these 99 blocks are, and how everything is born from there.”
Downtown Fort Wayne (the DID) was the client that turned the corner for Stephen and enabled his part time business to go full time. He had been talking with Rich Davis of the DID — and asked him for 8 weeks to show Rich what he could do. 8 weeks later the DID plussed up his contract. They saw the magic. As Stephen puts it, “I hope that people can feel the energy in the newsfeed when I am posting it.”
The magic happens, in part, because Stephen likes to shine a line on his customers and stay out of the way. It isn’t about him — it’s about them and their customers. I personally think the magic also happens, in part, because Stephen truly cares about the people he works with and shares values with them. He now starts new clients with a trial period to ensure that they share the same values in respect to community and connection.
Stephen likes being the man behind the camera — or the social media poster you think is the company themselves— feeling heard and making impact, but being anonymous.
Well, then again, sometimes he IS in front of the camera — in one case as an on camera talent for The CW Fort Wayne.
And you probably can tell by now that he loves to connect with people. So it shouldn’t surprise you to see him invited to talk with a group of students at a downtown Fort Wayne restaurant.
The Future
This section is going to be tiny compared to other +1 articles. Stephen has already created what he wants. He may grow it — as long as he and his husband can handle the work. He will add new services to stay relevant for his clients (as he has done for years). The business will continue to be a living representation of Stephen J. Bailey.
Locals on Their Radar
This section is going to be much longer than other +1 articles. Did I mention already that Stephen loves a lot of the people and organizations in our region? Yes, he could have gone on for an hour, easily.
- The DID — Watching it be born and grow.
- Riverfront Fort Wayne — You have never seen Fort Wayne until you’ve seen it from the rivers. Go have the tangible experience.
- Trinity English — They care about the community.
- Citilink — For the Moving Stories series and the personal stories it tells.
- Input Fort Wayne — For the personal touch of People of NEI
- Proximo — The bar
- Tolon — The food
- Saving Grace Vintage — The furniture
- Downtown Wabash — The shops
- Two-EE’s Winery
- Lakes of Steuben County
- Winona Lake — The calm
- 07 Pub — The neighborhood feeling (one block from where Stephen grew up)
- Theoplis Smith [Phresh Laundry] — Moved by his creative work and what he cares about.
- Lorelei at Creative Women of the World — How they travel the world to help women pay their bills
- Aaron Robles — For working out of his parents’s basement to make our community better
- James Khan — For his transparency and kindness
- Stephanie Henry — Because she cares so much for our community and does so much as a volunteer
- The People of Southeast Fort Wayne — For real life conversations with a very determined group of people who have had nothing handed to them.
Advice to Startup Founders
- You don’t know who you are until you know who you aren’t.
- What’s the one thing you do better than anyone?
- Be in it for the profit of your heart — not for monetary profit.
- Be optimistic, energetic, responsive, and care about your products and clients. Everything begins and ends with you.
