Who I Am, How I Got Here, Why I Love Nebraska.
Adam shared the journey of his career and company with us. He grew up in Chicago. In high school he was successful in reselling high-end sneakers. He would buy them at outlet stores and then resell them for a profit. That idea dried up as companies were moving their store sale to online making it hard for him to get stock.
While considering his next move he talked with an uncle who lived in Geneva, Nebraska. It was decided that he would study at UNL. He majored in Advertising and won some award for his work.
He did some work with Nebraska Athletics, the Big 10 Network and Bailey Lauerman. During that time he also developed a side business designing advertising and marketing for small companies. He worked mostly for cash but then realized he needed to start a company.
It was a rough slow start only bringing in about $50,000 annually and by then he had a couple of partners. He decided to give it another shot in 2016 and hired people. For one thing he was good at the creative part of the business - but not running a company.
The company started growing. In one year they went from $50,000 to $450,000. They won some prestigious awards and continued to grow. In 2018 they made their first million. Even in 2020 when companies struggled with the pandemic, their business grew 56%. They continued to grow, even during the pandemic, because of how they built processes along the way.
Adam pointed out that, during the pandemic, the economy in Nebraska was only down 1% as compared to other parts of the country such as New York that was down 40%. The challenge in Nebraska was filling jobs to keep supporting that economy.
Because redthread is focused on solving tangible business problems, they transitioned some of their focus to help find people for companies.
Yes, their company can create:
- Video
- Social Media
- Digital Marketing
- Websites
- Graphic Design
- Branding
But, those are all commodities - not a total solution. They build creative advertising and custom marketing for:
- Customer Aqusition (B2C)
- Customer/Employee retention
- Brand Awareness
- Decision maker lead-gen (B2B)
- Employee Recruiting
Because Nebraska has such a strong economy, readthread's growth went from $56,000 income for 4 partner in 2014 to value of $3,600,000 with 36 employee in 2022.
You can learn more about redthread at https://www.redthreadads.com/.
To view some of their work specifically; https://www.redthreadads.com/work
BIO:
Adam Kroft is the founder and CEO of redthread. A 36-person creative advertising agency located in the heart of the midwest in the Haymarket of Lincoln, Nebraska. Working with local and national brands from U-Stop to Google to #TeamTrees, redthread has built marketing campaigns and helped grow businesses of all shapes and sizes.Adam started his entrepreneurial career at 15-years-old buying and selling sneakers on the streets of Chicago. After that business failed,
Adam went off to college to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln where he majored in advertising and worked at organizations like the Big Ten Network, the Huskers and Bailey Lauerman. As he was graduating, Adam launched a freelance side-hustle which eventually became redthread.
Bootstrapping the business over the last 8-years, redthread has been recognized as the 2022 Inc. 5000 #112 Fastest Growing Company in the Midwest and the #1853 fastest growing company in America. Adam has personally been recognized as 2019 Lincoln’s YPG 4 Under 40 Award and the Walter Scott Entrepreneurship Award.
In his free time, Adam loves to study pop culture, relive his athletic glory days through slow-pitch softball and take long walks along the Mopac Trail with his dog and girlfriend.