Meet Nick de Partee | Designer, Musician, and Entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nick de Partee and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nick, have you ever found yourself in a spot where you had to decide whether to give up or keep going? How did you make the choice?
I have hit hundreds of walls in business over the last 15 years. With my own graphic design studio, as well as with my other startup, AVVAY, I have seen a repeated theme. Every wall is a moment that causes you to re-evaluate the business, and as you reassess, you often discover something new (and often something critical) that you never would have seen if things were just cruising along on autopilot. I think those walls are meant to make you dig deeper, and push harder, and to shake loose from distractions as you focus on further on the core of the business. Now, that said, I think there are times when businesses, or ideas, hit a wall that is meant to be a major red flag and CAN show you that the idea or current direction has run its course and it’s time to pivot. But I think more often than not, these challenges are meant to weed out to nonsense and force you to refine and continue on in a more meaningful way. The Struggle is REAL though!

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I started exploring graphic design in high school and since I also loved music and was ultra-involved in the local music scene I always dreamed of working at a record label and creating album art for bands. Fast forward, and after touring and getting to do music professionally for almost a decade as a touring guitarist and songwriter, I returned to my roots of design and started Equal Seven Creative, my design studio that today primarily serves music artists, labels, and management companies across the US and beyond with high-quality album art, branding, and other marketing assets. So the dreams I had in high school came full circle in the most incredible ways and I am blessed to get to be living out my dreams every day even still.

I’ve always loved indie artists, and I AM an indie artist and still release music today. I even started a band this year! (locloudmusic.com). So I am grateful that I get to serve the music community in a variety of ways.

It’s difficult being a creative, especially when doing art professionally. Providing for a family, trying to maintain enough volume of work, while still aching to deliver the most unique art possible is a tough balance. But there is nothing else I want to do, and honestly, I feel most of the time that there is nothing else I truly CAN do haha. I was built to create and to start businesses, and to wrestle down all of the challenges that the creative life brings. I may never be a millionaire, but I am so deeply satisfied with the work I get to do, and with the community I get to serve.

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?
MAN, what a great question. Coffee is important to me. My wife is from Portland, OR (the land of food, coffee, and beer haha), and we loved out there for about 6 years and since moving back to Nashville 5 years ago, I’ve constantly been on the hunt for great coffee in town.

That said, I would START with an early morning coffee at my favorite Nashville roaster, Crema. From there I’d have to drive them down Broadway just so they can experience the chaos. I’d probably take them to Butchertown Hall for a tasty lunch with their incredible guac and a margarita. I’d try and catch a Sounds game then prob head to Bar Taco in 12 South for a Verde Chicken Rice Bowl (and prob another marg, who am I kidding, they have THE BEST!)

After dinner, I’d land the plane with a scoop of Jeni’s Ice Cream! Then I guess I’d roll myself home to bed haha.

Whatever energy was left the next day I’d probably try and catch some live music, virtually anywhere in town haha, But Exit/In or The Basement are always great options for some indie bands.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I have two people I must give a ton of credit to any level of “success” I’ve had in both the creative and business worlds. One is my dad, who taught me my first chords on the guitar and introduced me to music when I was 7 or 8. I’ve thought about that recently, that if he never stopped to do that, I may have never even known music existed, let alone that it could be an option for me professionally. Learning guitar changed my life forever. Thanks, Dad!

When I came off the road after touring for years, I came back to my love of design, and had a few clients from the music industry who needed some logos, album packaging, or merch designs from time to time, but had no idea how to start a “real” business. My longtime friend and mentor Scott Ballard (https://www.confidencecoach.org) helped me not only establish a foundation for my design studio, but he ultimately then helped me probably grow the business in huge ways over the first few years and I am SO grateful for the lessons he taught me, and the time he graciously gave me in those years.

Website: equalseven.com, locloudmusic.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nickdepartee

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickdepartee/

Image Credits
All images are samples of my design work