Represent and Recognize LLC

Boise, ID

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About

Art and business seldom go hand-in-hand, but for Alex Vega it was a match made in heaven.

Ensconced in a wood-paneled office in the basement of his east Boise garage, the 27-year-old Nampa, Idaho, native operates Represent and Recognize – a one-man graphic design brokerage that connects hundreds of businesses to artists from as far away as Bangalore, India.
Started in April 2007, Represent and Recognize is based on a simple concept: new businesses don’t always know where to find good graphic designers, and good graphic designers don’t always know where to find new businesses.
Vega discovered that disconnect when he was pursuing his first venture – a peanut butter and jelly sandwich stand he rents out for parties and events. Newly incorporated, he asked his lawyer where to find business cards for the PB&J business. The lawyer told him to find a graphic designer, but neither knew where to look.
As Vega poured through newspapers and checked Web sites, the idea for a business dedicated to putting entrepreneurs in touch with designers was born.
Today he still reads the papers and surfs the Web, but has added incorporation lawyers to his list of sources for leads. Compiling names, phone numbers and e-mails, he touches base with his designers, matches styles with business needs and sets up the connection. He takes a 25 percent cut from the artist’s fee; and, with very little overhead, business is good.
Just two years old, Represent and Recognize has grown from one designer and a few clients, to 19 designers in Boise, the UK and India, and about 120 clients per week. Juggling so many contacts across so many time zones means Vega has to work all hours, but with current communications technology it’s relatively easy to keep his virtual office open 24/7.
“China is literally an e-mail away. India is literally an e-mail away,” he said. “I might as well be running this out of a coffee shop in Tahiti.”
While Vega gives technology a lot of credit for his success, his personality is perfect for what he does. With a background that ranges from lifeguarding and tech support to collections and a stint as a field aid on a mobile MRI van, Vega knows how to talk to people.
“I pretty much have a Ph.D. in customer service,” he said.
Combining the brashness and immaculate dress of a Young Turk on Wall Street with the flamboyance of an artist, he smokes cigars, signs contracts with a crow quill pen, seals letters with a wax stamp and refers to things he likes as “buttery.”
While even a little eccentricity can be a liability in some industries, Vega feels his confidence and style are what makes his business work. “Only I could do this, the way I do it,” he said.
But that doesn’t mean he’s content with the basement office – by summer he hopes to be renting space in downtown Boise with a small staff to help compile fresh leads and field phone calls.
The ultimate goal, however, is to hand the business over to his son – now 3 1/2 years old. A career in politics also might be in the offing. Vega, a member of Future Hispanic Leaders of America and an Idaho Hispanic Youth Symposium attendee, hopes to run for mayor of Boise by the time he’s 35.
In the meantime there’s more than enough work to be done building Represent and Recognize.
“As long as there are businesses registered in the U.S., I’ll be busy,” he said.

representrecognize.com

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