It was 2020, and the world was unraveling. The pandemic had shuttered offices, disrupted lives, and forced people to confront questions they’d been avoiding for years. For Reuss, those questions came sharply into focus as he gazed out at the endless Nevada desert.
“It felt like being at the edge of nowhere and everything,” he recalls. “The horizon stretched forever, and all I could think was, ‘What do I want to do with all this space? Where do I start?” It directed him to his passions, like triathlons, mountain biking, snowboarding, and designed the agency to evoke that adventurous exhilaration. “I wanted to create a creative community that felt just like my outdoor adventures, because that’s what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.”
For someone who’d spent his career inside some of the most dynamic creative Silicon Valley environments, this moment was an existential pause. Reuss wasn’t just looking at the desert; he was confronting his own personal & creative boundaries.
Reuss’s career had been a masterclass in innovation. He’d helped shape campaigns that became synonymous with the digital age. At Crispin Porter + Bogusky, he challenged convention. At YouTube, he championed visual storytelling during its transformative years. At Facebook and Google, he turned the abstract into the iconic. But over time, the once-expansive playgrounds of creativity began to feel smaller. The vibrant colors of possibility dimmed, boxed in by corporate bureaucracy and rigid roles.
“At some point, they told me, ‘This is your lane. You need to stay in it,’” he says. “And that’s when I knew: this isn’t the world I want to live in anymore. It felt like the walls were closing in, and suddenly the endless possibilities I’d once seen in my career were reduced to a single, narrow path to nowhere.”
When Reuss shared his frustration with leadership, the response was a phrase that would change everything: “This is just the role now, and this is what we need you to do.” The words were a tipping point. “That basically killed it for me,” Reuss says. “All of a sudden, the company had gotten to a point where it was like, ‘That’s not the world we live in anymore. We just need you to do this specific thing now.’ And I realized that that was just the countdown for a Creative like me.”
The feeling brought him back to his childhood, seeing hubcap factories in Detroit. Watching the machines stamp out cool identical parts, Reuss recalls the sense of stifling repetition. “Even though I was working with famous names and groundbreaking campaigns, I realized I was just part of another glorified assembly line,” he says. “I was a cog, not an operator.” That realization was the spark—the undeniable push to create something freer, something more meaningful.
That spark led Reuss and his family to Las Vegas. For a while, he led a team at R&R Partners, the agency behind the famed “What Happens Here, Stays Here.” campaign. It felt great. Like a return to creative roots—a city of reinvention, a space for big ideas. But then the pandemic hit, and the entire world went quiet.
“It was a difficult and emotional decision for me to leave a team I was so proud and fond of during a time of such immense confusion. I will always be sorry for that. I don’t take my responsibility for others lightly. But I kept thinking about what the world needed and what creatives needed,” Reuss says. “And the answer was space. A new place to dream, to build, to thrive without fear. I had been working for 25 years, and I realized that if I didn’t do it now, I wasn’t ever going to do it. And so literally, carpe diem,” he says with a laugh. Though it translates to ‘seize the day’, “The definition is actually ‘living in the present without fear of the future.’ I embrace the philosophy that if you’re always afraid of the future, you’ll never make the decisions you need to make for today.”
For Reuss, this was the moment and opportunity to seize. And with that ethos in mind, Carpe Diem Creative Agency was born.
But starting an agency in the middle of a pandemic wasn’t just bold—it was audacious. Reuss sold 2 cars, took out self-funded loans, and built Carpe Diem from zero. Today, the agency is debt free and receives no bank, VC, or outside funding; it remains truly independent. For Reuss, this wasn’t just about launching a business—it was about launching a philosophy into a company. “Clients deserve more than just another agency reporting to their own stakeholders,” he says. “They deserve partners who are embedded in their success, not just delivering work from afar.”
This vision birthed Carpe Diem’s Direct-to-Creative (DTC) model, a structure intentionally designed to strip away traditional agency layers. “When clients work with us, they’re not dealing with account managers or project leads,” Reuss explains. “They’re working directly with the creatives who are designing their vision. There’s no middleperson, no stacked meeting blocks, no telephone game. It’s just us and them, building something extraordinary together.”
This unique approach has drawn clients like Moloco, a machine-learning powerhouse founded by top talent from Google, Amazon, and Twitter, headquartered in Redwood City, CA. For them, Carpe Diem isn’t an agency—it’s a partner embedded in their world. “We participate in their meetings, use their systems, and become part of their team,” Reuss says. “That level of integration creates trust and speed you can’t get anywhere else.”
Carpe Diem’s independence has become one of its greatest strengths, not just for the agency itself but for its clients. In an era where private equity dominates the creative landscape, Reuss’s team stands apart by delivering exactly what clients need: agility, transparency, and deeply embedded partnerships. Research shows that independent agencies are 25% more cost-effective and nimble than traditional firms weighed down by bureaucracy (Source: MarketingProfs). “Independent agencies are on the rise. As the two largest holding companies are gobbling up older agencies, it excludes potential client markets who don’t have the access or ability to work with them. We’re accessible, seasoned, trusted, award winning, and at a fraction of any large agency costs, due to our incredibly low overhead in Nevada.” Reuss says. “But the best thing that independence gives us is agility. We don’t answer to shareholders or middle management. We answer to the work, and ultimately, to what’s best for our clients.”
Entrepreneurship, however, is anything but easy: “Being a good Creative Director doesn’t necessarily make someone a good creative agency owner. During the early years I discovered the hard way they are two, very different disciplines. Building a business from scratch, especially as a creative, is like learning to fly while you’re already in the air,” Reuss admits. “I learned, I had a lot to learn. And I learned while staring directly into the face of the ground rush.”
The edge, for Carpe Diem, includes how it embraces technology. While debates around AI’s impact on creativity swirl, Reuss sees it as an ally. “At times, AI helps us eliminate the worst ideas quickly,” he explains. “It speeds up the process and sharpens our focus. Because it can’t dream original dreams in the truest sense of the word. That’s the human part, and it’s irreplaceable.” Reuss points out that AI works best when paired with a team’s creative intuition. “It’s not about replacing anyone; it’s about amplifying what we’re already capable of doing.”
This philosophy of pairing innovation with human creativity is also evident in how Reuss builds his team. “Our agency is made of very different people with very different interests. Our diversity is our strength,” he says. “When you bring together people with unique viewpoints, the work becomes richer, deeper, and more meaningful.” By intentionally hiring creatives and strategists with diverse backgrounds and perspectives, Carpe Diem’s team exemplifies the power of collaboration.
The combination of productive independence, diversity, and agility has become the foundation of Carpe Diem’s success. “We don’t have to compromise on our values, passions, or our process,” Reuss says. “That’s what allows us to deliver work that truly resonates with our clients.”
Today, five years later, the desert view has certainly changed. What was once a blank canvas is now blossoming with bold ideas, thriving partnerships, and a team that embodies the power of positivity & possibility. “We’re not here to disrupt for the sake of disruption,” he says. “We’re here to live up to our professional purpose because these are the superpowers we’ve been given. To help people & brands seize their moment. To make the most of every day. Inside, and outside of our professions.”
At Carpe Diem, every day is a chance to turn a spark of an idea into a force for good. It’s about cutting through the noise, turning hesitation into action, and simplifying the complex so that visions come to life. With the Direct-to-Creative model and a commitment to agility, the team delivers not just design but transformative partnerships built on trust, diversity, and shared purpose.
For brands ready to move faster, think bigger, and create work that truly matters, Carpe Diem offers a path forward.
At Carpe Diem, every day matters.
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