jeff meade

My name is Jeff Meade and I'm the Managing Director for Creative Friction, a consultancy that helps small agencies attract new clients and grow their business.

Prior to launching Creative Friction, I directed marketing at Sneaker Villa which was named retailer of the year by Complex during my tenure, co-founded two marketing agencies, facilitated an international MBA exchange program with Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, taught marketing courses at UCLA, and had my agency referred to as a “purple cow” by Seth Godin. I have a bachelor’s degree in business from Babson College and an MBA (Consortium fellowship) from Washington University in St. Louis.

Jeff started his entrepreneurial journey soon after graduating from Babson College. He co-founded MJINI Urban Youth Experts, a marketing research firm that conducted research on urban youth communities who are typically distrustful of mainstream marketing. His on-the-ground, grassroots research lead to clients such as Converse, Levi Strauss & Co., Timberland, Turner Broadcasting, and the Justice Department.

While pursuing his MBA at Washington University in St. Louis as a Consortium for Graduate Study in Management fellow, Jeff also studied at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). After facilitating an MBA exchange program between the two schools, he was awarded an honorary MBA from HKUST. He also continued working with urban youth during his tenure in grad school, including the time he teamed up with Grammy Award-winning artist Nelly and his nonprofit 4Sho4Kids, an organization dedicated to leukemia awareness. There, Jeff built out a campaign around co-branded Nike sneakers, the “Air Derrty,” and the resulting limited-edition sneaker sold out in mere hours.

Post-MBA, Jeff took a senior leadership role with The Rebel Organization, which was at the time a three-employee company with a strong focus on the youth market. Jeff worked on business development (Rebel became one of the largest youth agencies in the country by billings), built out the client services team (which ballooned from three to thirty people), and established the agency as a thought leader (which culminated in Seth Godin referring to them as a “purple cow”). Clients included ESPN The Magazine, 20th Century Fox, Reebok, and Cricket—but perhaps most famously, Jeff and Rebel launched the millennial-focused Scion car for Toyota, helping the brand reach their goal of securing the lowest average driver age in the industry.

Next, Jeff returned to his entrepreneurial roots by co-founding The Reason LLC, an experiential marketing agency. There, he was instrumental in bringing in high-profile clients like Activision, Honda, and McDonalds. From there he worked as the marketing director for Villa (formerly Sneaker Villa), which was named Retailer of the Year by Complex during his tenure. At Villa, he remained actively engaged with his youth culture roots and even led a cross-functional team to launch Rookie by Villa, a retail brand extension designed to grow reach within the children’s segment. The kids approved. 

Today, Jeff lives in Dallas with his wife and three children. When he’s not helping brands deconstruct their old, familiar, thinking in order to reimagine their marketing strategy, you can find him outside running, coaching basketball, or snowboarding down the nearest snowy mountain (not that easy now that he lives in Dallas).