Ourselves Podcast
Ourselves Podcast
Ourselves
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He Started With $0 and Cold Emails. Now Nike, Oakley & Wingstop Hire His Agency.
1 hour 42 minutes Posted Jun 19, 2026 at 1:30 pm.
Introduction
What SLAPS Does as a Creative Agency
The Wingstop Mango Habanero Campaign
How Social Media Rewrote the Agency Game
SLAPS vs Traditional Agencies (Wieden+Kennedy, 72andSunny)
Production: In-House vs Outsourcing
Starting With Zero Creative Background
Why Sales Is the Real Art Form
Lessons From a Year in a Call Center
Discovering Creative Direction by Accident
Cold Emailing Strangers to Land Brands
The First $5K Client (an Indian Restaurant)
Why You Sell Vision, Not Services
The Sales Exercise & Why Listeners Win
How to Actually Get a Brand's Attention
LinkedIn as a Creative Goldmine
Breaking Tension With GIFs in Cold Emails
The Brutal Reality of Unpaid Pitches
The 6-Month Music Video Pitch From Hell
Building a Voice So People Come to You
Inside the SLAPS Team
Working With His Wife at the Agency
How Creative Directors, Art Directors & Copywriters Work
Building a Global Agency Out of Barcelona
Running Ads for Brand Awareness
The Mistake of Trying to Do Everything
Handling High-Pressure Clients & Celebrities
What Big Budgets Actually Pay For
AI, Creative Jobs & the Renaissance of Craft
Pivoting SLAPS Into a Strategy-First Agency
Project 2027 & the AI Endgame
Favorite SLAPS Projects (HelloFresh, Wingstop, Oakley)
Living Between Amsterdam, New York & LA
Surfing Through Burnout
Building a Business With Your Wife
The Hustle Years vs The Balance Years
The DISC Sales Framework Every Creative Needs
Why Creative Is the Hardest Industry to Sell In
The Card Question: Most Meaningful Feedback
Closing Tradition
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1:42:03
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Show notes
Sebastien built SLAPS, a creative agency for some of the biggest brands in the world, with no design degree, no advertising background, and no industry connections. He started by cold emailing strangers, Googling what a branding agency even does, and selling a $5K identity to a local Indian restaurant.
Now SLAPS works with brands like Nike, Oakley, Wingstop, and Under Armour. In this conversation, Sebastien breaks down the real agency game: why sales is an art form, why you should never sell services, and why brands pay more for vision. This is the story of building taste, selling ideas, and turning zero connections into a world-class creative agency.
This is Ourselves with Sebastien Vandecasteele.
 
 
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