Bull Squid Studio officially became an LLC on August 26, 2025, but the story started long before that, somewhere between a pair of Technics turntables, a questionable copy of Photoshop from a local swap meet, several creative ventures, and my wife repeatedly asking me two very reasonable questions:

“Are you making any money?”

“And do you actually enjoy doing this?”

Those questions followed me through nearly every creative venture I attempted.

Sometimes I had a good answer.

Other times, I had a room full of expensive equipment and a business plan that could best be described as, “We’ll figure it out.”

To explain how Bull Squid came to life, I have to go back to where my entrepreneurial mindset and my constant need to create something…first began.

Where Business, Music, and Giving Back Began

I grew up in a small-business family. My father owned a business that had been passed down to him by my grandfather, so the idea of building something of my own was always somewhere in my blood.

My father also had a creative side. He also worked as a DJ and owned a vinyl record store. He would tell us stories about how he used to control the dance floor through music, which naturally made me want to experience it for myself.

My mother influenced a different side of who I became.She was always helping people. She volunteered with food banks, donated goods to families in need, and encouraged us to give back whenever we were able.

Looking back, both influences became important parts of Bull Squid Studio. From my father and grandfather, I learned the value of building something of my own. From my mother, I learned that success means more when it gives you an opportunity to help someone else. At the time, of course, I did not know any of that would eventually become part of a business. 

My First Creative Side Hustle 

When I was around 16, my father introduced me to Technics turntables. 

Before I ever received my first W-2, I was already working small DJ gigs. I charged around $25 an hour and played everywhere from house parties and graduation celebrations to school dances.  Some gigs were great. Others taught me valuable lessons about customers, preparation, and why every request should not automatically make it onto the playlist. I created mixtapes and made my own remixes. Since every mixtape needed a cover, I started designing CD artwork using a less-than-official copy of Photoshop that I found at a local swap meet.

During my senior year of high school, I took a media class that finally taught me how to properly use Photoshop and introduced me to video editing. That class gave me my first real creative  spark. I realized that digital art was not just something I did because I needed a CD cover. It was something I genuinely enjoyed.

At 18, I left most of that behind and joined the Navy in 2002. Or at least I thought I left it behind.

Creating During My Early Navy Years 

Even during my first several years in the Navy, I always found a reason to create something. While serving aboard USS Stethem, I designed a digital trading card for every person in my division. Each one looked like a traditional sports card but featured the individual Sailor.

It was not a business. No one hired me to do it. I simply thought it would be something different and personal for the division. 

Years later, that project feels like an early preview of the work I create today. Long before I was designing metal cards, challenge coins, and military keepsakes, I was already trying to capture people’s personalities and service through custom artwork. Apparently, I have always had difficulty leaving a blank screen alone.

Music, Shore Duty, and the First Reality Check 

In 2009, I was stationed at a shore command in San Diego, CA. For the first time in years, I had enough time and stability to make music again. I got back to creating remixes and designing custom artwork. I started to build a decent following on SoundCloud.

I was proud of what I created, and the music received positive feedback from a lot of people. However, producing each remix took hours and hours. Eventually, my wife sat down with me and asked those two questions for the first time:

“Are you earning anything from this?”

“And do you enjoy it enough to keep investing this much time into it?”

She had a point. I had already purchased the turntables, mixers, and everything else I had convinced myself was absolutely necessary. Unfortunately, the project was not becoming anything sustainable. Eventually, I sold the equipment and moved on. At least, I thought I had moved on.

From Ship Memories to My First Challenge Coin  

In 2016, while stationed aboard USS Higgins, I volunteered to take charge of the ship’s cruise book. I developed the layout, organized the sections, created custom logos for the departments, and designed the overall book. Other Sailors helped by taking photographs and gathering submissions, but I handled the complete design. That project felt different.

For the first time, I saw how my artwork could bring together an entire command’s experiences and memories. It was not just an image sitting on a screen. It represented a period of our lives and gave people something physical they could keep. I left USS Higgins with some of my first real portfolio pieces, including the cruise book, and command shirts that I had designed.

Then, on April 30, 2017, I created my first challenge coin design for a fellow Chief. He asked if I could help turn his ideas into a complete design. I did not see it as the beginning of a future business. It was simply another opportunity to create something for someone I knew.

But it planted a seed. The cruise book and that first personal coin showed me that artwork could do more than look good. It could preserve memories.

Little Creek, Digital Art, and the Birth of Bull Squid 

In 2017, after completing two back-to-back sea tours, I transferred to a shore command in Little Creek, Virginia. Once again, having more time opened the door to another creative chapter. 

I started practicing freehand drawing and filled a notebook with sketches. I was never especially strong at drawing by hand, but the practice helped me recognize something important. 

My strongest work happened on a computer. I could see an idea in my head and use digital tools to develop it in ways that were much more difficult for me with a pencil.

Around the same time, gaming, streaming, and YouTube were becoming increasingly popular. My brother-in-law and I started creating gaming content together. 

I created a gaming channel called OP Channel, where I posted short tutorials explaining how to unlock special items and earn in-game rewards. I spent countless hours playing, recording, editing, and designing everything myself. The channel slowly gained a following, and even today, some of those older videos still receive comments and new followers.

I taught myself more about video editing, continued improving my Photoshop skills, created custom graphics, and returned to working with music.

Another Creative Reality Check 

As the gaming channel grew, my wife eventually brought up those familiar questions again.

Once again, I had invested in a complete setup and taught myself several valuable skills. However, consistently producing content required a tremendous amount of time, and it was not developing into a sustainable business.

Eventually, I stepped away from creating gaming videos. I did not completely stop gaming, of course. Let’s not get carried away.

Although spending hours editing footage from the same game is a very effective way to make yourself avoid that game for a while. Still, that chapter was not wasted. 

It strengthened my video-editing skills, improved my digital artwork, and taught me more about creating content and building an online audience.

When I created the channel, I did not want to publicly use my real name as the person designing the graphics and building the content. 

I needed a creative name. That was when Bull Squid was born.

The First Design in the Digital Vault.

In 2019, I transferred to my final Navy command at SRF-JRMC in Yokosuka, Japan. When I first arrived, I was still fairly new to the command and the CPO Mess when they began requesting ideas for a new challenge coin. Using the skills I had developed over the years, I created my first coin concept for SRF-JRMC. But I never submitted it.

Honestly, I did not have enough confidence in the design or in myself as a coin designer. I assumed it would not win the vote, so I kept it hidden. 

That unsubmitted design taught me an important lesson. Sometimes the biggest obstacle is not a lack of skill. Sometimes it is convincing yourself that your work is ready before anyone else has even had the opportunity to see it.

That concept became the first entry in what I now call my Digital Vault, a collection of unfinished, unsubmitted, abandoned, or forgotten artwork waiting for another chance. Apparently, even digital artwork can collect dust. It just does it without taking up garage space.

Later that summer, I volunteered to serve as the Public Affairs Officer for my first Chief Season at SRF-JRMC. My responsibility was to document the season through photographs and videos, capturing the experiences and milestones of the newly selected Chiefs. 

For the Khaki Ball, I created three videos dedicated to the selectees. The videos were played during the event and received an incredible response from the audience.  After keeping my earlier coin concept hidden, seeing people connect with those videos gave me a much-needed boost of confidence. It reminded me that my work could bring people together, preserve an important moment, and create something meaningful for others.

Apparently, confidence sometimes requires a packed room, a large screen, and the quiet fear that the video might not play when you press the button. That experience did not immediately erase every doubt I had, but it proved that my creative work belonged in the room.

It also motivated me to continue creating. I just needed to become confident enough to submit it.

Burro-Gordo: Learning to Build a Brand 

Fast-forward to 2020, during the middle of COVID. Once again, I felt the need to make something.

This time, instead of creating only digital projects, I started rebuilding bicycles under a small brand called Burro-Gordo.

I purchased old and discarded bicycles, rebuilt them, repainted them, and gave them a second life. I eventually focused on fixed-gear road bicycles and began purchasing new frames for custom builds. The brand started gaining traction.

I sold several bicycles, built a social media following, and donated one month’s sales during the holiday season to Toys for Tots, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and a local food bank.

For the first time, I felt like I had created something that combined creativity, business, and giving back. That part reminded me of my mother.

She had always shown me that helping others could make a greater difference than simply making a profit. Eventually, my wife’s familiar questions returned.

This time, I pushed back slightly but I also took an honest look at the business. Rebuilding a bicycle could take days or even months, depending on the parts, paint, adjustments, and type of build. After completing it, I still had to find the right buyer. Once the bicycle was sold, it was gone.I built some really great-looking bicycles, but after handing them over, I rarely had the opportunity to see them again.

 Over the next few years, as I moved closer to my final year in the Navy and prepared to return to the United States, I realized the bicycle business would be difficult to maintain. 

I do not regret starting Burro-Gordo. It taught me about branding, pricing, social media, customer service, selling physical products, charitable giving, and building trust. Those lessons would eventually become part of Bull Squid.

The Coin That Changed Everything 

In 2021, during my bicycle-building chapter, a coworker who knew I had design experience asked me to submit a challenge coin concept for a joint Chief Season involving SRF-JRMC, DLA, and FLCY. This time, I went back to the drawing board and actually submitted the design.

The coin was shaped like a shield and featured two crossed Chief Petty Officer cutlasses. The cutlasses could be physically removed from the coin. It was bold, different, and specific to the commands it represented. The design won the vote.

The Mess loved it because it was unique to the command and different from the traditional coin designs they were used to seeing. When I saw my digital artwork transformed into a physical coin, something clicked. It combined my military background, my love of design, and the opportunity to create something meaningful for other people. It also felt different from my earlier ventures.

That was the moment my coin journey truly began.

First Paid Project

In mid-2022, my first paid challenge coin project under the Bull Squid freelance name came from the SRF-JRMC CPO Mess. The project was a very large and very bold Golden Ticket.  The design represents the moment when a First Class Petty Officer is selected to become a Chief Petty Officer, an important milestone in a Sailor’s career.

The finished piece looked like a traditional admission ticket, but there was nothing traditional about its size. It was roughly the size of a large smartphone, approximately one centimeter thick, and weighed around 12 ounces. It was oversized, heavy, and impossible to ignore. At the time, most challenge coins were nowhere near that size or weight. Calling it a “coin” was technically correct, but holding it felt more like carrying a small gym weight. 

 The Golden Ticket stood out because it was intentionally different. SRF-JRMC holds a special place in the Bull Squid story.

That Chief Mess gave me an opportunity while I was still building confidence, developing my style, and trying to determine whether this could become a real business. They did more than purchase a design. 

They helped validate the idea behind Bull Squid.

Investing in Myself 

By mid-2023, as I prepared to transition out of the Navy, word was spreading about my work and design style. I started gaining clients through referrals and realized that this could become more than another temporary creative venture.

Instead of immediately purchasing another room full of equipment, I decided to invest in myself. Personal growth. Very suspicious.

I used the skills and experience I had developed through music, cruise books, video editing, gaming content, bicycle branding, digital trading cards, and challenge coin design to complete a Digital Art Certificate through the University of Maryland Global Campus.

I also attended business seminars and continued sharpening my craft. After years of learning through trial and error, late nights, and several expensive hobbies disguised as business ideas, I wanted to give this venture a stronger foundation.

From Bull Squid to Bull Squid Studio LLC 

In 2025, a family member contacted me about a possible partnership. His father-in-law was pursuing an opportunity to operate as a private retailer connected to Marine Corps exchange stores. The plan was for him to sell wood products while I created and supplied challenge coins.

Bull Squid had already been my freelance name for several years, but it was not an officially registered company. I knew that pursuing an opportunity of that size meant I needed to become legitimate. I submitted my application with the State of Florida.

On August 26, 2025, Bull Squid Studio officially became an LLC. I added “Studio” because the business was never limited to one type of creative work. My background included audio production, video editing, digital artwork, graphic design, branding, and physical products. Bull Squid Studio represented all of it.

The partnership itself never happened. The calls and messages eventually stopped, and the project simply disappeared. But, Bull Squid Studio stayed.

Surprisingly, I am not angry about it. I am thankful.

That opportunity gave me the push I needed to stop treating Bull Squid like another casual side project and start building a real business.

Sometimes the opportunity you expected is not the opportunity you actually needed. 

Looking Back and Moving Forward

Looking back, I no longer see my earlier projects as failures. DJing taught me how to read a crowd, communicate, and work with customers.

With music, I eventually became tired of hearing the same songs I had mixed. But it taught me patience, timing, and attention to detail. 

With gaming, creating content sometimes made me avoid the games I had spent hours recording. But editing improved my digital skills, introduced me to online content creation, and gave Bull Squid its name.

With bicycles, the finished product could take months to complete, and once it sold, I might never see it again. But taught me branding, pricing, customer service, physical production, and the importance of giving back. 

With challenge coins, its was  different. Taught me how to listen to someone’s story and turn it into something they can hold. Capture someone’s service, command, personality, career, accomplishments, and memories in one physical piece. It could be carried, displayed, passed down, or presented to another person as a sign of appreciation and respect. 

Now with Bull Squid Studio, it brought all those lessons together.

I am still learning.

I am still improving.

I definitely do not have everything figured out.

Most small-business owners do not. We are just trying to make everything look organized before posting it on social media. Now I am waiting for my wife to ask me those two questions again.

This time, I am ready.

Am I making money?

Yes. Enough to keep investing, growing, and occasionally purchasing another piece of equipment that I can confidently explain is “for the business.” 

Do I enjoy what I am doing?

Absolutely. Because this time, I am not simply making music, videos, bicycles, or artwork.

I am helping people preserve their stories.

And no, I am not selling all my equipment.