The signs were all there.
In hindsight, this all tracks. Zach grew up around people who built things. Businesses, scrapbooks, creative projects—you name it. Somewhere between a childhood full of cameras, and entrepreneurial side hustles, the path to running a creative studio started to make a little too much sense.
New York City made it real.
After studying and working in New York, the whole thing got a lot more real. Zach learned how brands think, how creative teams move, and how to make good work under pressure—with tight timelines, sharp opinions, and no room for fluff.
Then we got some walls.
After moving back to Minneapolis, the work kept growing—and so did the team. What started as freelance momentum needed more than a laptop and home office. The first studio gave the business a real home base: a place to shoot, build, make a mess, and make it all feel more official.
We learned the right help, helps.
As the projects got bigger, so did the team. Hagen Creative became less about a couple people doing everything and more about building the right mix of designers, producers, photographers, editors, and creative problem-solvers around the work.
More where this came from.
The goal now is simple: keep making work that feels sharp, tasteful, and true to the brands we build it for. More thoughtful identities, more considered content, more projects with a real point of view. Still growing, still learning, and still chasing work that feels worth making.
