He Started With $0 and Cold Emails. Now Nike, Oakley & Wingstop Hire His Agency.

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.   00:00 Introduction 02:29 What SLAPS Does as a Creative Agency 03:54 The Wingstop Mango Habanero Campaign 06:35 How Social Media Rewrote the Agency Game 07:48 SLAPS vs Traditional Agencies (Wieden+Kennedy, 72andSunny) 12:36 Production: In-House vs Outsourcing 13:56 Starting With Zero Creative Background 16:00 Why Sales Is the Real Art Form 17:42 Lessons From a Year in a Call Center 18:10 Discovering Creative Direction by Accident 20:04 Cold Emailing Strangers to Land Brands 21:11 The First $5K Client (an Indian Restaurant) 23:28 Why You Sell Vision, Not Services 26:42 The Sales Exercise & Why Listeners Win 29:42 How to Actually Get a Brand's Attention 30:22 LinkedIn as a Creative Goldmine 32:07 Breaking Tension With GIFs in Cold Emails 37:33 The Brutal Reality of Unpaid Pitches 39:26 The 6-Month Music Video Pitch From Hell 42:08 Building a Voice So People Come to You 47:56 Inside the SLAPS Team 49:11 Working With His Wife at the Agency 50:46 How Creative Directors, Art Directors & Copywriters Work 53:15 Building a Global Agency Out of Barcelona 54:46 Running Ads for Brand Awareness 58:28 The Mistake of Trying to Do Everything 01:01:11 Handling High-Pressure Clients & Celebrities 01:04:31 What Big Budgets Actually Pay For 01:07:13 AI, Creative Jobs & the Renaissance of Craft 01:14:18 Pivoting SLAPS Into a Strategy-First Agency 01:16:08 Project 2027 & the AI Endgame 01:18:55 Favorite SLAPS Projects (HelloFresh, Wingstop, Oakley) 01:21:46 Living Between Amsterdam, New York & LA 01:24:18 Surfing Through Burnout 01:25:30 Building a Business With Your Wife 01:27:31 The Hustle Years vs The Balance Years 01:28:35 The DISC Sales Framework Every Creative Needs 01:32:48 Why Creative Is the Hardest Industry to Sell In 01:38:34 The Card Question: Most Meaningful Feedback 01:41:24 Closing Tradition   Follow ⁠SLAPS⁠ Follow ⁠⁠⁠Sebastien Vandecasteele⁠⁠ Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Arrad (podcast host)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠SPOTIFY⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠APPLE MUSIC⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YOUTUBE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   CONNECT WITH US: ✩⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Ourselves (production team)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: ✩⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ✩⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ✩⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ✩⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠