A fish with wings and a bird with fins, Creativ co-founder and president Blake Brinker is a man of many facets.
Brinker is only 30 years old, but he sits proudly atop the new social media site with a conscience, one that embodies creativity and builds an online social community for inspiration and change.
Creativ is an emerging social media site built similar in structure to its competitors with a new purpose. The site was built as an online community for creative minds to share with one another and inspire each other. It’s a social media site with hopes of creating real-life change and movement.
While the site is fascinating, Brinker, a prior medical school student who dropped out to help build it, steals the spotlight.
“I had to make a decision,” said Brinker with regards to leaving medical school. “I knew that I wanted to help people and that I wanted to be a positive source for people. I approached my dad and he made me think really hard. He just really made it clear. He told me that if I was a doctor I could only influence a certain number of people and if I did this right I could touch the whole world.”
Brinker had a pair of “really cool parents” who raised him in Oregon.
“I was raised outdoors on streams, lakes, mountains and oceans. My dad was a commercial fisherman. I was raised to let my imagination wander. Plus when you are living in the wild, you get sort of bored, so I really learned the value of imagination,” he said. “When I was younger, my mom was an artist so she made it okay to be an individual and my dad really nurtured my confidence.”
Medical school wasn’t the only thing Brinker left behind for a new career. He had stayed busy since he graduated from high school.
“When I graduated from high school, I really went into my exploration stage,” he said. “I went to college but nothing grabbed my attention so I dropped out. I then got my realtor’s license because my dad was doing that at the time, so I was going to work with him. After a few years of doing this, though, I discovered my genealogy and found I came from a long history in healing arts so I decided to study medicine. I went back to college, got a 4.0 and went to medical school.”
Everything changed for the different when he was visiting a friend in Arizona, who happened to be mutual friends with Creativ co-founder Brad Thomas. Brinker chose to spend one evening with a group of his friends’ friends and the two began talking and that same night decided on the idea of Creativ.
They both shared a passion and desire for a social media site different than the others, one built for a purpose of doing good.
“My inspiration is people and energy,” said Brinker.
His co-workers say his inspiration for people is seen in his everyday work.
“With Blake the people always come first and that is the most important thing anybody could ever know about him,” said Creativ’s Community Development Coordinator Emily Rudolph.
Rudolph spoke very highly of Brinker and said he is part of the reason she came to work for them.
“I was so attracted to the positivity and excitement from Blake that I wanted to join the team. Working alongside him everyday is empowering and he is one of the best leaders I have been able to work with.”
Creativ’s Managing Director Alex Cyrell shared the same enthusiasm for Brinker.
“I would not be involved in this if I didn’t believe that Blake had the rare elements needed to succeed. One of the things is openness. He is open to ideas and he is a guy who has vision. He is interested in history and the world. He is affable and approachable and he is a good communicator,” said Cyrell.
Perhaps the best to describe Brinker, however, was Brinker himself.
“My heart takes me the furthest because I genuinely give a shit and that is just who I am. I could be anywhere, doing anything, but I chose to be here,” he said.
