Most business growth problems are not caused by lack of effort. They are caused by the wrong strategic decisions.

This episode explores how operational changes, marketing strategy, and leadership decisions combine to drive measurable growth. Learn how businesses recover from failed SEO strategies, rebuild digital visibility, and generate consistent inbound demand.

You will also hear how scaling teams, managing turnover, and improving communication systems impact long-term performance. The conversation covers real business decisions that led to growth, operational stability, and stronger leadership effectiveness.

If you run a firm, manage teams, or want to scale sustainably, this episode explains the strategies that create momentum and long-term expansion.

In this episode of Remote First Innovators, we sit down with Tristan Van Aken, Founder and Creative Director of Vava Graphics, a design and branding agency that’s been fully remote since 2012.

Tristan shares what it really takes to build and scale a remote creative business—long before remote work was mainstream. From international hiring and contractor management to cybersecurity threats, ransomware recovery, and the practical use of AI in design, this conversation goes far beyond theory.

We explore how Tristan evaluates creative talent globally, avoids costly hiring mistakes, protects client data, and uses AI as a competitive advantage without sacrificing originality or trust. This episode is packed with real-world lessons for founders, agency leaders, and anyone running a distributed team in today’s fast-moving digital landscape.

Guest: Tristan Van Aken, Founder & Creative Director, Vava Graphics Host: Jake Gump

00:00 – Introduction to Remote First Innovators 01:10 – Tristan’s background and award-winning agency 02:05 – Why going remote made sense in 2012 04:30 – Early challenges hiring freelancers 07:15 – Remote tools before Zoom and modern stacks 12:30 – Hiring filters and avoiding bad hires 18:45 – International contractors and compliance 23:30 – IRS audits and global team realities 29:00 – Tristan’s creative hiring matrix 35:00 – Ransomware, backups, and hard lessons 43:00 – Website security and WordPress risks 52:00 – AI’s impact on design and creativity 59:30 – AI tools Tristan actually uses 1:04:30 – Mentorship, mindset, and entrepreneurship 1:06:15 – Where to find Tristan and closing thoughts

If you found this episode valuable, subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone building or managing a remote team. Your support helps us bring real-world insights from leaders who’ve been doing the work long before it was trendy.

In this episode, Josh Oliver joins the show for a candid conversation about leadership, entrepreneurship, and building companies with intention rather than ego.

Josh shares his journey through startups, acquisitions, and high-growth environments, offering honest reflections on what it takes to scale responsibly while staying grounded. He speaks openly about decision-making, learning through failure, and why clarity of values matters more than speed when building something that lasts.

Throughout the conversation, Josh emphasizes the importance of self-awareness, surrounding yourself with the right people, and resisting the pressure to chase every opportunity. His perspective offers a practical and human look at leadership in environments where momentum, risk, and ambition collide.

This episode is especially valuable for founders, operators, and leaders navigating growth without losing alignment.

⏱ Timestamps

00:00 — Welcome and episode intro

00:49 — Introducing Josh Oliver

01:38 — Early career path and entrepreneurship

03:21 — Learning through building and selling companies

05:04 — Leadership lessons from growth stages

07:12 — Decision-making under pressure

09:44 — Knowing when to say no

12:16 — The cost of chasing everything

14:05 — Building teams you trust

16:37 — Ego, humility, and leadership maturity

18:58 — Learning from failure

21:31 — Values-based leadership

24:09 — Staying grounded as momentum grows

26:47 — Advice for founders and operators

29:14 — Final reflections and close

📣 CALL TO ACTION

If this episode resonated with you:

👍 Like the video

💬 Comment with your biggest takeaway

🔔 Subscribe for more leadership and founder conversations

📤 Share this episode with someone building something meaningful