You’ve never heard of a business like David Fischette’s. David is the Co-Founder, CEO, and Chief Creative at Go West Creative (GWC), an industry-leading marketing agency specializing in bringing brand stories to life through unparalleled live, virtual, and hybrid experiences.
Go West has helped hundreds of organizations, including giants like the United Nations, HP, Deloitte, CVS, SalesForce, DuPont, Petco, Inspire Brands, Farmers, Aetna, and Sonic, effectively communicate their message to key stakeholders.
Go West has also won dozens of awards, including Special Event Magazine’s “Top 50 Events Companies,” Event Marketer Magazine’s “Top 100 It List for Event Agencies,” and Expertise’s “Best Branding Agencies in Nashville.”
David has 38+ years of experience helping big global brands in telling their stories so they can better relate to their target audiences and motivate them to take action.
Known for his passion and over 38 years at the helm of the award-winning Go West Creative Group, David Fischette has established himself as a visionary in the live production, broadcast, media and entertainment industries. He is a highly respected and sought-after Executive Producer and Director, both in Live Events and Film Productions. Additionally, he has produced live performances by Blake Shelton, John Legend, Sheryl Crow, Bebe Rexha, Jay Leno, Earth, Wind & Fire, Chicago, Josh Groban, and other top artists.
When asked about the name Go West Creative, David delivers an exceptional answer: True North is your purpose, but your True West is your sense of curiosity, adventure and exploration. Success is about marrying the two together.
Build your brand intentionally
Prior to the success of Go West, David had a wild and rocky journey starting out in the events industry. Laughing, he shares that his business has evolved – internally and externally.
After founding an event production company in 1984, David and his Co-Founder named it Audio Ecstasy. Their original tagline was “When image is everything.” Laughing, David is embarrassed about his original motto. But the name change and rebrand are an important reminder that as we discover our mission and evolve our personal brand, our business needs to follow suit. It’s never too late to pivot and discover that your work can follow the direction of your personal growth!
After doing some soul searching, David realized something important: They weren’t an event company; They were a creative agency. The modalities they worked in – audio, video, creative branding – were just tools in a bigger toolbox. With their mission in mind, they rebranded and watched their business grow exponentially.
To connect with others, be authentic
David has learned many lessons in his 39 years as a creative professional. He’ll be the first to tell you that he spent years trying to make the business seem more successful than it was. But after a situation where an employee embezzled client money, it was time for a reckoning. David cast aside his pride and talked openly with the customers. After informing them of the situation, he told them that he wanted to grow with them and show up for them going forward. The responses were overwhelmingly positive!
This was an important moment for David and for the company. Instead of shying away from a challenge, he stood up, took accountability for the lack of oversight and used the experience to grow as a CEO and entrepreneur. Out of a difficult situation, he forged deep client relationships that he maintains to this day.
Lesson in diversification
Now, Go West is experiencing exponential growth. They are not in the business of just producing events – they create transformative experiences.
The team at Go West translates clients’ company messaging into creative experiences, both for corporate teams and for their customers. Their business has three facets: Events, Content, and Experiences.
They have even invented something entirely new: Spoken Cinema. For Spoken Cinema, Go West collaborates with spoken word artist Steve Connell. Steve writes a unique piece about the company’s vision and mission, then the Go West creative team works on a digital landscape including an original music score. It’s completely unique and seeks to connect customers to the impact and vision of the company – fusing more enduring client relationships for years to come.
Quotes

“The way that I have connected the most with people is when I shared our actual business struggles. People are actually drawn to authenticity. It took me a lot of years to realize that I don’t have to be something I’m not. I’m just a guy who’s been doing this a long time, and we have wins and we have losses, but we’re persistent.”
“The way to hold on to clients is to be authentic and build trust. Sometimes the best way to build trust is to say – no, we’re not the right agency for you – instead of just accepting everything.”
“I’m a huge fan of experiential. The beauty of experiential work is that you don’t need 2,000 people… you need 50 or 100 people to experience something, and it spreads like wildfire.”
“Our company’s so interesting because we have the event side of what we do, but we also have the content side. We also have an agency side of the business – a business and experiential agency.”
“For Spoken Cinema, we have partnered with a spoken word artist out of Los Angeles by the name of Steve Connell. We’ve been creating these pieces together for over a decade – which either open a show or if it’s a charity, it’s before the ask. It’s specifically connecting the audience to what they do. Not just their job, but what they do. Steve writes the piece and we create the digital landscape and original music score. We’ve done over 250 pieces.”
Links mentioned in this episode:

Podcast Resources
Visit the Website for Go West Creative at https://www.gowestcreativegroup.com/
Learn more about the Spoken Cinema experience at https://spokencinema.com/about/
Connect with David directly on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-fischette-0119b3/
Find Go West Creative on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/gowestcreative/
Follow Go West Creative on Twitter at https://twitter.com/gwcreativegroup?lang=en

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