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Wearing a suit and tie every day just wasn’t what Pat Strader had in mind for himself. After college, Pat was taking steps on a “traditional path”, as he puts it. He was living and working in Washington D.C. and going through all the motions that career minded individuals in that city go through. In addition to spending his summers away from D.C. in West Virginia, Pat still drove every weekend throughout the year to the New River Gorge to do work there as well. He even spent an entire summer living in a tent by the river, which Pat speaks very fondly of.
Before he decided to finally pack up and make the move back to West Virginia, Pat had developed a great relationship with the rafting company he was working for on the New River. When the time came for the company to need a marketing strategy to grow, Pat threw his name in to be considered for accomplishing the task. With little experience in advertising behind him, he began teaching himself the things he would need to move forward in a marketing and advertising career.
When asked about the progression that birthed Digital Relativity as a company and what roles were pivotal to moving it forward, Pat quickly credits the entire team for being the collective force that has built the business. He talked about the idea of family and that being how the team functions as opposed to them just being considered “employees.” Pat talks about the mindset of the company by explaining how what an individual works on doesn’t just impact themselves at Digital Relativity, but it impacts the entire team. That awareness has helped them work very close and productively with one another on projects.
Pat talked to us about the importance of being local and growing a business in Appalachia. He talked about the growth of Digital Relativity being something that is very important to happen here in Appalachia. Being able to stay here and build the company in their backyard is something that Pat explains as having great importance to the team as a whole! Pat also talked about the challenges you are going to face when going into business for yourself. “There are times when you don’t have money and need it. There are times when you need more time and don’t have it.” That is when surrounding yourself with the right people who are resourceful is what will keep your business together, Pat explained.
In August of 2018, Inc. Magazine included Digital Relativity on its annual Inc. 5000, the most prestigious ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies! Check out the article!