The Birth of C3 Studios

The year was…I have no idea…but it doesn’t matter for the story. It was a while back. I had owned and operated a small sign shop in Sherman, TX, for some time and loved it. But all good things come to an end. The stress of being a small business owner had finally caught up to me, and I sold the shop to the highest bidder…well, the only bidder. Selling the shop would give me a life outside the shop, and I was excited. The long hours, no vacations, and zero time spent with my family had taken its toll on me. Plus, by selling the shop, I signed a contract to stay on and continue to run the business, but without all the added stress a business owner has. It seemed too good to be true. Well, it was. Eighteen months later, he sold the business again, and I was out on my own, but this time I had knowledge of owning a business, and I knew what worked and what didn’t. I had a chance to bounce back and do things even better, so C3 Studios was born.

I had decided early on that C3 would not be my only source of income—at least not right way. Owning and operating a small business is no easy task, and to make a profit in the first few years is rare. My plan was to find a full-time job and only do C3 work on the side. I would start small and only do work for close friends and family. Things escalated quickly, and my former clients soon caught wind I had opened up a new business and were quickly emailing me orders. I am grateful for the clients that followed me. They have made C3 what it is today.

C3 is still a part-time/side gig. I keep it this way on purpose. The work I do with C3 is a passion of mine. If I made it full-time and my only source of income, the added stress could cause me to lose that passion, and soon resentment would set in. I want to respect my work and clients at C3, so I plan to keep my business structure this way. Also, I have a pretty sweet full-time job at Trident Solutions™ in Plano, TX. I am the VP of Marketing and have a solid team that works alongside me. I would be an idiot to give it up and focus on C3 full-time. So if you are wondering why I didn’t pick up the phone when you called me at 10:30am this morning to discuss a banner for your kid’s baseball team, it’s because I am working, but I promise to get back to you just as soon as I am off the Trident clock.

The name C3 Studios is simple. My full name is Clayton Chase Chancy. I guess my parents thought it would be funny. Well, jokes on them. My business name is easy to remember and it seems to be working out for me thus far. As far as the word studios, well we offer a number of services that are typically found in design studios so it just made sense to run with it…also the domain name was available for twelve bucks.