Fast 15: Chance Chapman

From Texarkana, Texas, to New York to Northwest Arkansas, Chance Chapman’s life has been quite a journey so far. And it’s that journey, not specific accomplishments, he values most.

In July, he landed at Saatchi & Saatchi X, where he helps the social marketing firm with campaigns for major clients Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Procter & Gamble. As the only digital strategist there, he works on projects ranging from ads to what the shopper experiences at the shelf.

Saatchi X is the first large firm he’s worked for, but Chapman said it feels more like a small startup. Previously, his
career involved running
his own company or working for startups like Saatchi X founder Andy Murray’s firm Mercury11.

Though Chapman earned a degree in organizational leadership from the University of Arkansas in 2007, he said he did it not with the intention of getting
a job, but to learn “the language of
business.” He later co-founded a firm that helped small-business owners learn how to market themselves through social media.

Chapman shares his startup experience by serving on the board of the Northwest Arkansas Entrepreneurship Alliance. About every other month, the group holds “startup crawls,” which he describes as “like a pub crawl, but instead of going to a bar, you go to a startup.”

“We take the group around and introduce them to the [startup] founders, who introduce their team and talk about why they exist,” he said. “That’s one of my favorite things that we do.”

Whatever he does next, he said,
he’ll probably go back to building his own business.

“I’m not sure what it’ll be. I love what I’m doing. It’s completely different from anything I’ve ever done.”

To unwind, Chapman and his wife run together in the evenings. He’s also looking forward to planting a garden at the house they just bought.

He advises those starting a business to “keep on keeping on — it takes a lot of work to make a successful business.”

Also, he says, “if you want to get into business, solve a problem. It’s easy to get distracted by something flashy, but it all boils down to that.”

And take time out to have fun, he adds. In the end, as his grandmother used to tell him, “Life is what you make it. Always has been. Always will be.”