Helping Businesses get Better at Creativity, and Creatives get Better at Business
WILLIAM WARREN | ENTREPRENEUR. AUTHOR. SPEAKER. ILLUSTRATOR
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About
William C Warren
William Warren is a creative person who turned into a business owner. His goal is simple:
Help businesses become more creative
Help creative people learn business skills
In 2013, he started a company called The Sketch Effect. It helps big companies like Marriott, Chick-fil-A, Delta, and Oracle explain their ideas clearly using pictures and visual storytelling.
William also wrote a book called The Conquering Creative. It became a best-seller on Amazon and was a finalist for a 2023 business book award. The book teaches creative people how to succeed in business.
He travels across the country giving fun and inspiring talks. While speaking, he often draws live on stage to help people understand his message.
In his free time, William likes to hang out with his family, cook BBQ, go scuba diving, travel, and ride his Onewheel around Atlanta, Georgia.
The Conquering Creative
Check Out William’s Book:
The Conquering Creative is a fun, illustrated business book made for creative people.
Most creative folks love making things but don’t always enjoy the “business” side of their work. Still, if you want to have a successful creative career or grow your own creative business, you need to learn some basic business skills.
This book helps you do just that. It gives you the tools, tips, and confidence to succeed not just in your art, but also in the business part of it.
The book has won awards and hit top charts, including:
Finalist in the 2023 Goody Business Book Awards (Career Success)
Amazon Best Seller and “Hot New Release”
#1 New Release in Entrepreneurship and Career Guides
Speaking
Looking to bring in a fresh voice to your next corporate event?
William speaks at all kinds of events, big and small. He shares what he’s learned from nearly 20 years of working in visual communication, mixing creativity, business, and visual thinking.
He gives inspiring talks, teaches practical lessons about running a small business, and leads hands-on workshops for company teams.
Want to know more? Take a look at his signature talks below.
signature talks
Victorious Visuals
Critical charts to conquer your obstacles and grow your business.
Running a business isn’t easy. You need a plan, you need to make sales, build systems, and handle a lot more in between.
In this fun and helpful talk, William shares his own story of starting and growing a creative business. He explains the most important lessons he’s learned and shows simple drawings and tools that help business owners grow and succeed.
Visual Leadership
Combine your visual and verbal brain to think, communicate, execute, and lead.
Our brains learn best in different ways, not just through words. But in most jobs today, we rely only on words.
In this eye-opening talk, William shows how using visuals can make learning and communication much more powerful. He explains how great leaders use visual thinking to plan better, manage teams, and get better results.
Visual-Storytelling
The incredible science, history and power of visuals, from cavemen to TikTokers
People naturally connect with visual stories. The tools may have changed, but the basics of great storytelling haven’t.
In this talk, William shares the roots of visual communication and shows simple ways to tell powerful stories today. Whether you’re in marketing, leading a team, or making a sale, mastering storytelling can help you succeed.
Speaking Experience
Chick-fil-A, Inc.
Oracle
Savannah College of Art and Design
Plywood Presents
Entrepeneurs’ Organization
The Serious Business Conference
Startup Mountain Summit
The Graphic Artists Guild
UPS
Midwest Digital Marketing Conference
Atlanta Convention and Visitor’s Bureau
Speaking Experience
Download Chapter 1 for Free
Subscribe now to get this free resource right away. You’ll also get William’s latest blog posts, helpful tools for creatives, and other exclusive content.
Testimonials
“Visionaries must articulate a picture of the future that produces passion in others. William, in his creative communication style, helps bridge the gap between business and creativity. Across both Chick-fil-A and at Trilith, William has come alongside us as we unpack some of our most complex business challenges in a fun and creative way that keeps us pursuing our future goals and aspirations.”
Dan Cathy Chairman, Chick-fil-A, Inc. | Founder & Chief Visionary, Trilith
“William Warren was an outstanding speaker at our 2024 Startup Mountain Summit! He was incredibly professional and easy to work with from start to finish. His talk on the power of visual storytelling was engaging, well-prepared, and interactive, delivering valuable insights in a way that truly resonated with our audience. He has a unique ability to make drawing feel approachable and less intimidating, encouraging everyone to leverage visual communication in their businesses. I highly recommend William for any event looking for an informative and dynamic speaker who knows how to captivate a room!”
Adriana Dew Program Director at Founders Forge
“We had William speak at our department's Development Day in 2024 and he was a fan favorite! He was a pleasure from preparation to delivery of content and we would recommend his content on visual communication and visual thinking to any size group in any industry. He is dynamic and professional and his content is instantly applicable.”
Savannah Leigh White Chick-fil-A Financial Services
William C Warren’s Reel
Popular reels
Blog
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The Two “Boss Trades” Every Creative Freelancer or Entrepreneur Makes
When you’re considering launching a creative freelance or entrepreneurial career, the appeal of “being your own boss” is very real. After all, you’ll get to work when you want, take
Delegation for Dummies (Like Me)
It was nearly four years before I got someone to help me with invoicing. Four long years doing something that I was terrible at, didn’t enjoy, and wasn’t worth my