by Lorie Lewis Ham
KRL always strives to support the arts, and small unique businesses–Duende Creative House is a bit of both. Owners Haley White and Miguel Gastelum have also been a part of the local theatre community for some time. I chatted with them both recently about their new endeavor. 
KRL: Do you co-own Duende Creative House, and is it just the two of you?
Haley: Miguel and I are equal partners and, for the time being, it’s just the two of us who specifically work at DCH. He is our creative lead and I am our strategy lead, though our work overlaps a lot. We often partner up with colleagues and freelancers when we want specialty talent in specific niches. For instance, we work pretty exclusively with the team at Bearbox Studios when we need to produce video assets. They have the equipment, space, and skills to create better final products than we could on our own but we assist them with things like strategy, producing, and scripting for projects we work on together. We also love Denise Sislian and her team from McClatchy Media and call on them to help with digital advertising when clients have the budget for their services. We know other designers and creatives we can call when we need other types of very specific skills. We’d much rather farm out things to colleagues when we know they’re better at those things than us, especially when we know, in return, they’ll call on us for the things we do well. We do hope to hire an in-house project manager and maybe an operations manager or bookkeeper at some point in the future, speaking of things I know other people can do much better than I can.
Haley and Miguel
KRL: What is Duende Creative House and what services do you offer?
Miguel: We’re a boutique marketing agency specializing in branding services, digital marketing, event marketing, and storytelling/DEI mentorship for artists, entrepreneurs, small businesses, and social good enterprises. We can do a whole bunch of other things, and we usually have good contacts in the area for all the things we can’t do, but our skills and experience shine within those particular parameters.
KRL: What are your backgrounds in marketing?
Haley: I most recently served as the director of marketing at the local chapter of an international corporate nonprofit for the past five years. Before that, I did a bunch of other marketing related stuff: I worked as a producer and casting director for a video production house; I managed social media accounts and vlogs for dozens of brands; I worked in donor development for a theatre company. I think it’s not just my marketing background but my experience as an interdisciplinary artist and community organizer that, combined, brought me to this perfect intersection with Duende.
Miguel: Since 2017, I have been the communication specialist for Fresno State’s Department of Theatre and Dance—handling everything from marketing campaigns to show promotions and public engagement. In addition to this, I’ve spent over a decade as a freelance marketing consultant, working with brands including United Way Fresno and Madera Counties, Encore Theatre Company, The Rogue Performance Festival, The Sojourner Group, and The Creek Fire Recovery Collaborative, among others. As a co-founder and board member of The Fools Collaborative, I also handle most of their marketing as well.
KRL: I know you both have backgrounds in theatre, do you feel like that gives you any advantages with the new business?
Haley: Absolutely. I consider being a storyteller my top talent and also, kinda the reason I’m here on the planet. Everything I do is heavily influenced by my artistry and my passion for community care. Being an artist not only helps you think of creative solutions and unique approaches to different situations and problems, but it’s helpful even just in the practical sense of being connected to individuals in the various arts communities in town. When we need actors for commercials, we know where to find them. When we need spaces for events, we have those relationships, too. When we need to plan out a campaign, we can attack it much in the same ways we might a rehearsal schedule or film shoot. I used to keep my artistic side very siloed; I used to believe it was actually a deficit when it came to the ‘real’ world. I hesitated to even call myself an artist for a long time. But I’ve grown to where now I think of it more as a superpower anyone can access and apply somatically to all areas of their life if they want. I would say the ways in which Miguel and I intersect and align as artists is actually where our relationship is, perhaps, the strongest.
Miguel: I agree. My theatre and arts background plays a big part in how I approach design, messaging, and storytelling. 
KRL: When and why did you decide to start this particular business?
Haley: The short answer is, I got laid off in February and needed to make money! If we want to go a little more in depth, I’ll add that things had been pretty unstable at my place of employment for a good year or so. I had been looking for other opportunities and could tell the job market was in bad shape even before this new administration came in and started firing and furloughing hundreds of thousands of government workers. Miguel and I had been discussing the possibility of doing some freelance work together as a way to make supplementary income or support our work at the Fools Collaborative but we never really moved on the idea. When the layoff happened, I knew I didn’t want to hop over to another corporate non-profit (I’m a firm believer that the master’s tools don’t really effectively dismantle the master’s house and all that), but I knew I wanted to stay in the world of marketing while keeping my career values-aligned. Miguel and I have built really strong relationships in the Central Valley over the last decade or so, both independently and as a team. We’re very comfortable working together and we’re both relatively good at what we do. It just sort of felt like everything aligned and became a “Well, it’s now or never” situation.
KRL: Where did the name come from?
Miguel: Duende is one of my favorite Spanish words. In a literal sense, a duende is a mischievous supernatural being from Spanish, Iberian, Latin American, and Filipino folklore. In a more ephemeral sense, duende refers to the deep, mysterious power of passion, inspiration, and authenticity that comes from experiencing – or participating in – art. In casual modern usage, it can be described as a charm, spark, or magnetism that draws people in. It is a word that doesn’t fully translate simply into English- a raw emotional intensity, a creative spirit, soul or essence that can only be felt. We thought of a million names but nothing really clicked until I suggested using Duende. The basic idea is that when el duende is present, one can see/hear/feel it. When it’s not, one can tell it’s missing. We like to think of our company motto as “marketing with soul.” 
KRL: I like that! What makes you different?
Haley: I think there are a few things that makes Duende Creative House a little different from other marketing agencies. Right from the start, we lead with our reputation and values, almost even more so than our skills and experience. Our actual work is strong, don’t get me wrong. But we’re a good fit for folks and brands who are interested in having thought partners, interested in connecting to other local businesses and enterprises where they might be able to leverage those partnerships into mutually beneficial relationships, interested in community care and the success of our region as a whole, not just in their own success. People who support local as a practice themselves, not just because they own a small business. People who engage with their neighbors in all aspects of their lives, not just folks who clock out of non-profit work at 5p.m. We can do the Pay Per Click kind of stuff. We can get you high engagements and increase your profits. But there are other places in town who are probably better for folks who have that as their sole primary goal (and no shade, we even partner with them sometimes). We’re better at making brands feel personable and relatable, getting audiences to feel like they’re part of the story. We’re more about long-term relationship building than riding any quick viral trend. We specifically focus on small businesses, artists and entrepreneurs, and social good enterprises for this reason. We also offer staff and C-Suite training in things like ethical and accessible storytelling and DEI principles, because we really believe in the power of those things to uplift not only any given brand or business we’re working with, but the people they serve as well. Lastly, I’d say because we’re small, we can be really nimble.
Miguel: Yep, nailed it.
KRL: What is your mission statement?
Haley & Miquel: We help small businesses, artists, entrepreneurs, and social good enterprises craft authentic, ethical, and culturally competent marketing that is both comprehensible and visually compelling. Through storytelling, design, strategy, and education, we empower our clients to connect meaningfully with their communities and grow with purpose. 
KRL: Are there any specific campaigns you are particularly proud of that you would like to share about?
Haley: Our very first assignment as a company was making some digital billboards for our friends at Binational of Central California. We’ve both had our work on billboards before but it was the first time we, personally, had the direct relationship with the client rather than through an org or other third party. We were really giddy when the ads went up. We went to look at them together and danced in the street. And then, of course, started immediately critiquing everything we weren’t happy with and would do differently next time. Other than that, I’d say I’m really proud of how many friends and acquaintances have reached out to inquire about our services, even if they didn’t end up going with us because of cost or timing or whatever else. I thought it was going to be scary trying to find enough clients to make this idea really evolve into full-time work but we’ve had quite a natural path in that direction and it’s all been word of mouth. So I feel really grateful and proud that our reputations, relationships, and work have made that happen.
Miguel: We were so excited by that first campaign. That was a rush. It’s still pretty exciting every time we see our work in live action.
KRL: What are your future hopes and goals?
Haley: I think we both would like to see this turn into something stable and enduring, where we can hire a few more full-time folks and get into a real office down the line. I would love to be able to give anyone we hire a partner percentage and I would love to eventually be able to help at least one person or brand on a pro-bono basis, whether it be once a month or once a year. In the long term, I want to do good work for – and with – good people, help improve our little corner of the world in whatever small ways I can, make enough of a living where I don’t have to deal with ongoing financial anxiety, and have enough of a work/life balance to get in more travel and see my niece regularly. Being my own boss and working with my best friend is icing on the cake.
Miguel: It’s wild even dreaming of a world where I run a company with my bestie, doing what we love, and it pays our full salaries. I think I’m still a little hesitant to picture it, fully imagined. But just taking it one day at a time, one project at a time, I’m proud of everything we’re doing. Like most people, I’d love to enjoy my work, make good money, do good things, and have a lot of time left to NOT work.
KRL: Where are you located, phone number, and where can people find you online?
Haley & Miguel: Our website is duendecreates.com. That is also the handle for finding us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok. We primarily work from our homes for the time being. We can be reached, together, at projects [at] duendecreates.com. Business line is 559.379.1459. We have a contact form on our website if anyone has any questions or wants to reach out for a quote or campaign proposal.
KRL: Anything else you would like to add?
Haley: We started this business by putting $100 each into a shared bank account. Everything else we’ve made, we’ve earned through client work. It’d be awesome to have more of a nest egg so that we could get some better equipment and supplies. If there are angel investors out there who want to support a couple of bleeding heart creatives hoping to make the mid-Central Valley a little more vibrant and inclusive, we just shared how to reach us in the last question! Also: thank you, Lorie, for the space to share our story. Thank you, everyone, who has been so supportive this first year.
Miguel: I just want to shout out the Fresno State Women’s Entrepreneurial Center for how great they were with helping us set up the business and getting all our paperwork filed with the city of Fresno and the state. We were given so much great advice and all of it was free. I can’t recommend them enough.
Thanks so much for chatting with us! I look forward to seeing where your Duende Creative House takes you.
The quote they have on their their Facebook page, pretty much says it all, and I love it: Duende Creative House. Queer Owned. Valley Grown. Soulful marketing for social good.
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