Meet Kyle Leakway | Business Practices for Creatives Instructor

Deciding to make the leap into entrepreneurship is a huge commitment, driven by a deep passion for the service or product you want to share with the world. At PCAD, we have a front-row seat to witness the evolution of our creative students, alumni, faculty, and community members. To support them, and our larger community, in developing the next steps for setting up a business, we offer our Business Practices for Creatives course. This course runs Mondays from 6-9 pm from Sept. 16-Nov. 18 and counts toward our professional certificate programs.

The course instructor is Kyle Leakway, who is originally from Lancaster but spent most of his life in York, PA. Kyle attended the Art Institutes and started his career in print media, working in agencies with clients in healthcare, education, startups, Fortune 500 companies and small mom and pop shops. He now co-owns the design agency, GoodThree, and is also their Experience Director. We enjoyed learning more about Kyle and how he hopes to help students navigate the often scary process of starting their own business.

Tell us a little bit about your class:

KL: This Fall I will be teaching Business Practices for Creatives – DES200. To say that I am excited for this is an understatement. The main goal of the class is to set you up for starting your own business. We will be covering how to choose the right business type, navigate taxes, create a business plan, develop your branding, strategize your marketing, map your sales funnel, and more.

My entire career has really been about empowering others to do their best work. That’s what excites me here. I want to take the passion that you may have to create your own business and provide you with what you need to get going. It’s a scary step to take but with everything we are doing throughout the course, I want to take the scary out of it and just make it exciting.

What are some of the most important takeaways that you want students to get from this course?

KL: Again, while it can be scary to start your own business, with this course, we are really going to focus on getting the details right. I want to ensure you are set up for success. We’ll focus on making sure that you are taking the right steps and we will go through all of this together. When taking a leap like this, it’s great that we can do this as a team and you can bounce ideas and thoughts off of one another.

What do you do for fun when you’re not teaching/working?

KL: I love traveling with my wife and two kids. We’re massive Disney fanatics, so we try to visit every year. When not traveling, I’m an entertainment nut. Whether it’s TV, music, or movies, I love soaking up all the goodness out there in the world.