Founder to Know: Diane De Re, 321 Fast Draw

Growing up on Chicago’s South Side before pursuing a journalism degree at the University of Missouri, Diane De Re always knew she wanted to create. Be it writing short stories or producing the news, making something for others to consume was her passion.

After returning to Chicago from Missouri, De Re worked in production during the day while tending bar at night. She moved into advertising, producing spots for radio and television. Then, after freelancing for nearly 15 years, she stumbled upon the business idea that would launch the company she currently calls home.

321 Fast Draw, a customized animated presentations company, wasn’t the first to create unique animations for clients, but De Re realized competitors in the space couldn’t operate with the time and budget constraints most clients insisted on. Since the business’ inception, 321 Fast Draw has been off and running, barely giving De Re a chance to stop and smell the roses.

However, looking back, she remembered the biggest hurdle the business faced came in the form of human capital. Or, more specifically, the lack thereof.

“Our biggest challenge was bringing in people to help,” De Re said. “We all freelanced – we came from this freelance background, me and my partners. We were killing ourselves, absolutely killing ourselves. The first year, we didn’t have a life at all.”

Interestingly, unlike with most new companies, start-up expenses weren’t an issue.

“We didn’t have any costs – we didn’t have to buy anything,” she continued.

As freelancers, De Re and her partners already had most of the business equipment they needed. They also had a long list of friends and industry contacts to help them fill out their roster of illustrators and editors.

While De Re’s work ethic definitely paid off, if she could go back and do it over again, she said she wouldn’t have been quite so accommodating.

“I would have set more parameters regarding deliverables [and] fees,” she said.

Coming from the freelance world, where you never say no to a job lest it be your last, De Re said she didn’t initially set up more rules for clients to follow that would make her life easier.

However, it was likely 321 Fast Draw’s willingness to go above and beyond for clients that led to its success. De Re is the first to admit that her and her team are not the best salespeople – most of their work comes from referrals.

One project in particular that raised the bar for the company was a piece for a Montessori school in Texas.

“That Montessori piece went worldwide because the Montessori community is so cohesive,” De Re said. “This was four years ago, but even today we still get inquiries from that piece. That piece has done more for us than anything – more than social media, more than Google AdWords.”

And through it all, De Re has never lost focus on her other full-time job: mother. Listening to De Re describe an average day is enough to leave even the most high-energy person feeling exhausted.

“It’s really hard,” she said. “I get my daughter to school, go to work, pick my daughter up from school, go home, make sure everything’s in order, homework, dinner, then turn the computer on and go back to work.”

Still, De Re is doubling down with her work on 321 Fast Draw in 2015. She said she hopes to turn the company into a turnkey firm, adding more marketing and distribution services to its already impressive production work.

De Re is also passionate about expanding 321 Learning, the company’s education division. The goal is for the company to partner with schools to bring learning to life with creative animation kids can latch on to.

As far as advice for the next crop of entrepreneurs, De Re said the most important thing is not to get mired in the money.

“When people start to worry about [money], it takes away from everything else,” she said. “A viable product they can produce better than anyone else, something you can execute flawlessly - that’s what matters. People raise all this money, but when it comes down to the product or manufacturing or distributing, they have all these weaknesses.”