Somewhere along the way, most of us stop playing. We trade cardboard castles for cubicles, wild ideas for metrics, and the joy of discovery for the comfort of routine. We worry less about quicksand and more about money, and eventually, we just sort of… forget. Worse, at some age, the world makes us feel we shouldn’t play anymore.
But what if play wasn’t something to outgrow, and instead the very key to creative success, and a harnessable super power for brands? That’s the story of our company, Bards.
We’re Brett and Steph, a husband and wife creative duo, and we didn’t set out to start a business, we set out to remind ourselves how to play. But thanks to Tongal, that play became a career.
Our company's story started with a single pitch on Tongal; one that transformed us from burnt-out producers on our way out of the creative industry into full-time storytellers, experimenters, and modern-day bards.
Two Bards Meet. Two Bards Say Goodbye.
We met at an animation and design agency over a decade ago, but we fell in love playing D&D together and swapping secret creative ideas that we were too shy to share with anyone else. We worked alongside each other for years in executive levels in the studio agency world (we’ve even each been the other’s boss at some point in our careers), but our own company didn’t manifest until we left our agency life in 2023, weary of the industry and sadly thinking that our days of being coworkers were over.
In our old roles, we loved working together and managing teams of talented artists. We produced network rebrands together, full broadcast campaigns for companies like Disney, and experiential events… but we worked a lot. And for 12 years, our leadership roles were rarely the ones playing with the ideas ourselves. Our creative outlets became spreadsheets, and our brainstorm sessions became budget proposals. It lost its fun, and made us believe that the creative world wasn’t what we thought it was for us anymore. So, we both stepped away from our roles in search of new careers. It was a risky leap for both of us to navigate unemployment together, but the looming mortgage payments were somehow even less painful than the grief of professionally separating after so many years. After all, who else would hire a nerdy, dreamer pair like us?
We spent the better part of a year trying to find our new fields of interest, and if you’ve been there recently, you know how soul-sucking that can feel. Ultimately, it was a strike of purple lightning that shocked us from our depression.
Tongal Enters Stage Left
To ease our heartaches, on a whim, we checked out Tongal. We were familiar with Tongal already, but had never considered ourselves creative enough to put our hats into the pitch ring. An opportunity caught our eyes and we thought: Why not? It felt like one last chance to collaborate and throw a wild idea out there for the pure fun of it.
To our astonishment, we got the green light.
The project reignited something in us, and we wondered if we could make lightning strike twice, so we pitched another. This time we went full-blown silly, because this might be the last one we ever did. And again, we got the green light.
And again and again.
It seemed like the more we embraced that feeling of being a kid in a box fort, of playing and experimenting, and laughing at ourselves, the more the brands we love showed up for us.
Turns out, brands love play. Less than two years and 35 Tongal projects later, we’re the proof.
We went from thinking we were wrapping up our creative careers to suddenly producing “ASMurdeR” videos for SyFy’s Chucky, crafting middle finger charcuterie boards for Sony’s Dumb Money, fan-made cosplays and miniatures for Paramount Scares, Snapchat filters for NASCAR, Transformer-branded marble runs… you name it.
The more we played, the more our world expanded. And all of this because Tongal let us put our authentic selves out there and gave us the space to let our fan-flags fly. We became what we always wanted to be — creators, just tinkering, telling stories, and being, well… Bards!
Fans: the Authors and Audience
The bards of yore played a vital role in history, telling stories, weaving myths, and creating legends. These were the first sparks of fandom. Modern brands, like the bard patrons of old, want the same thing! They want narratives that connect, entertain, and inspire their audiences.
But the best storytelling doesn’t happen in boardrooms. It happens in the wild, among fans, in subcultures, in the unfettered joy of people who love what they’re creating.
Fan-first, culture-driven creators understand this because they are the audience. They aren’t just producing content, they’re participating in the world of the brand.
When you work with a creator who embraces play, you get ideas that feel authentic. That’s what we found through Tongal. It’s not about making ‘ads,’ it’s about imagining experiences that fans actually want to engage with.
A Stage For All
Historically, bards thrived in gathering places like taverns, courts, and campfires. These were places for sharing stories and celebrating entertainment. Tongal is that place for today’s creators.
It’s a space where talent is measured by the strength of your ideas and not by job titles or industry gatekeepers. It’s where storytelling in all forms gets a stage.
For us, Tongal was the tavern where we found our audience. And through play, we found our voice.
Neverending Story
We started in a small, closed box, thinking our creative world was shrinking. But the moment we embraced play, that box expanded into something infinite.
So whether you’re a brand looking for a fresh, playful way to connect with audiences or a creator looking for a space to bring your wildest ideas to life, the stage is set. The box is open. Come play. We are!
Creatives are working with the world's biggest brands on Tongal
