In this episode of the Co-Pro Podcast, we sit down with Brian Franks, founder and executive creative director of Where Eagles Dare, to talk about brand strategy, creative leadership, and building brand identities with heart, culture, and a real point of view.

Brian spent more than 20 years at American Eagle Outfitters, rising from graphic designer to VP of Creative while helping shape the brand during a major period of growth. He also helped launch 77Kids, an experience that pushed him toward entrepreneurship and eventually led him to found Where Eagles Dare in 2015.

We talk about the difference between making work that looks good and building a brand identity people actually feel connected to. Brian shares how pop culture, retail instincts, and personal experience shape his approach to brand-building, why collaboration is at the center of his creative process, and how he built an independent creative agency designed to bring the right people together around the right idea.

We also get personal. After surviving a hemorrhagic stroke, Brian returned to the work he loves and used creativity as a way to reconnect with himself. His story is a reminder that doing work that matters can be more than a career; it can be part of who you are.

A conversation about brand-building, creative risk, resilience, leadership, and finding your way back to the work that feels like it belongs to you.