What we believe in

Culture

We thrive in the culture we manifest by following our core values.
About Us 1

Hard Work

About Us 2

Dedication

About Us 3

Integrity

About Us 4

Encouragement

About Us 5

Creativity

About Us 6

Excellence in the Ordinary

What DRIVES OUR WORK

Mission

We deliver dependable and accessible marketing solutions custom-tailored for our clients. 

how we foster change

Vision

To educate and engage our community through creative solutions in Memphis and beyond.

Our committment to justice, equality, diversity, & Inclusion (JEDI Policy)

Justice, Equality, Diversity, & Inclusion

We take what we do seriously and make sure that our team, clients, and vendors align with our inclusive vision.

we started from the bottom, now we're here

Our Story

Established in 2007, Ray Rico Freelance has evolved into a multicultural and diverse agency serving the very best in the Mid-South and beyond. Over the years, we have had the pleasure of aligning with the Latinx and the LGBT+ communities in the work we do. We have developed vast experience with justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion.

  • Our entire team specializes in studying businesses by using proven processes to determine strategies and suggestions that will work best.
  • Our graphic design team creates targeted, eye-catching visuals for all client branding and graphic design projects.
  • Our digital team collaborates to create the very best in responsive web design, search marketing, and social media.
  • Our account services team has extensive experience in the Memphis area.

We are here to help you grow your business through a clear, concise strategy, collaborating with you every step of the way. Working with a dedicated team that understands your business is important. We do our homework and present options that are viable for any industry.

We love Memphis and it shows. We work with local vendors and freelancers. By doing so, we are able to support local small businesses and the economy of our peers. We keep more money in Memphis to create more jobs. Let us be your hometown agency.

Our diverse team was hand-picked to bring you the most diversity our city has to offer. We deliberately chose our team members based on their differences and are happy to have these people to represent us. We are an LGBT and minority-owned business centrally located in our fine city of Memphis,TN. We are also certified as a Minority Business Enterprise (MBE); and Local Small Business Enterprise (LSB), and a Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans Business Enterprise (LGBTBE).

In September 2015, the agency launched Focus Mid-South. A local publication serving the Mid-South LGBT+ community and its allies. In June 2017, we expanded to cover Middle Tennessee with Focus Middle Tennessee.

We support local talent and diverse vendors to impact our community and economy directly. We also pride ourselves on our collaborations and connections in Memphis and beyond."

VIRTUAL TIMELINE

See where we came from, note the events that shaped us into who we are, and positioned us right where we are supposed to be.

Click through or swipe to see more.

June 2022
June 2022
June 2021
March 2021
March 2021
October 2019
August 2016
August 2015
June 2014
December 2012
December 2007
About Us 7

2022 Mid-South Pride Grand Marshall

Memphis celebrated Pride in June 2022 and named Ray Rico one of three Grand Marshalls for the 2022 year's parade down historic Beale Street. https://midsouthpride.org/
About Us 8

Memphis Proud: The Resilience of a Southern LGBTQ+ Community

Memphis Proud: The Resilience of a Southern LGBTQ+ Community is a documentary about oral histories in the Mid-South area. The film remains the property of MoSH and is posted with permission for free viewing only. https://focuslgbt.com/memphis-proud-the-reslience-of-a-southern-lgbtq-community/
screenshot of video call grid with four participants

Expand: The ABCs of LGBTQ inclusion in the workplace

Panel discussion on LGBTQ issues in the workplace. Moderated by Ray Rico (top left), with panelists Whitney Hardy (top right), Chris Miller (bottom right), and Milton Howery III (bottom left). https://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/news/2021/06/10/expand-lgbtq-inclusion-workplace.html
ray rico in red shirt on video call

Midtown Connects: Ray Rico, Ray Rico Freelance

Porsche Stevens talks with Ray Rico about marketing your small business and creating an inclusive work environment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnTa3w5IrE4
About Us 9

Ray Rico Freelance launches new website

Working with our partners at New Urban Media, we developed a new approach to our company website. It’s sadly said that the cobbler’s kids have the worst shoes. True-to-form, we had to make sure we had ourselves covered and established our updated brand snapshot for our group.
black and white photo of ray rico seated

Business of Pride, Outstanding Voices: Ray Rico with Ray Rico Freelance, Focus Mid-South

The Memphis Business Journal celebrates local LGBT people in this special issue for Pride Month. Photo by Brandon Dill. https://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/news/2019/10/11/business-of-pride-outstanding-voices-ray-rico-with.html
About Us 10

Focus Awards Honors Memphians

What better to celebrate our first birthday than to honor local Memphians making a difference in the LGBT+ community at large. We hosted our first ever Focus Awards at Opera Memphis. The event has been running yearly ever since.
About Us 11

Focus Launches

In a landmark year, marriage equality was finally announced as the law of the land. With a need for LGBT news and a hub for info, my team and I collaborated to bring to life the Focus brand.
About Us 12

Breaking down walls

Over the three years running my business, we had outgrown our space and taken on new clients. With our next door neighbor leaving their rental space, we thought it a perfect time to acquire the next bay and expand. We hosted a grand re-opening in August 2015 to celebrate.
About Us 13

Brick & Mortar

After a successful five years of growing and learning, I decided to branch out of my home office which I had outgrown, and open my very own office at 2294 Young Avenue. After about a month and a half of build-out and improvements it was time to officially open the doors.
About Us 14

Born in a one-bedroom duplex

After being passed up for promotion after promotion at my previous employer, I decided to step out and do my own thing. I took a loan out and bought my first Mac computer and started Ray Rico Freelance in my one-bedroom duplex in Cooper-Young.

Meet our group

Our People

About Us 15

Ray Rico

Founder

Ray Rico (he/him) has professionally worked in marketing, advertising, and publishing since 1997. Prior to his corporate career he professionally freelanced and later opened his own marketing firm.

About Us 16

Daphne Butler

Art Director

Born and raised in Memphis, Daphne (she/her) is a Fine Arts graduate of Memphis State University ’96 (now The University of Memphis) where she “witnessed the birth” of Photoshop. She has shared her digital art skills with Kinko’s, The Commercial Appeal and more local and nationwide.

About Us 17

Sheena Barnett

Digital Marketing Specialist

Sheena (she/her) is a native of Pontotoc, Mississippi, and earned a journalism degree from Ole Miss (’06). An experienced content creator and communicator, she is passionate about Memphis history and, in her free time, enjoys giving tours and cleaning tombstones at Memphis’ historic Elmwood Cemetery.

About Us 18

Kelly Seagraves

Digital Marketing Coordinator

Kelly Seagraves (she/they) is a Memphis-born artist, writer, and designer. They are best known for Pastelware, their modest but successful small business specializing in innovative jewelry.

Let's Work Together

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