How did roux come about? 

I moved from my home of South Louisiana to Franklin in 1999 with UPS. I was with them for almost 20 years in sales and marketing, and when I left in 2002, I started a traditional agency with two other guys. In 2013, with two different people, I transitioned and started roux. Karen had been with me at the previous agency, and I happened to meet Lauren when she had just graduated from college.

We had met for coffee because she was trying to find work as a graphic designer, and I ended up saying, “Look, I need to be honest. I’m actually going out on my own, and I’d love your help with a logo.” That’s where it all began.

We wanted to take all the things we liked from the traditional agency model and create a more flexible environment. We’re not all virtual, of course. We have our core team that handles strategy, client relations, and creative direction, but beyond that, the entire world is our creative community. That’s the beauty of this model. When we’re making decisions, creativity, clients, and community are what we always come back to.

Where did the name come from?

Growing up, especially in South Louisiana, all great things started with a roux. You’d come inside from playing as a kid, and you’d smell the roux and just know that something delicious was cooking. 

Whether it’s dinner or a startup company, if you start with a roux, it’s going to be good. Lauren found a neat article once about all the different colors of roux. They’re diverse—you can have a blonde roux, a dark roux, a chocolate roux—and that was symbolic of all of us, we’re just a mixture of people.

Tell us about a memorable moment at roux.

One of the most significant memories was when I was talking to clients about going out on my own, and 100% of them said, “We’re with you.” That’s a good feeling. You always hope you’re building a strong relationship, doing great work and building trust, but that was confirmation. 

All of this was happening and keeping me up at night in this crazy, strategic way. One day, Karen and I were sitting in her car in the parking lot before a client meeting, and I just spilled my guts and told her, “I want you to come with me.”

We always laugh at the craziness on every anniversary. We had no space, no office, we rented out a 200 square foot closet to hold the server and started the process of transitioning. I think that’s the chuckle God has along with us every time he thinks about it. At the end of the day, this has never been one of those things where I thought, “Oh I wish I had my own agency,” but that’s the way it turned out.

What does a typical day look like for Stefan?

I’m an early riser, and I like to spend time with my morning devotionals getting inspiration for the day. After that, I’ll take time to figure out priorities for the team. We start our day out with the 8:08 call to make sure we’re all aligned, and then we move into client sessions and conference calls.

I really focus on keeping the big projects moving and the little projects turning. There are things we have to knock off the list, but my day is primarily internal communication and prioritization, and then communicating with clients. 

I try to look at my week and set my Monday aside for organizing and planning, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday for clients, and on Friday, I try to work on myself. It doesn’t always work out that way, but those are my targets. 

What are you most proud of when it comes to roux?

Tell us about your family. Who is Stefan at home? 

I’ve been married to Lizanne for 13 years, and I couldn’t have done any of this without her. We have two boys, Cade and Cody, who are 11 and 8 years old, and we’re a very active family. We love to be outdoors, playing sports, fishing and hunting—everything is outdoors. We love hosting and cooking, and if something can be grilled, we’ll be outside grilling it.

We also love to travel. I believe travel resets us, our beliefs, our culture, everything. Lizanne and I took our honeymoon in Italy, so that’s probably our favorite place. When I proposed and we started talking about getting married, I could tell she was frustrated by the planning. She said, “I've lived through all the wedding drama (she’d been in 11 weddings prior), I just want to run off to a hill somewhere in Italy and get married.” So we just started planning that. We hope to take the boys back there one day.

Favorite local restaurant?

My go-to is Merridee’s. It’s the first place I visited when I got here.

A favorite food or recipe? 

If you’re asking what my last supper would be, it would be my mom’s shrimp stew or my grandmother’s spaghetti. My go-to recipe is probably gumbo. It’s a social experience and such a mix of different things, just like us—different people from different walks of life.

Check out the video below to watch our croux making gumbo for Mardi Gras this year!

We hope you’ve enjoyed learning a little more about Stefan! Keep watching the kitchen for more fun stories from our team, client news, and the occasional freebie.