Jake Kurtz did not move to Tampa with a blueprint for his future. He moved with a suitcase, a friend who had a spare room and a belief that he needed a different life than the one he saw in Pittsburgh.
“I just knew that I wanted something different,” he says. “Most people stay in Pittsburgh, but I wanted to experience more of the country.”
That move in 2013 set the foundation for what would eventually become Brick Media, a social media agency with 18 full-time employees, 45 monthly clients and a reputation as one of Tampa’s most recognizable digital firms.
From job hopping to leading his own company
Jake grew up in Pittsburgh and graduated from Duquesne University. When a college friend invited him to move to Tampa without a job lined up, he decided the opportunity was worth the risk.
Within a month of arriving, he secured his first role at a small digital agency, where he learned the fundamentals of digital advertising.
Over the next several years, he worked at multiple agencies and in-house teams. In each role, he added value, but he frequently encountered resistance to change.
“I would notice outdated approaches or decisions that did not make practical sense,” he says. “I would raise the issue, but nothing would happen.”
He did not initially see himself as an entrepreneur, but he did see the need to control his work, his ideas and his impact.
A side hustle that took over his career
In 2017, he began freelancing in the evenings and on weekends. He offered the skills he knew best: paid ads, websites and social media strategy.
He posted marketing tips and insights on LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook, which helped local business owners discover him.
His early projects included $500 websites and small monthly retainers. Those small jobs eventually grew into a steady revenue stream. By mid-2018, he was earning roughly $4,000 a month from freelance work alone.
That progress encouraged him to create a test period. From August through December 2018, he would treat freelancing as a full-time effort. If it did not work, he would look for a job in January.
He quit his job just before his 28th birthday. At the time, his company was still called Kurtz Digital. Once he announced that he was going full-time, the momentum accelerated.
“That $4,000 a month turned into seven or eight pretty quickly,” he says.
He worked alone for about a year and a half before beginning to hire help in late 2019.
When the pandemic hit, he feared the business might collapse. Instead, brands suddenly needed a stronger online presence, and Brick Media grew.
Believing in social media before everyone else did
Years before he started Brick Media, Jake was urging employers to invest more in social media. Many companies prioritized television, billboards and print advertising instead.
“I would recommend digital strategies that I knew would work,” he says. “When leadership chose not to pursue them, it became difficult to feel effective.”
That experience informed how he positioned Brick Media. Rather than becoming a general marketing agency with many services, Brick built a clear identity: it is a social media company first.
That clarity helps the company rank high in search results and makes it easy for potential clients to understand exactly what Brick does.
Jake estimates that about half of Brick’s clients discover the company through social media or Google searches. The rest arrive through referrals.
Early proof and growing credibility
One of the company’s first success stories involved a small personal injury law firm with almost no online presence.
Through consistent digital content and a clear strategy, the firm grew its visibility and its internal team.
“Back then, it was just the owner and a few assistants,” Jake says. Now they have multiple attorneys and a full support staff, and he credits much of it to his growth on social.
Today, Brick works with well-known brands such as the Florida Aquarium and Kahwa Coffee. For Jake, these partnerships represent both business growth and personal milestones.
“I used to drive by the Florida Aquarium and imagine working with them,” he says. “A few years later, we became their social media agency.”
How Brick stays ahead
Brick Media’s team meets weekly to review cultural trends, community conversations and platform performance.
They discuss what is happening online and in the real world, from sports and music to new restaurants and fashion shifts. They also study client data to identify what content performed best.
Their decisions are driven by reach, engagement, views and audience growth. Their objective is straightforward: increase visibility and relevance for their clients.
Building a culture that works differently
Jake understands how easily leaders can fall into the same habits that once frustrated them. To prevent that, he intentionally experiments with new ideas and encourages his team to do the same.
This mindset led Brick Media to adopt more casual, phone-shot content at a time when many agencies still preferred polished video. The approach aligned with platform trends and improved clients’ performance.
It also led to one of the company’s defining decisions: moving to a four-day workweek in 2023.
Brick employees work four nine-hour days from Monday through Thursday, with Fridays off. The shift required planning and open communication with clients, but the results have been positive.
“We have not had a single client leave because of the schedule,” Jake says. “Our team comes back energized, and that benefits our clients.”
Evolving from operator to CEO
For the first five years, Jake handled nearly every task inside the business. Today, he focuses on networking, strategy and long-term planning.
A team of account managers, social media managers, photographers and videographers handles execution.
This year, he took his first two-week vacation without constantly checking his email.
“It showed me that we had built a real system,” he says. “It was the first time I truly felt like a business owner rather than an operator.”
Faith, purpose and leadership
Jake is active in Radiant Church’s business community, which gathers entrepreneurs who share a Christian faith and a commitment to leadership. He sees his company as more than a financial entity.
“Your business is a tool for stewardship,” he says. “It should reflect integrity and positive impact.”
Brick Media is not marketed as a faith-based agency, but Jake’s values influence his leadership and his decisions.
Tampa roots and what comes next
Jake and his wife, Kelly, who runs the popular When In Tampa account, have built their lives in Tampa.
They keep their businesses separate but collaborate naturally when the opportunities align.
Looking ahead, Jake hopes to establish a permanent office, grow the company’s national presence and continue working with both local and household-name brands.
He also wants to remain adaptable.
“The most important thing is to look in the mirror and ask what we can do that keeps us moving forward,” he says.
His journey reflects the same lesson he built his company on: take a chance, learn quickly, stay grounded and build brick by brick.