Kyiv-Born Artist and Creative Visionary Elena Herweyer Leads Art Fresh, Inc. with Global Influence

Elena Herweyer was born in Kyiv, Ukraine. She is a professional artist with a Master's Degree in Fine Arts and Graphic Design. Since 1999, Elena has been a member of the National Artists’ Union of Ukraine. Her paintings are held in private art collections across Ukraine, Canada, the USA, Poland, and Germany. Elena Herweyer is the President and Creative Director of Art Fresh, Inc. She founded Art Fresh in 2011, shortly after relocating to Canada from Ukraine. Prior to moving to Canada, Elena enjoyed a successful 12-year tenure working at leading advertising and creative agencies in Kyiv as an Art Director. During this time, she collaborated with international companies such as Kimberly-Clark Worldwide Inc.©, L’Oréal, Vichy, Samsung, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, Mercedes-Benz, TNK-bp, Caparol, and Novo Nordisk, as well as small and medium-sized businesses and government organizations.

Art Fresh, Inc. defies convention in the world of marketing because it’s well-known for embracing a model centered on boundless creativity and innovation. With a dynamic team of driven professionals, Art Fresh is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of possibility, delivering exceptional results. At Art Fresh, the focus isn't just on generating leads or increasing website traffic; it's about driving tangible profit results for its clients. The agency actively seeks partnerships with forward-thinking business builders who share their passion for making a difference. Rejecting the notion of standard solutions, Art Fresh offers a unique methodology combining business consulting, full-service marketing, and creative ideation. The outcome is accelerated business expansion and exceptional customer service,  consistently surpassing expectations.

In 2023, Elena received the Chartered Marketer designation from the Canadian Marketing Association. This credential allows professionals to advance their careers and enhance their ability to work with clients to bring more value and help businesses achieve their goals efficiently. For more information, please visit: https://charteredmarketer.ca.

SME Business Review reached out to Elena Herweyer, and here’s what she had to say.

In Conversation with Elena Herweyer

Congratulations on being selected as one of the ‘20 Best Leaders of the Year 2024’! How does it feel to receive this recognition?

I am honored to be recognized by SME Business Review as one of the 'Top 20 Leaders of 2024’! This recognition means a lot to me, both personally and professionally.

What inspired you to start Art Fresh, Inc. and how did your previous experiences shape the foundation of the company?

I have always been passionate about art and design and developing creative ideas to find better, more impactful solutions. During my 12 years working with leading creative advertising agencies in Ukraine, I realized that I also enjoy taking on more responsibilities, pushing my creativity, and exercising leadership. I consider myself fortunate to have had wonderful opportunities over the years, working closely with inspiring businesswomen who have demonstrated strong leadership skills with unique life experiences.

Being a professional fine artist and graphic designer, working with successful businesses has helped me understand that my passion for creativity does not limit me to art, painting, or design. Business development requires creative thinking, finding innovative solutions, and a constant flow of creative ideas every single day. Business creators are people who are brave enough to take risks with the intention of changing the world and improving people’s lives. This is truly inspiring as there are huge opportunities for personal and professional development that don’t limit a person’s creativity.

It's with this spirit that I entered the entrepreneurial life and started my own business shortly after moving to Canada from Kyiv, Ukraine, in 2009. I firmly believed that I had a lot to give to my new home country, with over a decade of professional experience working with renowned global brands. In 2011, I founded the Art Fresh Creative Studio without business partners or investors, solely based on my passion and professional knowledge, and with the strong support of my husband, who believed in me. Now, 13 years later, I can say that it was the best decision I have ever made, as I have the privilege and freedom to do what I love every day: being creative and developing my personal and professional qualities, as well as my leadership skills, by taking on new and exciting challenges and responsibilities.

Could you elaborate on the challenges you faced establishing Art Fresh in a new country without external investment or business partners?

When you start a business without previous entrepreneurial experience, you have a lot to learn, especially in a new country and market. Cultural differences, language barriers, and the intricacies of running a business challenge your goals and desires. Every day, working with clients from different industries, business owners, or managers brings new tasks and challenges to sharpen your professional skills and pursue new opportunities. I had to learn to stay focused, do the things that have a significant impact on the growth of the business, and decide what I should delegate. My biggest challenge was that I started a business in a new country where no one knew me, and I needed to prove myself and my professional skills to earn the trust of clients.

Starting from scratch after a successful 12-year run in my home country was not easy. It required a lot of hard work, patience, and a strong commitment to my goals. To be frank, this would have been impossible without my passion for creativity and business development. I enjoy expanding my vision and am always open to learning new skills to help sharpen my creative marketing and business development proficiencies. This fuels me to overcome all barriers and set higher goals for myself. A new country presents you with challenges that you can't find any other way, and it's the only way to receive truly unique experiences that will make you stronger.

How did you manage to assemble a talented team for Art Fresh, and what qualities do you believe are essential for success in the creative digital marketing space?

When I started my business in 2011, I focused on brand design services. My key goal was to help other business builders creatively market the benefits of their products, build strong brand awareness, and help them grow their businesses faster. This is how digital marketing, web design, and creative copywriting came into play, and I started looking for experts with these skillsets to build my creative team. I firmly believe that great ideas and business success cannot happen without passion, intelligence, and personal commitment. I am fortunate to be working with a team of very talented people who are amazing experts in their fields and passionate about getting the best results for our clients. The key members of the Art Fresh team have been working with me for over a decade.

Business is a sport, and like every team, we strive to win and be recognized as the market leaders. Shared values, a passion for what we do to help clients win in the marketplace, an open mind, and the courage to innovate are the keys to successful teamwork.

Could you outline the key milestones and achievements of Art Fresh since its inception, particularly focusing on its growth trajectory and international recognition?

I founded Art Fresh in 2011, after I moved to Canada from Kyiv, Ukraine. Within two years, I received our first top international award for the “Art Fresh Self-Promotion Campaign” at the Summit International Awards, USA. This was a very inspiring recognition for me as a solopreneur from Europe and my startup, as it gave me the confidence that I had the necessary potential to grow my business and succeed in a new market.

My business reached a turning point in 2018. First, I was chosen as a member of the Grand Jury of the International Design and Innovation Competition A’Design Awards in Italy. It was a great honor to join creative fellow professionals from all over the world and select the best design projects and creative innovations to shape high industry standards. This year, Art Fresh also won Best of Show and Silver for two of our creative projects at the Summit Creative Awards in the U.S. This was a huge recognition of our creative marketing work from independent international experts. My role as a jury for the A’Design Awards and Competition continues today, and this year marks seven years since I became a member of the A’Design Grand Jury.

In recent years, our team has received 22 awards and prestigious recognitions, including Best of Show, two Golds, a Silver and three Bronzes from the Summit International Awards in the U.S. Based on client reviews, Art Fresh was recognized four years in a row as one of the best Creative Advertising & Marketing Agencies in Canada by Clutch Co., an independent research company based in the U.S. Since 2020, Art Fresh has been named “Agency of the Year” by the Ad World Masters, UK, every year. These prestigious recognitions are not only a great honor for us, but also a big responsibility and motivation to continue developing our creative skills for generating innovative ideas and effective marketing strategies for business growth.

In what ways does Art Fresh differentiate itself from other creative digital marketing agencies, and what core values drive its approach to client service and project delivery?

Art Fresh is not a typical ‘agency’ with typical departments and typical offices—that’s not us. Our business model allows maximum team creativity for our clients. We are a fast-growing team of highly motivated professionals who are excited about innovation and the constant development of our individual skills that guarantee results for our clients. Having access to multidisciplinary expertise in strategy, creativity, graphic design, and web technologies, we provide businesses with a wide range of strong marketing tools for business development. Our comprehensive approach is a proven solution to deliver real results for our clients. We focus on helping businesses convey their passion through products to achieve their ambitious business goals. Every one of us is highly motivated, knowing that our clients’ success is our success. 

Art Fresh doesn’t participate in tenders as we do not believe in price competition or selling standard solutions. Our methodology comprises business consulting, full-service marketing expertise, and creative ideas that can be combined, depending on the business needs. The proven results of this synthesis are fast business growth for our clients and multi-award recognition from the independent experts that have named Art Fresh among the best service providers in the advertising and marketing industries in Canada.

Having high standards, we are all passionate about our expertise. We love what we do and are motivated to grow our individual skills to achieve new heights in our profession. When given a new client project, we always look at a new angle to create the most effective and impactful solution for achieving business goals. We perform market demand analysis to find new opportunities for business growth and develop strategies that will help achieve business objectives faster and more cost-effectively.

What future objectives do you envision for Art Fresh and how do you plan to further grow the company to address complex business challenges and empower clients to achieve their goals?

Art Fresh is growing and strives to quickly respond to the new reality, digital technologies, and creative innovations while staying on the cutting edge of all innovations in a fast-changing market. Speed is the keyword in today’s business world. With the increasing volume of information that we receive every day, we must be more creative in business development and obtain a deeper understanding of the target audience and sales drivers to find new approaches and media channels for effective communication of brand values. We continue to innovate in developing marketing methodologies to deliver new, effective digital solutions to help our clients create fresh ideas and strategies that sell in a highly competitive environment where markets are merging.

“I founded Art Fresh in 2011, after I moved to Canada from Kyiv, Ukraine. Within two years, I received our first top international award for the “Art Fresh Self-Promotion Campaign” at the Summit International Awards, USA. This was a very inspiring recognition for me as a solopreneur from Europe and my startup, as it gave me the confidence that I had the necessary potential to grow my business and succeed in a new market.”