We began preparation for our Guatemala mission trip months ago. Fundraising. Planning. Promoting. You’ve probably seen the graphics, heard our pitch, maybe even donated to the cause. But the actual five-day adventure seemed like more of a distant concept than a reality. Until it was. Like all amazing life moments, I blinked an eye and departure day had come. I blinked the other eye and here I am writing this entry about the journey. Attempting to sew words together, stitch by stitch, that could offer a just picture into the experience.



But it is one of those instances where mere words serve to paint a vague picture of a masterpiece that can only be understood first hand.

My initial fears of Guatemala City, of the warnings I received, the dangers advised by family and friends, dissipated the moment we walked into the first orphanage where a small sea of deep brown eyes stared back at us. They were timid, nervous, some excited and eager. Children from infant age to about ten years old, each from a broken past, each with a story that deserves to be told.



I had heard of mission work and known several people who went on these trips. Our friends at C&I Studios have done this adventure many times before, so we wanted to join forces and partake in the experience. Admittedly, I have never been a cheerleader for world healing. For kumbaya, let’s hold hands, selfless missionary service. I lend a hand of convenience to my fellow man. You know, like holding open a door or donating a couple dollars at Walgreens or Publix when I’m prompted in the checkout line. But the buck stopped there.

As we prepped for this Guatemalan adventure, C&I told us something that, in hindsight, was spot on. This trip is not about what you bring, it’s about how you make them feel. It’s about interacting with these kids and families who have very little monetarily. For a group of Americans to gather in their home, to take time and be with them. Share with them. Pray with them. To hug a child who has been abandoned. Hold a four-year-old girl who has no mother or father, and tell her she is loved.
That is what this trip was about.

And that is where true inspiration is born.



On the third day, our group of fourteen went to Hope of Life. This incredibly developed organization located in the mountains of Zacapa, Guatemala rescues and houses families and children who would otherwise be dying, starving, homeless or abused. We toured their facility, which included an orphanage for young children who had been abandoned or rescued.

I walked into the first unit. A white room lined with cribs for the infants, lit by an afternoon sun that filtered in from beyond the mountains. Several windows led out to the vast landscape of green forest that spanned for miles around us. It was a breathtaking view that wrapped these children in constant beauty.



Immediately as we entered I saw a boy no more than three years old sitting quietly on a chest by himself. He looked alone and withdrawn, dark brown eyes that stared pensively beyond us. I sat on the chest next to him and spoke quietly, “Hola”.

No response.

The other kids were playing around with our group, but this boy sat quietly next to me. I picked him up and dropped his little body in my lap. He stared off, leaned his head against my chest. His eyes were the most telling and heartbreaking. There was a weight resting on him that no kid should have to bear.

I grabbed a pack of four crayons from my bag and placed them in his palm. His grip tightened as he looked up at me for the first time. There was a shift in his demeanor, like that small exchange resonated with him. He waved the crayons around as I tossed him in the air. A smile formed on his face and he began to giggle. From that point forward, that little guy was glued to me. I had found a friend and made an amazing connection.



I realized then that our interaction was a universal language. The laughter, the shared experience. It transcended verbal dialogue into something greater. We didn’t need to speak the same language to feel the connection and positive energy that was created. That little guy kicked ass and touched my heart in a way that I did not expect from this trip.

When we came back to The States, I quickly realized that this country of freedom has limited me in many ways. I’ve grown up in a world of expectations. Of high-class problems. In turn, I lost appreciation for the little things, for the luxury of clean water, of a floor in my home. Of a meal on the table and appliances to make it with. A home with four solid walls that offers warmth and security. The convenience of medicine when I am sick so I don’t die from a cold. The comfort of knowing that my family is safe and healthy. Instead I focused on the dent in my iPhone or when I was going to go blow a few hundred bucks at H&M.



Our trip to Guatemala is one that I could not have understood prior to experiencing it. I had never before seen extreme poverty, let alone been to an orphanage. Never held a child who was abandoned or neglected. Never been inside a home that had no structural walls, that was held together by sticks and old clothes.

I write this entry from my desk at helium creative. On my 27” iMac. Checking my cellphone periodically for social media updates. My little unnamed beta fish next to me. I am surrounded by awesome people with whom I get to work with on a daily basis, at a job that makes me pretty darn happy. A job that allows me the opportunity to not only do what I love, but also experience these moments of personal and spiritual growth.

I am grateful for new perspective.













Original Source: http://www.heliumcreative.com/perspective-helium-inspires-guatemala/

Inspiring the community with its progressive concepts and designs, Christopher Heller discusses what makes helium creative the anti-agency agency.

The insides of helium creative are filled with ideas. It’s brimming with concepts for branding, websites, apps, print materials and logos. Inside the two-room office with charcoal-gray walls and a winding staircase that leads to nowhere are ideas that have inspired the likes of American Airlines, Levinson Jewelers, W South Beach, Blue Martini and more. Also inside this office is Christopher Heller.

Soft-spoken, contemplative and with a smile warm enough to melt a frozen river, Heller is the embodiment of the decade-old helium creative he founded. Sitting behind his weathered wooden desk, Heller has helped companies define their brands through stunning marketing campaigns and innovative digital applications. In short, he personifies the company’s slogan of finding “a higher creative standard.”

Heller is a dreamer. He’s been dreaming since he was a kid in Lancaster, Pa., doodling replica Frank Lloyd Wright buildings on his sketch pad. If a blank sheet was lying around, chances are the paper would be covered with sketches for Heller’s next great idea within 10 minutes. He did just that on his recent Caribbean cruise and a flight across the country to Los Angeles, in fact.

Born in the heart of Pennsylvania Amish Country to a Mennonite father and a maternal side full of government employees, Heller remembers immersing himself in art and culture during his weekend excursions to nearby Baltimore, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. He graduated with a graphic design degree in Philadelphia and started working at an ad agency in the city. At 22, he was asked to move to Fort Lauderdale during the dot-com boom to become creative director of a communications portal firm. Later when the dot-com business began its fall, Heller then found himself working in the creative department at a new agency. “This company was the closest thing to a cubicle setting that I was ever in,” Heller admits. “It just wasn’t me.”

Heller began the shift to work for himself soon after, founding helium creative 10 years ago from his Fort Lauderdale home. So named as a play off of Heller’s surname as well as the noble gas’s buoyant nature, helium creative was born out of love. As Heller is quick to note, helium is the anti-agency agency, perhaps best demonstrated by its rebellious lowercase name. “I want to formulate a relationship with our clients,” he says. “We don’t just want to do one project and that’s it. We’re investing ourselves in the client to make you successful. We’re in it for the long haul.”

He was helium’s sole employee for the next six years, working nonstop and dedicating himself to his projects, which included the creative campaigns and branding visions for luxury villas Cotton Bay in the Bahamas and the high-end condominium Icon Brickell. As Heller progressed into the digital frontier, mastering website design, app creation and more, so did his company. Four years ago, he hired his first art director, Ryan Sirois, and the company took off with double the manpower. Since then, he and helium have guided eye-catching branding campaigns for landscaping firm EDSA, FATVillage, Trump Hollywood and Latitude on the River, among dozens of other recognizable South Florida names.



Heller’s office at FATVillage has no signs of those cubicles that he felt confined him. A smorgasbord of found objects lovingly has been put to use by Heller and his team. Next to Heller’s desk is an antique buffet from his late grandmother, Margaret Cleveland, a distance relative of President Grover Cleveland. The winding metal staircase that houses helium’s various awards was found in an alley in FATVillage. Leafy green plants and succulents fill the space. An office wall is canvassed with 50 reasons to love helium creative, such as “They believed in me” and “We have fun.”

Cerulean green stickers and buttons with the words “inspire, create, design, motivate” pepper the helium office. They are simple reminders that the team of eight staff members and a handful of interns aren’t just here for a job. No, they are here for something much greater.

Being a creative vehicle for clients is only part of Heller’s equation. “We’re artists, so we want to inspire and open up an environment for people to have a creative destination and have an outlet,” he says. Since moving to FATVillage in 2012, helium creative has invited the public to join its monthly Inspirational Fridays talks, where local artists and business owners discuss what inspires them. In addition, helium started Project Fine Art, which allows new artists a platform to display their works during monthly Art Walks.

As Heller puts it, “I hate networking.” So opportunities like Inspirational Fridays and Project Fine Art have given Heller and others a chance to draw creative minds together from South Florida to sit, watch and get inspired.

The company is growing and earning some well-deserved praise. Earlier this year, helium won big time at the Fort Lauderdale ADDY Awards, which recognizes creative excellence in the advertising industry, taking home seven golds (including three Best of Show) and two silvers.



Also in the works is helium inspires, its nonprofit arm that will raise money for art organizations. The helium team also is planning a visit to rural schools in Guatemala to deliver art supplies to students and give art lessons.

Today at 37 years old, Heller looks back on his ups and downs, and compares them to a game of Tetris. “It’s about fitting the right pieces at the right time,” he says. And one of those right pieces will fall into place later this year when Heller will marry his life partner, Ryan. And, yes, that’s the same Ryan he works with. For Heller, it’s fair to say he’s winning so far in his lifelong game of Tetris.

Article by Nila Do Simon, Photography by Edward Linsmier, Venice Magazine.

View the article in Venice Magazine, page 62. http://www.veniceftldigital.com/t/109108

Original Source: http://www.heliumcreative.com/article-in-venice-mag/

This one is pretty huge and something we are so thrilled to share­­ - helium creative has made its way into Fort Lauderdale’s Venice Magazine.



Grab your copy to learn more about how it all started, and see the whole helium gang. We’d love to give a big thanks to our friends who put it all together at Venice Magazine—you captured the true essence of helium. : )



[click here to see the digital version]

Original Source: http://www.heliumcreative.com/helium-creative-in-venice-mag/

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	Join helium creative for Inspirational Friday from 12pm – 1pm on January 24. Our very own creative director and founder of helium, Chris Heller, will be sharing what inspires him, as well as his journey in developing our little agency His discussion is appropriately timed on the day of our 10 year anniversary party.wanna come? e-mail chuck@heliumcreative.com or call 954.333.8900