Meet Joe Garrison

I help your business find clarity

So your marketing works, your business grows, and your community thrives.

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Joe Garrison

Owner | Moonflower Marketing
Certified StoryBrand Guide

Why I do marketing for small businesses

In 2015, I was working at the law firm my dad and uncle owned. As the token young and tech-savvy guy, I was pulled into a lot of meetings with the various marketing agencies and television stations they contracted.

Eventually, I couldn’t take it anymore. Meeting after meeting, the reps for the agencies would boast about “brand awareness” and give these reports showing the search terms the firm was “number one” for (no matter that no one was actually searching those terms…).

Meanwhile, the phone wasn’t ringing, and the number of new clients signed was slim to none.

The entire operation was a waste of thousands of dollars every month.

So, I said, “What if we fired everyone, and I take over marketing? At worst, you save thousands of dollars and still don’t have any new clients. Sounds like a win…”

They went for it. We revamped their branding, rebuilt a website using StoryBrand messaging principles (before I was a Certified StoryBrand Guide), and within 18 months, they had tripled their active personal injury caseload.

That experience showed me the value that a marketing agency should bring to small businesses—real return on investment.

I love working with small businesses that serve a local (to them) clientele.

I genuinely believe that when small businesses grow, communities thrive.

I believe community matters

When I say I love working with small businesses that serve a local clientele, it’s because I believe local communities matter.

In January 2020, a robbery homicide at the Subway restaurant at a shopping center in my neighborhood prompted me to help found a community organization called the North Shadeland Alliance and spend the next four years building community and advocating for public safety.

In that time, we opened a police substation in that shopping center. This increased police presence served as a crime deterrent. We hosted public safety panels with police, city counselors, the county prosecutor, and local nonprofit public safety organizations.

In 2021, I partnered with the Indianapolis TenPoint Coalition to conduct weekly public safety walks in an apartment complex that had experienced a handful of homicides.

Joe Garrison Indianapolis Mayor's Community Service Award

L-R: Dan Boots (Indianapolis City Council), Joe Garrison, Mayor Joe Hogsett.

In 2023, I partnered with Castleton United Methodist Church and Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana to bring Gleaners’ “Cares” mobile food pantry program to the shopping center.

Every Monday afternoon from June through August that summer, we served food to over 400 families.

That effort, in combination with my work in public safety, led me to receive the Mayor’s Award for Community Service from Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett at the end of 2023.

All of these experiences have shown me the need there is in every community for strong local businesses that serve their community both professionally and philanthropically.

Education and Experience

I graduated from Taylor University in 2008 with a degree in Biblical Literature.

From 2010 to 2015, I served as a youth pastor at Castleton UMC. That is where I learned the power of a well-organized and strategic communications and marketing plan. In that time, we grew from a dozen students to nearly 120 students per week. All of that on the back of strong relationships, clear messaging, and consistent communications.

As I mentioned above, I dipped my toes into marketing working for my Dad’s law firm in 2016.

In 2017, I launched Moonflower Marketing when word of mouth led me to a full-time roster of clients in law, finance, ministry, and more.

In 2019, I became a Certified StoryBrand Guide. Since then, I have used the StoryBrand framework to help well over 100 organizations across many industries in every corner of the United States clarify their message so their marketing works.

Random Facts:

I started my first business in 2006 as a solo house painter. After leaving ministry, I there was a brief stint where I got certified in Audio Engineering and worked a few sessions at a Grammy-nominated studio in Indianapolis.

I’ve been married since 2008 and have two daughters. You can find us at several Indiana Fever games each year, rooting on the Colts and Pacers, and raising money for Gleaners Food Bank.