Behind the Things: Chip Sarver

One of the greatest ways to get to know someone is by looking at their stuff. What do we cart from between dorms, storage units, and houses? Stuff that we love. Stuff that represents important life events. Stuff that changed our lives.

Each Mad Genius is represented in a tableau of objects from their life. They’re intriguing and delightful. The stories behind them are funny and moving. What do these objects mean to us geniuses? We’ll tell you.

Chip Sarver is Chief Operating Officer and a Mad Genius Co-Founder.

HARLEY-DAVIDSON

Growing up, my dad always had motorcycles around. We toured Old Hwy. 49 and the Gulf Coast – mom on one motorcycle, dad on the other with my sister and I riding on the back. The first bike I remember riding was a red Suzuki – I must have been about 12 years old. Not quite street legal, but the yards and woods of Saucier, MS were all the road I needed. A few years back, I was able to buy my dad a Harley before heading out on an epic 6,000 mile ride: Alaska to Mississippi. Lots of laughs plus a few flat tires and encounters with nature in the Canadian Yukon made for the trip of a lifetime.

10 YEARS: A DECADE OF MADNESS

It was always our goal to create something different. We hit the ground running with five employees and managed to land our first job – all before we had a company name. It was a mad dash and I think we had been around a year before we finally settled on letterhead. Those first meetings were memorable – especially the time a client fell asleep in the middle of our pitch. I’d like to think we’ve honed our presentation skills over the last fourteen years.

WLOX 13

Growing up, I wanted to be a billboard artist and studied Commercial Art at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. After graduating from MGCCC, I headed to Hattiesburg and majored in Radio, Television and Film at USM. Between semesters, I happened to meet an employee of WLOX while I was working at West Building Material in Gulfport. That connection led to an internship at the station and ultimately, a career in Broadcasting. Those first years were an adventure – I worked nights on the 10pm broadcast and commuted back and forth from Hattiesburg. College classes are a lot easier when you’re learning the material on the job.

AAF SILVER MEDAL AWARD

When you work within an agency, you typically celebrate wins together…there are a lot of “Us” moments. So, it was extremely humbling to receive this recognition from my peers at AAF-Jackson.

BLUE DOG AND CAFE DU MONDE

I grew up on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, but my roots run all the way to Crowley, Louisiana where I was born. I’ve got great memories of going out with my grandfathers: one was a shrimper and the other a crawfish farmer. The Coast is home, but Louisiana means family.

Baseball

My love of baseball wasn’t dashed by my early brush with the law (cue the famous chuckle that regularly echos through the Labs). This baseball was the first one I ever knocked out of the park. When I was playing ball in high school, an injury meant I was last in the batting line up. The pitcher from Biloxi was throwing junk balls until his coach told him to turn up the heat on the number nine batter. Next pitch – crack! Gone! I almost felt sorry for that pitcher as he hung his head. Almost.

MARGARITAVILLE

It’s no secret that I’m a huge Jimmy Buffett fan. His music is a soundtrack of the coast. I’ll let you guess how many times I’ve seen him live…(hint: less than 20, but more than 11). Rob, Rick and I took a special trip to Chicago to see Jimmy and I made sure he was my daughter’s first concert ever.

FAVORITE BOOKS

I’m a big fan of Clive Cussler’s Dirk Pitt novels. He’s an adventurer, a modern day Indiana Jones…with a really impressive car collection. Unfortunately, it’s not a motorcycle collection.

Chip Sarver is an award winning advertising executive, softball dad, and the Lab’s resident prankster. Learn more about Chip here.