Cody Banks Is Building More Than a Business
By Culpeper HQ ·
There is a line Cody Banks uses when he talks about doing business in Culpeper.
“Every small business owner has a seat at the table, but you have to bring your own plate.”
It is part invitation, part challenge, and probably a pretty good summary of how Banks has approached his own place in the community.
Banks is the founder and creative director of Banks Marketing & Design, but the story did not begin with an agency, an office or even a business plan.
It started with a young freelancer from Madison.
Banks has worked in the creative field since graduating high school in 2011. He designed his first logo that year and built his first website around 2013 or 2014. By then, Culpeper was already becoming an important part of his life.
He grew up in Madison, but spent much of his teenage years in Culpeper with friends. In 2013, after he and his wife married, Culpeper became home.
Over the years, he watched the town change.
“I've seen Culpeper grow over the last 32 years into an awesome community,” Banks said. “I just wanted to help be a part of that growth.”
What appeals to him is not merely that Culpeper has grown, but the way different kinds of people continue to occupy the same small-town orbit.
“Culpeper has a great mix of different walks of life that seem to appreciate our differences as opposed to isolate them,” he said. “Overall the majority of us want to see Culpeper maintain its small-town feel as we grow.”
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## Building something local
After years of freelancing, Banks officially launched Banks Marketing & Design in 2021.
The original idea was straightforward: give small businesses access to quality design services.
Then he started learning more about what local businesses were actually dealing with.
Banks says many small businesses and nonprofits can end up paying ongoing fees to large, out-of-state marketing companies without fully understanding what they are buying or receiving.
His mission broadened.
“I have a much heavier focus on protecting small businesses and nonprofits from being taken advantage of by large out-of-state marketing agencies,” he said.
He wanted Culpeper businesses to have somebody nearby who could help them understand digital marketing rather than simply sell it to them.
That local relationship matters to Banks.
He likes it when a client sees him somewhere around town and makes a point of saying hello.
In a place like Culpeper, there is not much distance between the work and the people affected by it.
“It's important to me that our clients are successful because it's a reflection of not only who we are, but who Culpeper is,” he said.
Banks says he also understands how much a creative or marketing investment can mean to a small business. When a client comes to him, he assumes the money for that next step was hard-earned.
“I don't take it lightly,” he said.
And good branding, in his view, should not polish away what made a local business interesting in the first place.
“Just because a business has a good logo, branding, and social media presence doesn't mean they've lost the heart behind what they do,” Banks said. “We want to make sure that their personality comes out.”
*Photo submitted by Cody Banks with his discussion of local client and creative work. Photo provided by Cody Banks.*
That philosophy extends to organizations with more complicated communication challenges.
Banks points to work with the Mental Health Association of Fauquier and the Culpeper Sheriff's Office as examples of projects he especially enjoys. Organizations with regulations and restrictions present a creative puzzle: how do you remain compliant while still sounding human?
For Banks, that constraint can actually make the work more interesting.
It also reinforces a larger principle he teaches his team and clients.
“People don't care about companies; they care about people.”
He tries to carry that idea outside the office, too.
“When I meet someone, I try to see the person beyond what they do and their business.”
## Learning when to say no
One of Banks’ hardest lessons was learning to say no.
Banks loves helping people. That made learning where his own job ended particularly difficult.
“There are times when I actually refer people to other designers right here in Culpeper,” he said. “If they're not going to work with me and I'm not the best fit, I would rather keep them locally with someone I trust.”
It is collaboration over competition in practice.
The same lesson now governs the community commitments he accepts.
Banks wants to contribute, but he has learned that saying yes to everything eventually means doing something poorly.
He considers whether an opportunity reflects his values, whether he can make a meaningful contribution, and whether the commitment would hurt the quality of his work or his relationships with his family.
“If I determine that a commitment is going to negatively impact the quality of services I provide, my family relationships, or is outside of the areas I feel most pulled to, I say no,” he said.
“You can't do that without saying no to some things.”
## A return to where he started
One place Banks continues to say yes is working with young people.
When he first came to Culpeper, he worked as a mentor for at-risk youth, running a program that taught independent living skills and helping with an after-school program focused on social skills and emotional regulation.
Years later, his work with Culpeper's E-Squared program gave him an unexpected way to connect that earlier chapter of his life with the business he runs today.
*Photo submitted by Cody Banks with his discussion of E-Squared and youth mentorship. Photo provided by Cody Banks.*
“Working with E-Squared gave me the opportunity to bridge the gap between what I'm doing now and my love for helping Culpeper's youth,” he said. “So it was a no-brainer.”
His advice to young entrepreneurs starts with a less comfortable question.
First, he asks them to decide what they are actually trying to build.
When graphic designers approach him about starting their own businesses, Banks asks a simple question:
Are you a business owner or a graphic designer?
Being good at a trade and wanting to operate a company are not necessarily the same thing.
A business owner, he reminds them, also becomes the accountant, marketer, coach, salesperson and problem-solver.
“If that all doesn't excite you just as much as what you're wanting to do as a trade, then you may want to reevaluate becoming a business owner.”
Mentorship has also changed Banks.
One of the clearest examples came from Bella, a junior graphic designer on his team. After taking time away for maternity, she told Banks she had decided to leave.
She wanted to be completely present for her child rather than split herself between work and family.
For Banks, witnessing her growth reinforced why mentorship matters.
“There is nothing better than seeing your team win in every aspect of life,” he said.
## What comes next
Banks says there are projects underway that he cannot talk about yet.
There is, however, one development he is happy to discuss.
Banks Marketing & Design now has a space downtown.
“We've finally gotten it to a place where it really reflects who we are as a company,” he said.
He is especially interested in what that physical space could eventually allow the company to offer its customers and the wider community.
It fits naturally with the Culpeper he hopes develops over the next five years.
When asked what the community could become better at, Banks did not hesitate.
“Collaboration over competition.”
Culpeper is growing, he said, and growth makes it even more important to remember that most people here are ultimately pursuing remarkably similar things: a good life for themselves, their families and their neighbors.
Banks believes the opportunity exists here.
Culpeper is large enough to have ambition and resources but small enough that relationships still matter.
Small enough that clients run into the person who designed their logo around town.
Small enough that a business owner can send work to another business owner and reasonably expect to see that person again.
Small enough that the relationships behind the work are hard to separate from the community around it.
Banks knows that firsthand.
He once expected to build a network among people he already knew. Instead, strangers began recognizing him in public.
That still catches him off guard.
“It's very humbling,” he said, “and I hope it speaks to the kindness and connection I've tried to show others.”
His advice for anyone wondering whether there is a place for them in Culpeper is similarly uncomplicated.
“Find something that you're passionate about and find a way to get involved. There are a million reasons not to, but a year from now you'll wish you would have started today.”
Then Banks adds one final sentence.
“So go for it, kid. I'm rooting for you.”
Want to hear more from Cody in his own words? [Read our complete interview with Cody Banks](https://culpeperhq.com/interviews/cody-banks-culpeper-83046), including the full questions and answers that inspired this story.