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How Competitive Shooting Strengthened This Art Director’s Career
Loving the outdoors isn’t our job.
It’s a way of life.
Swanson Russell’s strategy, creative, digital, media and PR experts are also fishing, camping, gardening and everything-in-between enthusiasts. On and off the clock, we thrive on soaking up all nature has to offer. It’s that passion that sets us apart and makes us the Nation’s Leading Agency for Brands that Work and Play Outdoors.
Our new Outdoor Passion Profile series was created to share the stories of our people and the heart behind what they do. First up is Associate Art Director RJ Shrimpton. When he was hired as a graphic designer in 2019, RJ had only dabbled in recreational shooting. But a few years later, he’s immersed in the firearms space. RJ designs for outdoor recreation brands like Nosler, Fix It Sticks and Velocity Outdoor, but he’s also participating in competitive carbine and pistol shooting events on the weekend — and showing some serious skills.
Swanson Russell: How did you get into competitive shooting?
RJ Shrimpton: My dad got me a rifle for Christmas in 2018, the year before I started at Swanson Russell, and that was my introduction. I always have some sort of passion hobby, and before firearms, it was motorcycle riding and that consumed my life. But once I started to get out of riding, the rifle was a new, interesting thing to work at. I started to gain an interest in shooting as a hobby and was inspired by watching YouTube videos and friends who could shoot really fast and accurately.
I started at Swanson Russell in August 2019 and got my first handgun that year. It blew me away with how challenging it is. During COVID lockdown, I practiced dry firing a bunch and reached a point where I wanted to try a competition.
SR: Did the agency’s firearms accounts inspire you to apply or was that just a bonus?
RS: Yeah, absolutely. My previous agency specialized in retail, so I was spending a ton of time working on women’s fashion and general retail. There was some occasional hunting stuff coming through, but a lot of it was not aligned with what I like to do outside of work. As I was starting to really get into the shooting hobby, I saw the job opening at Swanson Russell. Looking through what accounts are here, I'm like, “Oh wow, this looks like fun.”
SR: Who at the agency helped stoke your curiosity in competitive shooting?
RS: Within my first few days, I met a public relations colleague who was the resident competitive shooter at Swanson Russell at the time. He was telling me all sorts of crazy names he’d shot with, like Taran Butler who trained Keanu Reeves for John Wick. He pointed me to where I needed to go to start competing, and then I got hooked after my first match in early 2021.
Justin Young, a Senior Art Director, also offered support. One of the first things I started doing here was a rebrand for Kimber, and Justin was also on the project. He wasn’t a competitive shooter but was incredibly knowledgeable about firearms, so I learned a ton just by working with him.
SR: How did that experience affect your trajectory at the agency?
RS: Kimber is kind of how I’m in the role I’m in today. I started as the graphic designer on the account, and Justin taught me so much about firearms in general. A couple years into working here, I started to really get into competitive shooting and my knowledge of firearms grew exponentially. It became a natural fit for me to become an associate art director on that account because I partnered with Justin well and could handle the work because I knew enough about the brand and the products.
SR: How has competitive shooting made you a better art director?
RS: A large part of the art director role is understanding the product and the brand as well as offering input and ideas. And as I dove into competitive shooting at that point in my career, I was able to identify product benefits that were super obvious to me because I’m living this competitive shooting lifestyle. I’m using these firearms and products every day.
For example, I’m able to say, well, the really nice thing about this gun is the trigger and we should talk about that because having a crappy trigger on a gun can impact the entire performance. When I'm living this lifestyle and understand (what a quality trigger feels like), I'm able to give input like that. Diving into this area of focus has made me more valuable at what I do.
SR: What surprised you about shooting once you got into it?
RS: I was surprised, right away, at how difficult it was to be good at shooting. It’s so much harder than you’d think. I got interested in figuring out how to do it well, watching YouTube videos to get better. When I started at Swanson Russell, I was building that momentum.
SR: What does your practice and training regimen look like now?
RS: Six days a week, dry fire then live fire on the weekends and set up drills. But during match season, like it is right now, I have a match every weekend. We went to just north of Minneapolis for a match earlier this year and then went to South Dakota and then Grand Island, Nebraska. That's as far as I've been willing to go so far.
I have matches at Big Shots (Indoor Gun Range in Lincoln, NE). You get one stage, one chance to go, and that's every week. It doesn’t have any impact on anything, but it’s really good training and hanging out with really good people. And then we have monthly matches at Eastern Nebraska Gun Club south of Louisville, Nebraska.
SR: Has competitive shooting changed your career?
RS: Yeah, and it’s honestly one of the reasons why I’m always trying to get other people to try it. It’s changed my life significantly. When you watch videos of shooting matches, there’s one guy running the stage and shooting at the targets. But what you don’t see are 20 of his peers watching him go and the significant amount of time spent preparing for that 10-second moment.
It’s 10 seconds to do this thing as perfectly as you can. What it creates is this situation that’s super, super high-stress, and no matter how much you prepare for it, there’s still this element of chance. So there’s a huge adrenaline rush to it, and it makes you handle stress much better. It's taught me how to present work better.
It feels just like when you’re about to present to a client, where you’re trying to remember the key things you want to communicate and then you have to do it. And so before competitive shooting, I wasn't getting that super, high-intensity stress practice often. And now at Big Shots, it’s every week. I'm continuously putting myself into this situation where it's high stress to execute at a high level, and you just learn how to work with stress better. And I think it's changed the way that I approach stress. I think it's improved a lot about how I handle work.
“Competing has changed my life significantly…It makes you handle stress better.”
SR: What parallels do you see between working as an art director and competing as a shooter?
RS: It’s like you have a problem that you’re trying to solve. This guy just got this many points in this amount of time. What can I do, but faster? And so there’s a creative element to it because you don’t have to shoot the course the same way. If you find a different way to do it, then you can do it however you want. And then problem-solving: What am I doing wrong that’s not as fast as this guy?
SR: Have you shared your passion for shooting with any colleagues, friends or family?
RS: I’ve gotten some interest generated for people to give it a try and met more people with a passion for shooting. Roy Hill, PR counsel here at Swanson Russell, is another firearms competitor, and he enjoys a more long-range, precision style of shooting. Beyond coworkers, my wife Karah has joined this journey with me and has a passion for competing in these matches as much as I do. We’ve also gotten some like-minded friends, ranging from skaters to tattoo artists, to try it and they got hooked on it as well and are still competing.
SR: What advice would you give to someone interested in pursuing competitive shooting or shooting in general?
RS: Competitive shooting isn’t exclusive to expert shooters. Anyone is welcome as long as they understand the rules of firearms safety, how to handle a firearm and how to follow instructions. It is an incredibly fun and rewarding experience that you can do no matter your age or fitness level. Competitive shooting opens up a whole new way to experience firearms.
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