Almost a year ago, Timothy Hally launched Munq to provide a specialized story-centric communications brand strategy for organizations in need. Munq looks to specifically work on empathy and personal stories to connect businesses with their communities.

Hally, who studied at Clark University for both his undergraduate and graduate degrees, said that he comes from a lineage of entrepreneurs, so it was almost his destiny to create a business.

“Entrepreneurship has always been an idea in my head from a young age,” Hally said. “My Nana is one of the most entrepreneurial people I know. My uncle and my father started a business together in the trade show industry.”

For Hally, he said he always had the desire to create, transforming his ideas into something real. While Hally called himself a “hustler” who would mow lawns and do other side jobs to make ends meet, it wasn’t until he attended Clark in 2017 that he took his first entrepreneurial class.

“I just thought, ‘Oh my god. This thing I wanted to do my entire life, these ideas I’ve had in my head, there’s a name for it,’” Hally said. “It’s a viable career path. People make it work.”

A year later, in 2018, Hally rekindled his relationship with his childhood friend — and to-be Munq co-founder — Justin Matsen. Matsen started working with both graphic design and creative writing from a young age.

“I kept seeing him post graphic design things on Instagram, and he was trying to publish his own book,” Hally said. “It just piqued my interest…The universe was trying to tell me something.”

The two hung out one night, and each guy was working on his own personal project. They were creating a logo together, though, for Hally’s project.

“I’ll never forget this,” Hally said. “Nothing was really sticking. We go out to sit in the common room and take a break. As soon as we sit on the couch, this idea comes to my head.”

Hally ran back into his room and began to draw. Matsen, who Hally called “the actual designer,” saw what Hally was getting at and put together a logo.

“It was like the best feeling in the world,” Hally said. “That feeling of accomplishment, that feeling of excitement is something we’ve been chasing ever since, and I think that’s the spirit of Munq.”

Now, the two have put their strengths together and founded Munq to offer branding and marketing services, specifically video and web development. The name was chosen for its meaning: “a human being who hones their empathy and natural creative ability in pursuit of a more meaningful connection with life and the world around them,” as the website states.

“We started this business not to be a service but to be of service to other businesses, other entrepreneurs, and our community,” Hally said. “We saw the world and we weren’t happy with what we saw. We felt that everything could be done better. The world needed something to believe in and the only way we could do that is to create something ourselves.”

In this sense, Hally calls Munq more of an idea than an agency. Hally wants the business to bring new culture and lifestyle to the industry.

“We’re just trying to bring something a little different to an industry that needs it,” Hally said.

Along those lines, Hally and Matsen share tips on its social media pages, especially Instagram at munq_creative, around ideas like boundaries, burnout, perfectionism, perseverance, and more. They call this “aligning people with their truth.” Instead of discussing what Munq does, Hally said they are taking a look at why they do it and why other business owners should think about their own work differently.

“We’re more than just an agency…Munq is a mentality,” Hally said. “It’s about looking in yourself first to do that inner work, healing our wounds and pain and using that healing journey to then bring it to the world to be a service to others…If we do not look at ourselves first as a person, as an organization, and really ask the question why, then you’re doing a disservice.”

According to Hally, this is one area that a lot of businesses and organizations are lacking in.

Over the past year, Hally said that one of his favorite projects has been for the Reliant Foundation, which included a video that was shown at the organization’s annual golf tournament fundraiser.

“The reaction was everything you’d hope for,” Hally said. “From there, that created a lot of momentum for us…We’re just super grateful.”

Hally said that Central Massachusetts is a great place for Munq, which is part of StartUp Worcester, to position itself as a “creative voice go-to agency” with incoming industries like the WooSox, Worcester Public Market, biomedical industries, and cannabis industries and the rest of the entrepreneurial spirit in the area.

“There’s a lot of business flooding into the Central Mass areas,” Hally said. “It’s a great place. It’s a great opportunity. Our goal is to position ourselves as a creative voice.”

To learn more about Munq, visit munqcreative.com.