About Justin

Being Human. By Design.

Justin Ahrens is a storymaker, designer, strategist, and coach who believes creativity is one of the most powerful ways we can love the world. For more than three decades, he’s helped individuals, leaders, and organizations bring purpose and presence into how they work, lead, and live.

In 2000, Justin founded Rule29, a nationally recognized brand agency and Certified B Corporation® built on the belief that creativity should make life better. Under his leadership, Rule29 grew from a small start-up into an award-winning creative firm recognized by Fast Company, Communication Arts, HOW, and Graphis.

In 2023, Justin became Chief Creative Officer of both Rule29 and O’Neil Printing, where he continues to blend design, storytelling, and strategy to help brands connect vision to values. This year, he co-founded ON Purpose—a framework and community built to help leaders turn values into daily action. ON Purpose exists to close the gap between belief and behavior, equipping individuals and organizations with the clarity, courage, and tools to align decisions with purpose, build cultures that last, and earn genuine trust. It’s where business, community, and creativity meet to turn purpose into practice.

Justin is also the co-founder and co-host of At The Table, a private, invitation-only gathering for leaders, entrepreneurs, and changemakers. Hosted with Brian MacDonald of Wonderkind Studios, At The Table isn’t a panel or a performance, it’s an intimate evening of handcrafted drinks and meaningful conversations designed to spark curiosity and connection. Together, they create space for the kind of dialogue that challenges assumptions, deepens empathy, and reminds people why their work matters.

A Certified AI Gold Partner and Chipp AI Certified Maker, Justin leads conversations around how emerging technology can amplify, not replace, our humanity. His wife, Sarah, runs (Re)Genesis, a consulting and AI enablement company guiding leaders and teams to integrate creativity and technology in ways that create meaningful impact.

His humanitarian and social impact work has been recognized with Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Award for Wheels4Water, which also earned him an invitation to the White House SXSL event celebrating creativity-for-good.

A natural teacher and communicator, Justin has spoken around the world at Adobe MAX, TEDx, HOW Design Live, Creative Mornings, and AIGA conferences. He’s also a long-time LinkedIn Learning instructor, with nearly twenty courses helping thousands of learners explore leadership, creativity, branding, and the human side of AI.

As a writer and thought leader, Justin contributes to Print Magazine, Chipp, and other publications exploring the intersection of design, kindness, and leadership. His writing and talks consistently return to one truth: creativity and compassion aren’t opposites, they’re partners in transformation.

He’s the author of Life Kerning and the creator and co-host of several podcasts: Running Ahrens, The Creative Sh!t Show, and Design Of, each exploring what it means to design a life, project, or community with integrity, curiosity, and joy.

Through his speaking, teaching, and coaching, Justin helps individuals and organizations make meaningful impact, in their work, families, and communities, by aligning creativity with compassion.

At home, Justin is a husband, father of four, and community-builder who believes legacy isn’t about recognition—it’s about the ripple of kindness we leave in the lives right in front of us.

Because being human, and being kind, aren’t separate practices, they’re how we build a life that matters.