Tag: Founder

Staying in the shadows

We worked so hard to stay behind the scenes that only businesses knew about us - not the consumers or fans. We wanted to avoid that kind of attention.

Just Do The Damn Thing, Mindfully©

As a naturally anxious and introverted person, I used to say no to pretty much everything and I really felt like it held me back.

The utterly unemployable entrepreneur 

I was very honest with my buyers. I told them I was unstable. Including that, if I was up at 5 am, I was still partying with mates, clients, politicians, and celebrities. 

Growth, no matter what

I was making more than I had dreamed of, but I was tired, unhappy, and resentful of my business. 

D-list people and upsetting spies

I’ve had some projects that have landed with a bang, but nothing close to nuclear. 

Trusting people to run my agency

When I realised that staff had lied, been lazy, and we were losing accounts left, right, and centre, it sent me into a spiral of anger...

I thought I was going to have to eat grass

There were times when things did get hairy for me when I had no clients, and I wondered about where the money was going to come from.

Taking on business partners and ego getting in the way of inclusion

Twice in my journey, I took on businesses partners. I took an easy option to put more money into my business, and it bit me in the butt.

Burning through cash for zero output

On a personal front, I felt cheated, hurt, and maybe also lost a bit of faith in humanity because I really thought they’d offer to stay till there were results.

All the names above the door were creatives

Before long, we were having secret chats about what a creative agency for the new millennium might look like.

The marketing industry’s no barrier to entry and why you should be choosy with clients

The sheer amount of blagging and bullshit in the digital marketing world has been pissing me off on a daily basis for nearly 20 years.

Losing your life savings and where it can lead you

Immediately after my MBA at Manchester Business School, I joined a tech startup as an investor employee, investing £50k into the business.