What’s your backstory?
I came from a poor family in the UK, and we always scraped by growing up. I left school at 17, took on a sales job and then dove headfirst into the highly competitive industry of headhunting at 18. Seeing that I had more to offer than being in a company that doesn’t value me any more than a “call center person”, I sought a better opportunity in digital marketing.
I spent nine months at Hootsuite and a year at Leadfeeder, an exciting SaaS startup (that time). Led campaigns that contributed to it doubling in growth in less than a year, then I decided I was ready to go on my own. I built Hey Digital, a social media and growth marketing agency that serves SaaS companies. Our goal is for agencies to discover how to set up their social profile for maximum efficiency, get their company in front of more people, and make the most out of a tailored social selling strategy that eases most sales conversations.
I know this is not an easy job. What drives you?
I grew up poor, so it was kind of an obsession for me to build something that will enable my family and future children to live the life that I didn’t have as a child. This drives me every single day. It’s the reason why failure is not–and will never be–an option for me.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? What lesson did you learn from them?
There are so many people that I’m grateful for, but my late grandfather and a recent mentor Jeremy Haynes have helped me tremendously.
My late grandfather inspires me to this very day. He looked after me and my family in a way that amazes me and he continually taught me that with hard work, dedication and treating people well you can achieve anything you set your mind to.
On the other hand, my mentor, Jeremy Haynes, has
rekindled my love for self-development and self-education and is teaching me
that with the right mindset I can achieve anything.
How do you push through your worst
times?
I lead with a grateful first mindset. So I know that however tough things get,
someone, somewhere else in the world is going through things much tougher than
me. Someone started out with a much difficult circumstance. Some plow through
depression, death in the family, sickness, and even war. But people get out of
it and succeed. These things keeps me grounded and my goals keep me driven.