As 2020 comes to an end, I’m at peace with many things.
I’m at peace with the loss of loved ones.
I’m at peace with the friends I have around me.
I’m at peace with where our business is at.
This year has been one of our biggest for growth, expansion into new services, and sales generated for partners. Hitting $1.68M in sales generated for BFCM (4-days) alone.
I’m humbled by the partners that chose us and that continue to work with us.
Q1-Q2 is completely booked for 2021 and to me, it’s a testament to our team mantra:
Little things, done right, matter.
I don’t share this to brag. I share this as a reminder.
Maybe just for myself but hopefully for others as well. Hard work, truly does pay off.
Sticking true to your values, and your vision truly does pay off.
Often throughout my career and as CEO building our agency, it’s been rather easy to keep the pedal down, flying at full speed, and growing.
It’s almost what becomes expected of you.
You’re either the biggest and the best, with the most notable clients and the cleanest screenshots or you’re nothing.
It doesn’t have to be that way. Believe me.
The partners and team that we have now, have helped me realize something that I almost lost sight of.
Literally, it was slipping from our hands.
You see, I left the big business, big agency life to do something different. I left that life because I vowed to never spend another waking moment working towards someone else’s dream that wasn’t my own.
And for a moment, we were NOT doing something different.
Shit, even I wasn’t doing something different. That’s what pushed me to create this Newsletter.
Since the get-go, I wanted to create a small “agency” team that worked humbly, stayed quiet and shared value when we could, executed flawlessly, and didn’t feed into the bullshit just to book a lead.
I wanted to wow partners with results, not polished bs.
I wanted to build a team of people that cared about their work, cared about our partners as much as I do, put their families before their work, and didn’t need to post about something to make a point or build a resume.
I wanted a team that stuck through it all. Not just using these moments in our business as a catalyst to create something else. While I support every single one of them to do their own thing, I know the team we have now is in this together, 100% until the very end (when we call it quits) building OUR dream.
We have that team now and it’s a remarkably beautiful thing.
Do you have that team now? Are you in the spot now? What are you willing to sacrifice to take it further? Because there will be sacrifices.
We’re back to that happy ground and it feels life-changing once again.
It just took a moment of reflection. And maybe… we were always there.
I challenge you all to reflect on this year.
Pull out the hard moments and measure them against what you’ve said you were going to do.
Did you tackle them appropriately? If not, how will you correct that in the new year?
For some reading this, you’re on smaller teams or just now building your own team. I challenge you to look at your business, even if it is just you, and ask yourself… is this the path that I want?
I challenge you to look at the company you’re with. Is this the path that you want?
If you vowed not to become the next agency with 25 employees, cranking out shit work and leaving clients at the wayside, then STOP now. Take your heavy-ass foot off the pedal.
If you’ve vowed to only work with brands that are doing something different, brands that are not feeding into the noise, or with brands that stand for something AND you’ve let someone that doesn’t fit that bill into the fold… take your foot off the pedal.
My biggest advice to a lot of people that I’ve connected with this year is SLOW THE FUCK DOWN.
You’re early. There’s time.
What you see on the surface for myself and most of my friends in advertising, is the shine.
You don’t see the years, and I’m talking brutal fucking years of work that went into everything. You don’t see what our families did to support us in the early stages. You don’t see the sleepless nights confiding in friends.
7+ years in a gig literally takes something from you. For better or for worse.
If you’re not giving back what’s been taken, then are you even doing it right?
For me, I wouldn’t dare to take without giving. And I’ll continue to give in my own way.
As I close this out, I’ll leave this last bit as a selfish reminder to myself.
You can pull out whatever message or value you want from it.
Stay humble. Work hard. Respect your friends. Put family first. Slow down.
I hope that 2021 becomes your year! I truly do.
I know so many of you that broke your backs this year and you deserve it.
Keep putting in the work. Lean on those of us around you when needed and execute.
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As 2020 comes to an end, I’m at peace with many things.
I’m at peace with the loss of loved ones.
I’m at peace with the friends I have around me.
I’m at peace with where our business is at.
This year has been one of our biggest for growth, expansion into new services, and sales generated for partners. Hitting $1.68M in sales generated for BFCM (4-days) alone.
I’m humbled by the partners that chose us and that continue to work with us.
Q1-Q2 is completely booked for 2021 and to me, it’s a testament to our team mantra:
Little things, done right, matter.
I don’t share this to brag. I share this as a reminder.
Maybe just for myself but hopefully for others as well. Hard work, truly does pay off.
Sticking true to your values, and your vision truly does pay off.
Often throughout my career and as CEO building our agency, it’s been rather easy to keep the pedal down, flying at full speed, and growing.
It’s almost what becomes expected of you.
You’re either the biggest and the best, with the most notable clients and the cleanest screenshots or you’re nothing.
It doesn’t have to be that way. Believe me.
The partners and team that we have now, have helped me realize something that I almost lost sight of.
Literally, it was slipping from our hands.
You see, I left the big business, big agency life to do something different. I left that life because I vowed to never spend another waking moment working towards someone else’s dream that wasn’t my own.
And for a moment, we were NOT doing something different.
Shit, even I wasn’t doing something different. That’s what pushed me to create this Newsletter.
Since the get-go, I wanted to create a small “agency” team that worked humbly, stayed quiet and shared value when we could, executed flawlessly, and didn’t feed into the bullshit just to book a lead.
I wanted to wow partners with results, not polished bs.
I wanted to build a team of people that cared about their work, cared about our partners as much as I do, put their families before their work, and didn’t need to post about something to make a point or build a resume.
I wanted a team that stuck through it all. Not just using these moments in our business as a catalyst to create something else. While I support every single one of them to do their own thing, I know the team we have now is in this together, 100% until the very end (when we call it quits) building OUR dream.
We have that team now and it’s a remarkably beautiful thing.
Do you have that team now? Are you in the spot now? What are you willing to sacrifice to take it further? Because there will be sacrifices.
We’re back to that happy ground and it feels life-changing once again.
It just took a moment of reflection. And maybe… we were always there.
I challenge you all to reflect on this year.
Pull out the hard moments and measure them against what you’ve said you were going to do.
Did you tackle them appropriately? If not, how will you correct that in the new year?
For some reading this, you’re on smaller teams or just now building your own team. I challenge you to look at your business, even if it is just you, and ask yourself… is this the path that I want?
I challenge you to look at the company you’re with. Is this the path that you want?
If you vowed not to become the next agency with 25 employees, cranking out shit work and leaving clients at the wayside, then STOP now. Take your heavy-ass foot off the pedal.
If you’ve vowed to only work with brands that are doing something different, brands that are not feeding into the noise, or with brands that stand for something AND you’ve let someone that doesn’t fit that bill into the fold… take your foot off the pedal.
My biggest advice to a lot of people that I’ve connected with this year is SLOW THE FUCK DOWN.
You’re early. There’s time.
What you see on the surface for myself and most of my friends in advertising, is the shine.
You don’t see the years, and I’m talking brutal fucking years of work that went into everything. You don’t see what our families did to support us in the early stages. You don’t see the sleepless nights confiding in friends.
7+ years in a gig literally takes something from you. For better or for worse.
If you’re not giving back what’s been taken, then are you even doing it right?
For me, I wouldn’t dare to take without giving. And I’ll continue to give in my own way.
As I close this out, I’ll leave this last bit as a selfish reminder to myself.
You can pull out whatever message or value you want from it.
Stay humble. Work hard. Respect your friends. Put family first. Slow down.
I hope that 2021 becomes your year! I truly do.
I know so many of you that broke your backs this year and you deserve it.
Keep putting in the work. Lean on those of us around you when needed and execute.
WE’VE ALL GOT THIS
Forever grateful,
Jake