Episode 31: Founder Voice: Mate Tagaj – SKU agency

Episode 31: Founder Voice: Mate Tagaj – SKU agency

We’ve got another Founder Voice episode for you! This time, Abby chats to Mate Tagaj, co-founder and CEO of Boostern and Head of Success at Ad Grants Pilot. From the Brussels bubble to Boostern, Mate shares how he built an agency around nonprofit work, why calling the shots is both the best and worst part of founder life, and how tiny daily steps can get you further than one big burst of panic productivity. What we yapped about: * Mate’s route from international relations to running an agency * Why he chose to work with nonprofits and NGOs * His 3am routine that makes the rest of us feel lazy * Finding creativity when your brain has a million tabs open * The importance of nature, fitness, and scheduling breathing time * Building the Boostern brand name, logo, and positioning * The pros and cons of being your own boss Honourable mentions: Boostern [https://www.boostern.com/] Ad Grants Pilot [https://adgrantspilot.com/] Ann Handley [https://annhandley.com/] Simon Sinek [https://simonsinek.com/product/the-art-of-presenting?utm_term=&utm_campaign=&utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc&hsa_acc=6968735945&hsa_cam=22203731911&hsa_grp=&hsa_ad=&hsa_src=x&hsa_tgt=&hsa_kw=&hsa_mt=&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22203735358&gbraid=0AAAAAojL0Xup-jjA_7bFA9iSV9T1xzqqq&gclid=CjwKCAjwu53SBhAhEiwAJzSLNnJRKXlcV3hw5DGbvAabkpnyoaAvXUoAscNKOX5458IC27bwCJbmcRoCF5MQAvD_BwE]

Episode 30: Founder Voice: Ramin Ramhormozi – SKU agency

We’ve got another Founder Voice episode coming in hot! This time, Abby sits down with Ramin Rahmhormozi, founder of SKU Agency, eCommerce mentor, podcast host, and someone who’s spent the last 25+ years helping people sell things on the internet. They chat about what it really takes to grow an eCommerce business over the long term, how AI is changing the way founders work, and why not every new marketing gizmo needs your attention. If you’re building (or thinking about building) an eCommerce brand, there’s plenty to take from this one! What we yapped about: 1. How an obsession with founder stories led Ramin into entrepreneurship 2. Why the “overnight success” stories online are mostly nonsense 3. AI in marketing: where it helps, and where people go wrong 4. How founders can filter out the overwhelming amount of advice online 5. Finding inspiration from great speeches and storytelling 6. His fave bit of advice: nothing ventured, nothing gained Honourable mentions: SKU Agency [https://www.skuagency.com/] The ECommerce Revolution [https://www.ecomrevolution.co/] Perplexity [https://www.perplexity.ai/] Shopify Messaging [https://apps.shopify.com/shopify-messaging]

Episode 29: Founder Voice: Josh Hall – Web Designer Pro™

In this episode of our Founder Voice series, Abby chats to Josh Hall, a web designer turned educator, community builder, founder of Web Designer Pro™, and host of the Web Design Business Podcast. Josh built and scaled his own web design agency for over a decade before selling it and now teaches web designers how to build sustainable businesses of their own. In this chat, we talk accidental entrepreneurship, personal branding, and why success doesn’t have to mean 7-figure revenue and an 80-hour work week (thank God). What we yapped about: 1. Josh’s path from musician to web designer to educator 2. Running and selling a web design agency 3. The difference between a personal brand and a business brand 4. How WordPress changed the web design industry 5. Why “make a million by 25” is terrible advice for founders 6. Building a business that actually fits around your life Honourable mentions: JoshHall.co [http://joshhall.co] Web Designer Pro [https://webdesignerpro.com/] The Web Design Business Podcast [https://joshhall.co/podcast/]

Episode 28: Founder Voice: Tracy O’ Shaughnessy – Branding And Beyond

In this episode of our Founder Voice series, Abby chats to Tracy O’Shaughnessy, founder of Branding Beyond and long-time brand strategist helping commercial contractors look as good online as they actually are in real life. In this episode, Tracy shares the story that reshaped her business, along with hard-won lessons about niching, attracting better clients, and why most websites are full of words that somehow say absolutely nothing. If you’ve ever struggled with positioning, niching, or attracting the wrong clients, there’s a lot to take from this one! What we yapped about: 1. How Tracy went from the dot-com world to running her own branding business 2. The nightmare client story (and the eight-year-old who said “fire him”) 3. Why brand strategy HAS to come before the visual design 4. How contractors often undersell the value of their expertise 5. Finding the “goodies” inside a business that clients can’t see themselves 6. Why setting boundaries with clients is key Honourable mentions: Branding And Beyond [https://brandingbeyond.com/] Tracy’s LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracyoshaughnessy] The “Yoda moment” blog post [https://brandingbeyond.com/branding/why-aligning-your-brand-is-important/] Book Yourself Solid [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/126983.Book_Yourself_Solid]

Episode 27: Founder Voice: Alex Faiers – Addictivity

In this episode of our Founder Voice series, Abby chats to Alex Faiers, agency mentor and founder of Addictivity and Recsites, two agencies built exclusively for the recruitment sector. With 26 years in digital (yes, he started pre-Google), Alex has worked with over 500 recruitment agencies and is bringing all that hard-won wisdom to this week’s episode! If you’re growing an agency, leading a team, or figuring out how to stand out without becoming “that” LinkedIn person: this one’s worth a listen. What we yapped about: 1. “Niche until it hurts” (and why it works) 2. Why recruitment is weirdly allergic to marketing spend 3. Proving ROI when your clients want instant results 4. On-camera awkwardness and what actually helps 5. What “thought leadership” actually looks like when it works 6. The content plan that stops the blank-page panic Honourable mentions: Alex on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexfaiers?originalSubdomain=uk] Addictivity [https://addictivity.com/] Recsites [https://recsites.com/]