We were those people. The ones in the suits working stupid hours, earning vast amounts of money for the Corporate giant. The ones who woke up early, dreading the day, sitting at a desk in a high-rise greenhouse, miserable, yet out performing our colleagues. Each day we came home sad, un-inspired and with painted smiles on our faces so the kids didn’t see how much we hated work.  

I had been raised in a family where money was a struggle and started work when I was 13. Chip shops, Iceland, behind the bar (not at 13 I might add) but every job there was going I was going to take it. I needed money for my Mum and my little brother so working hard was all I knew. I payed my way through college and University, desperate to get a good education and do better for myself. I worked hard and here I was in a senior Management position in one of the biggest brands in the world.

Ben started out in life a little better financially but faced his own trauma. Losing his beloved younger brother at a young age took it’s toll on him but again being the hard worker that he is he worked his way up through the ranks until he reached a position that gave him everything he needed. He was a manager in this Global brand with the admiration of his family and peers.

Between us we had sold over £1billion worth of shiny Mercedes Benz for our client. That’s £1billion. We really did quite well for ourselves but felt so utterly empty from the job. It was high pressure, very little gratitude (if any), you were chastised long before you were rewarded and taking the ride in the lift each day to the 9th floor you could feel your joy slowly dissipating with each floor the lift passed until “Ping” there we were on the 9th floor of misery. I appreciate this sounds dramatic but you would be surprised how badly this place affected our mental state. Something had to change but we were scared. How on earth could we leave our “good” jobs with the company car and the job title which was oh so appealing on LinkedIn? 

Then one sunny bank holiday, over too many wines (kids were with Granny) we asked each other the killer question. “If you could do one thing you loved every single day, what would it be?”. From that one question spiralled an entire afternoon of brainstorming, excitement and refreshed motivation. Were we going to do it? Were really going to set up a business? Yes we bloody well were.

After a few weeks of planning we went around in circles trying to pin point what it was we wanted to do exactly, who would we target? Where would we get sales from? We went round and round until we asked the good old Simon Sinek question. Why will be doing what we will be doing? Once we answered that question everything else fell in to place. We were going to help businesses convert more sales with high quality website, event and social media video. Simple.

The why was simple, but putting it into real processes and strategy has taken it’s time. We are still changing and adapting each day and it’s true that when running your own business the highs are high and the lows are very low but we are happier now than we have ever been in our lives. We make our own decisions, we laugh every day, we love working hard now but most importantly we have shown the children that to stop doing a job that society dictates is “good” but you hate, and to do a job that you love more than anything is absolutely fine by us!!