Raj Choudhury – Atlanta: Recent Episodes
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I’m extremely excited to announce the news of my acquisition of ARPR and what it can mean, not only for me, but also, for founder Anna Ruth and for the incredible team – many of whom have been at the agency for 5+ years. ARPR is built on two tenets: 1) thinking about its people first and... Continue Reading →
The last year+ has been somewhat of a blur for me and I’m sure for a number of you as the pandemic continued to shift our work styles and lifestyle norms. For me, it was also a year of hard work, reflection, and ultimately change (I left my last company to take a sabbatical). I’m... Continue Reading →
My wonderful mother-in-law recently shared an article with me from The Atlantic called "Never Go Back to the Office:- The coronavirus killed corporate culture. Get used to working from home". The article talks about significant changes to corporate culture as a result of COVID-19 and focuses on the reality that most businesses that don't "have to" won't want to re-open offices anytime soon and probably shouldn't. I agree with the article in general, but it got me thinking about the actual impact an office has in developing cultures, habits, and tools/mechanisms for ideation and collaboration and how that influences how work is done. Office culture and the way we collaborate is often the reason why a company operates in specific ways and are often the tools/process and unsaid rules of how work is produced and how talent is nurtured. So when this environment is stripped away quickly, can the people, culture, and work output adapt quickly enough and compensate?
Every company is different and some will adapt better than others. But beyond the company is always the people and how they interact, communicate, generate solutions and ideas. We are largely a social society and we often best convey ideas and stories best face to face. This is how we are taught by our parents, how we interact with our friends, training by our schools and universities, and how most companies (not all) conduct work pre-covid-19. Are we recognizing how different this is for some, but more importantly, as companies are we helping folks adapt quickly enough so we can get the same level of thinking and output from our people before the environment moved from the office to work from home (WFH)?
It’s been a while since I last posted a blog, and for good reason; I’ve had my head down helping build an agency that’s sought after! On 4/2/2019, we announced the acquisition of BrightWave to Ansira. I joined the BrightWave family 3 years ago (4/18/2016), and it’s been a surprisingly thrilling ride with an unbelievable... Continue Reading →
My good friend Adam Walker (Co-founder of 48in48 and Sideways8) recently asked me to talk about what works and doesn’t in Digital marketing on his latest Podcast series “Good People, Good Marketing“. You can check out the Podcast and transcript here. Episode 57 – Don’t follow the digital marketing crowd. In this Podcast, I talk about what... Continue Reading →
I was honored to contribute to a new podcast series by Emarsys. Lindsay Tjepkema (Head of Content @ Emarsys) and I talked about the fundamentals of marketing and how technology can enable but not replace the skills and knowledge of marketers. We also talked about where I think email is going in the future and... Continue Reading →
I just completed the buildout of BrightWave’s new office in the heart of Buckhead (Tower Place 100, Suite 400, Atlanta, GA). It’s a phenomenal space that I’m extremely proud of, and I hope the team, our clients, vendors, and BW friends & family will enjoy using for many years to come. This is technically my... Continue Reading →
I recently heard the tail-end of an interview on Sirius Radio (no idea who it was) about candidate application questionnaires when interviewing for jobs. One of the questions asked was so telling on what really motivates a potential employee. That question was simply, “what’s on your bucket list?”. If you are unfamiliar with bucket lists,... Continue Reading →
Over the past several years I’ve developed, borrowed, learnt from others, and adapted techniques I use to keep myself focused and organized in leadership positions. There is nothing earth shattering about these techniques, but I’ve found that when I give this advice to friends and colleagues they find it very valuable. So I figured I’d share... Continue Reading →
What brought 17 rockstar BrightWave employees to donate their weekend (48 hours) in-order to build over 57 email templates for 48 local Atlanta non-profits? Several weeks ago I rebooted a program at BrightWave called “Day of Awesomeness”, which was originally created by Simms Jenkins (Founder of BrightWave) to encourage employees to spend time on non-billable projects that would... Continue Reading →
Last week I started a new and exciting chapter in my career by joining BrightWave as President. I’ve known Simms Jenkins (Founder) for many years and have watched his agency grow over the years. BrightWave has one of the best reputations in the industry, specifically known for ground breaking work within Email and CRM marketing, which is no small feat in the ever-evolving agency environment and the marketing technology ecosystem. I’ve been lucky enough to consult with the agency over the last 5 months, providing advice where I could, but more importantly getting to know the DNA of the agency and the wonderful people that make BrightWave a special place.
The foundation, culture and reputation that BrightWave has been able to create provides an exceptional springboard for the agency to scale and become a dominating powerhouse in the space; the future potential isone of the key reasons that attracted me to join the agency as I can clearly see a path forward. It’s common for someone in my position to enter an organization that has a weak culture or a horrible reputation and have to spend a considerable amount of time and effort defining/executing in order to build a foundation to scale. In the case of BrightWave, we know exactly who we are, we have a strong culture, we have passionate and talented people (the most important element in any agency), we have pride in the work, and we are recognized as leaders in the space.
So, why did Simms and the BrightWave team want to bring in a President like me you ask? Its really quite simple:-
- Divide and Conquer – Simms and I have complimentary skills and we see this relationship as a partnership. This feels much like my first business, Spunlogic, where I had fantastic partners who all focused on different things and we shared the burden and adventure of growing a company. Running any company, small or large, is no easy job; you learn quickly that you can’t do everything, at least to the level of depth the business needs when growing. Therefore, having someone in the trenches with you, especially someone who’s gone through growth (good and bad) can help validate and keep the organization focused. In the case of Simms and me, I’ve got a heavy operational, creative and technology background, while Simms has a heavy sales & marketing background. We can easily carve out areas of focus that don’t conflict, while sharing a common vision and mission for the agency. This allows us to focus our attention on the front of the house (Simms) and the back of the house (me) in an effective way that can activate growth and scale while maintaining and building upon the culture, people, and reputation of the agency.
- Playing to win – You could say that I’ve been around the block a few times when it comes to agencies, having founded one and merged/operated two larger agencies. I don’t have a secret recipe for success; however, I “get agency people”, the work we do, what it takes to operate an agency at different sizes and at different maturity levels, different types of work and clients, etc. This experience has exposed me to different challenges in scaling a business, mentoring and coaching our people, identifying new talent needs during growth, maintaining a strong culture, activating tools/process in order to deliver quality and ground breaking work, and finally, pitching creative ideas to clients utilizing complex technology products. In short, I hope to provide value to BrightWave and our clients, helping build an unmatched agency that’s sought after by the best brands and the best agency talent.
I look forward to a successful partnership with Simms and the team, and I’m thankful for the people at BrightWave I’ve already had the pleasure of working with. I’m truly excited to grow with them over the coming years.
Here is a link to the official PR: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2016/04/prweb13360213.htm