I’ve got to say, August is a ripper month.
It hasn’t always been that way – until recently, it’s been pretty similar to most months.
But a lot changes over a year, and it’s far more important now given it marks the birth of my two babies: Jack in two days, and Ubiquity Lab (ULab) a few weeks ago.
I didn’t realise it was ULab’s birthday until it popped up on my LinkedIn feed a few weeks ago.
Part of the reason I missed it is that we’ve been incredibly busy, which is a lovely problem to have.
Although equally, I think it’s due to how my brain is wired: I like to move fast, and my natural tendency is to focus on, and think about, what’s next.
But this milestone – and writing this yarn – has been an excellent way to pause for a minute, reflect, and celebrate success.
Ubiquity Lab's journey so far
On ‘we’, that’s another significant milestone. ULab’s been able to secure industry heavyweight Shaun Polidano as an equity partner and our second FTE.
This is a massive achievement. And like me, Shaun shares a vision to help organisations create meaningful experiences, in a way they can monetise.
From an internal perspective, he similarly wants to build a culture where people thrive and are empowered.
- Helping one of Australia's largest financial services companies develop their brand strategy and unlock emotional territories they can own.
- Developing more marketing strategies, and helping embed integrated operating models, than you can poke a stick at.
- Diagnosing data to build strategies underpinned by the customer intent across the following countries – Australia, America, United Kingdom, South Africa, Malaysia, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Italy and Mexico.
- Picking up our first – of many! – SEM retainers.
- Helping a B2B brand monetise content marketing.
- Increasing a company’s revenue from SEO by 52%
- Working with a leading health player to develop an integrated paid, owned, earned ecosystem.
- Undertaking various social acquisition, advocacy and reporting projects.
- Delivering our first corporate comms and media collateral project – watch this space!
- Providing advice to, or mentoring leaders, at 11 different organisations.
- Running workshops for 12 different organisations.
- Starting to develop an AI tool to analyse data at a fraction of the time, meaning we are able to spend more time on insight generation.
We owe a massive thanks to the brilliant network of industry experts we work with – you know who you are and you’re incredible.
Separately, our ‘talent orchestration model‘ has been validated and embraced by clients who love the fact we bring the right people to the project, rather than charge them for unnecessary headcount.
We also just signed a lease, which is equally scary and exciting, on our new office space at 101 Collins. (When you pop in, you won’t be surprised why the space looks so good – Shaun has managed it all and respectfully told me I’m not required for any decisions.)
And if all that wasn’t enough, I kicked off the Content Leaders Academy with great mates Andres Lopez-Varela and Trevor Young – Brisbane, Canberra and Perth, we’ll see you in a few months.
What I've learnt about myself and building a business
My old boss – and the best leader I’ve ever seen – John Rizzo once described me as a “builder”. By this, he meant that I like setting an audacious goal, and then building the strategy, team, and operating model, as well as driving the change, to bring the vision to life.
He rightly points out that once it becomes business as usual, I’d start agitating for my next challenge.
John’s spot on, and this mentality suits being a consultant down to a tee. Does ULab do execution and day-to-day? Yes we do, but we have the luxury of getting people more skilled than I to manage this.
I’ve loved building this business and dedicating a considerable amount of time to it – something most small business owners can attest to.
And it would be remiss of me not to say a big thanks to my lovely partner P, who has shouldered a huge amount of effort on the home-front so I can grow the business. If I’m honest, a lot of ULab’s success is due to her unwavering support.
But I’ve also realised that business isn’t the be-all and end-all.
Baby number one, and the family, dog and support network around us, are the most important.
