um, So I grew up in Southern California, and, uh, I was always interested in media and storytelling and technology. Um, I was also very interested in sports, so I decided I wanted to become ah, sports writer or get into sports television. Um, so I looked for a program that offered that, and I decided to go to the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Um, and, you know, never had never been to Missouri before, um, and moved out there, Um, Had a great time. Really enjoyed it. I have some of my best friends were guys I grew up in the dorm with, um and, uh, you know, journalism school was ah, was a very good experience for me because it was, um it was It was It was a very professional experience. They taught it like they almost like an internship. You know, they had a television station, a radio station, and advertising agency and newspaper. Um, and, you know, you were you were taught on the job. Um, but while I was there, I was in the broadcast area and the broadcast, um, area was very competitive, right? Because there was on lee. So many slots available on the local news. And and it was. And And I realized that I enjoyed writing advertising copy more than I. I enjoyed what? Writing, editorial, Copy And, uh, you know, because you don't People don't realize this, but when you're writing a copy for television, you're writing for 1/6 grade reading level. Eso You know, it was something. The funniest thing is that I had an advisor, and I assume he had given this talk toe many other students in the broadcast area. And he said to me, It's like, Craig, you know, I think you're really talented guy, and I, uh I see you have a great future, but let me ask you a few questions because, um, do you wanna work in a big town or a small town? I'm like, wow, you know, probably a larger town. He's like, Okay, you wanna make money? A lot of money. I'm like, Yeah, I wanna make a lot of money. Is like, um do you like to work weekends and not particularly. Do you like to spend holidays with your family? Sure. Sure, sure. Do you like to play golf like yeah. Yeah, I like to play golf because you should be in advertising. And so So I switched Thio advertising and, you know, really kind of found my my niche and and after, um, graduating, I had the opportunity to go work for a newspaper in ST Louis ST Louis Post Dispatch, and but I was in. They had an opening in sales, so I was doing ad sales. I really didn't like that as much. And then I had an opportunity to go to the, uh, sporting news as a a copywriter. So I was writing all of their, you know, all their marketing stuff for two years, and then I'm like, God, I'm living in ST Louis. It's like, you know, it's a good town, but I wanna move somewhere else. I'm thinking like maybe I could move to Chicago and I was looking in the at age and I saw an ad for Sports Illustrated. They were looking for a copywriter marketing copywriter, And so I had just bought a Macintosh, and, uh and I said, like, you know, I got no chance for this, so I'm just gonna go for it. So I, uh, I basically mocked up a newspaper and I think Page maker. What's the program at that time? And, uh, yeah, I went out and I bought the latest Sports Illustrated. And they were They were covering, um, the natural, um, the filming of the natural. And so I scanned in a picture of Robert Redford. The headline read, People don't confuse me with Robert Redford, but I think I'm a natural, I said. Young Midwesterner, touted as the next Roy Hobbs, was the headline, and the copy said, People don't often confused with Robert Redford. And my copyrighting pencils aren't carved from trees struck by lightning. But I think I'm a natural for this job. And then I went in and explained everything. So I get a call from the publisher of Sports Illustrated. He says, I'm sending you a ticket. I want you to come out here on Friday. So I I flew out to New York and interviewed, you know, with 10 different people and, you know, didn't really say anything, said it will be in touch. And it was on a Friday and I flew back, and Monday they called me and said, When can you be here? And I said I was two weeks? I guess so. I packed up everything in my car and drove to New York, and I I've been in New York for 30 years. Um, and, uh, so long story. It's a long beginning. But since then, I've worked for, you know, I've had my own agency. I ran marketing for New York Times, Iran, mark for Nickelodeon. I ran marketing for DoubleClick, Um, multiple startups, a swell Azaz, um, consulting projects and other other projects. So I've I've been in digital marketing since the very beginning. Uh, and, uh, you know, now I'm at I'm at kind of the peak of my career and and, you know, the co vid thing is kind of I was I was working for the largest real estate broker in Manhattan, and they basically laid off everybody at the marketing group because there's really nothing happening in real estate right now. And, uh, and so now I'm kind of rethinking my career and and, you know, my my my youngest daughter just went off to college, So I have a little more flexibility and, uh, you know, thinking it starting my own agency, doing working with small businesses, helping them with with digital marketing

Well, so this is This is my consulting company. So you work 24 7? Um, the biggest, um, challenges Acquiring new customers on down and then service sending them and managing cash flow is the biggest challenge.

It's really about staying organized, having a process. And one of the things I've learned is you need Thio anticipate. Uh, seasonality. So when? When I when I originally started my own agency 20 years ago. Um, you know what? I things were going great. I was hiring people. I was buying equipment and that's not necessarily the best way. It's like when you have that you need to put that money in the bank because because when things get slow, you need thio. Yeah, Yeah, and, uh, it's it's it's very stressful. Thio, like all agencies, all consultants, I think, for the most part, all all small businesses. I mean, you see this with the restaurant business. Now with cove it it's like they're literally they have, ah, week or two of of of, um, funds to keep going, you know? So it's really about being smart and managing your cash flow is the biggest challenge