How Ad Nerds began…
There's a saying that's been around for a while now:
"What you resist persists."
It was renowned Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung (1875–1961) who first coined this phrase that ended up bringing Ad Nerds to life.
I've built multiple companies over the years, but there was always one I resisted building: Ad Nerds.
You see, Ad Nerds isn't a typical agency. Eww, just writing that word, agency, gives me douche chills.
I never wanted to run a full-service agency; I still don't.
To me, too many assholes and wannabes have given the industry a bad name and an even worse reputation. From people taking a weekend course in Facebook lead gen. (NOT AN AGENCY) to employing overseas media buyers (NOT AN AGENCY), to hiring influencers to grow a company via Insta or TikTok (NOT AN AGENCY), these people have come and gone and did lots of damage along the way.
So, I resisted because I didn't want to be lumped in with them.
But, what you resist persists.
Over the last decade, I've had more clients come to me from my other businesses and ask if we'd run their campaigns for them, shoot their ads, or strategize their growth. Every time, I'd say no, that's not what we do.
I didn't want to do it because we did all these things under different umbrellas, and I liked keeping them separated. Yes, I enjoy complexity at tax time, having multiple businesses. That's a lie, but you may finish reading if you've gotten this far.
In 2021, something shifted inside me. I started looking at the advertising landscape, mostly filled with people who had less than 5 years of experience. Some had only finished their courses a week before they’d troll for new business, without having any idea of what to do, and start guiding unsuspecting businesses incorrectly.
I'd pick up client after client who'd share their war stories about how their (NOT AN AGENCY) would run lead generation ads for them and deliver terrible results. These clients wanted their businesses to become household names, but the (NOT AN AGENCY) how to make that happen. And yet, (NOT AN AGENCY) was happily charging them.
Building a business into a household name requires 3 things: Branding, Advertising, and Marketing. The only thing these (NOT AN AGENCY) people could do was advertise, and they did a crappy job of it.
My wall of resistance started to crumble.
Over the last 5 years, I've hand-selected clients to work with on their businesses. I started consulting and being an outsourced or fractional CMO to several of them. I've guided branding and rebranding efforts and helped them launch new brands and businesses.
I love doing this stuff, building businesses and helping them grow into a brand. As 2023 began, I decided to pull my head out of my ass and bring my passion and expertise together in one place with Ad Nerds. The plan was to launch in July, right after my highly anticipated keynote in Costa Rica, but the universe had other plans for me.
In May, I was diagnosed with Stage 3 rectal cancer. EVERYTHING STOPPED! My plans and dreams for 2023 were stunted by life-changing circumstances. Survival was more important than starting something new. I had massive surgery in July, followed by months of chemo, But I kept working, slowly, building this dream. I even onboarded a few trusted clients who believed in what I was creating.
The launch kept getting pushed back. Days turned into weeks, then months. Finally, as my last chemo treatment approached, we were ready to go… but was I?
Is there ever a right time to start something? Is there ever a suitable time for anything we choose to do? No, the time was now.
Ad Nerds officially launched on November 27, 2023, the week after my final chemo at MD Anderson. You could say that ringing the bell at the end of treatment, was the starting bell for Ad Nerds. I like that, so let’s make it part of the narrative.