I went to corporate because I thought I would find success and the time to be present with my family
I started my B2B sales career in 2000 with IBM and also spent time at Siemens and Coca Cola along with a couple of smaller 'start ups' in London.
But I didn't find success. I found long hours and not knowing if I was really making an impact.
So in 2010 I decided to take a break to try figure it out. I wasn't quite sure what to do and where to go, so I asked around and many people said....
“Why don't you go to Colombia, it's just opening up and it will be a great adventure”
So I got on a plane and arrived in Colombia. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to stay.
I started a business and even recruited staff. But I was not able to continue growing it because Colombia changed their visa policy. My business closed overnight
And of course, I had met a girl and just after my business closed we found out we were going to have a baby. So there I was; in Colombia with no business, no visa and a son on the way. This picture is the night I met Paola.
But then we got some good news and....
I discovered I could start a business that serviced clients outside of Colombia. So I went back to what I knew best: B2B Sales and marketing
By now it was 2017 and I found some initial success. Back then people were open to messages and jumping on calls.
But moving into 2018, things quickly changed and cold outreach became a lot harder. I made a decision that I needed to find another way to get in front of the right clients.
We started doing B2B virtual events and moving prospects away from social media so we could escape the noise. It worked really well and we started growing quicker than I ever could have imagined.
I even got invited to speak in-person at big events.
We continued to refine the process of moving our prospects away from social media and improved it by adding our own technology platform. The business continued to accelerate
We grew so much and worked with so many clients to get them results, that we were able to raise enough money to get into the USA on an investment visa.
We had to lease an office, put staff on payroll and submit a 1000+ page application. And then finally be interviewed in the US consulate in London.
This picture is October 20th 2021 outside the consulate, just after we had been awarded the visa. We arrived in Lakeland Florida in December 2021. We got a place in a startup incubator and the next chapter awaits...
.png)
