From Corporate to Consultant: Finding My Just Cause in Supporting Small Businesses' Marketing

It’s been a little over six months since I agreed to take redundancy. 

It was a choice that no one can take lightly. One that took a lot of thought to come to. When you work in one place for a while, you can’t really imagine yourself not being there, regardless of trials and tribulations. You stay and work there for many reasons. For me, it was because I believed in what that company’s clients stood for and was passionate about their success, and the pay was secure, steady and pretty good. 

As time has passed by, I do sometimes look back and think “where would I be had I not agreed to the terms to leave”. It is easy to think that I made the wrong choice. I could have waited to see if I survived the round of redundancies. I may then have a safe and regular income. But even as the clock ticks down on the redundancy payment and the bills still come, while the pressure mounts and a looming feeling of doom washes over me, wondering “how will I get to the next month and then even next after that”. I know that this is only going to be short-term. 

I regularly apply for roles. I am one of the many hundreds of people who apply to senior marketing positions, but I still apply despite seeing the volumes of people that have actually applied to these roles, because I hope that maybe my CV (if actually read) would stand out. I have even applied for junior positions, just any position really, that pays an acceptable level, so I can at least cover my costs. But having applied to well over six hundred roles, and getting less than a handful of conversations from that. I took further action.  

I walked the streets of London to see recruiters with CVs in hand, only to be turned away at the door, all of them saying they want an email. I oblige, and never to hear anything back from them. It makes me wonder, when did we become a digital-only society, rather than be willing to meet someone face to face and discuss their experience? A CV can only say so much about the candidate; a discussion can tell you more about the individual. 

I have called recruiters, sent the most notorious marketing recruiters on LinkedIn direct messages to try and get in front of them, and I have heard nothing back. I have concluded that the recruitment industry in marketing is broken, because I am sure I am not the only person trying to connect with recruiters and hearing nothing back, all the while they work hard to sound like they’re pushing the needle for the marketing industry, to become an influencer.  

I have also responded to a hundred projects on LinkedIn, used UpWork to pitch services, all of which have yielded a few calls. 

Perhaps I am unemployable. Perhaps it is the world telling me that I need to focus on something different. Perhaps I am not cut out to be an employee.  And with all that being said, I can still honestly say it was the right decision to leave. 

It was the right decision because, despite the continual applications, pitches, rejections or ghosting, I know I have my own fate in my hands. I can build things on my own terms. I can start working on things I want to.

In the six months or more since I left, I have worked on developing my own consultancy Moonbeam Marketing. I have sat down, explored and workshopped my own reason for wanting to work in marketing and why I typically work within or with small businesses. 

This has given Moonbeam Marketing a just cause. 

And because I found Moonbeam Marketing’s just cause, everything that I do with that business is to live it. That business is designed to help small businesses access better marketing, because they’re the businesses that innovate, push industries forward, support their communities, and really change the world. So, we exist to help them grow so they can continue to innovate. 

Because I want to be part of helping great solutions make a lasting impact.  

Additionally, I have worked in fractional capacities with innovative businesses and within friends' businesses. Took on interesting projects and clients, more to follow with case studies later.

I have built my very own marketing strategy framework, aimed to help small businesses get their marketing off on the right footing…

Their own just cause. 

I have become an eternal student of marketing. I have spent countless hours consuming content from videos, articles, and books from Alex Hormozi, Sabri Suby, Gary Vee, Rory Sutherland, Russell Brunson, Niels Klement, Matt Diamanté, Neil Patel, Jason Squires, and many, many more. 

I have messed about on social media, dabbling but never fully committing to doing more. This is the start of me posting regular content updates (whether you like it or not). 

I have taken courses and worked hard to strengthen my skills, developing in SEO, AEO, GEO, funnel hacking, advertising, content planning, copywriting, offer building, automation and email marketing, even improving my skills in sales & negotiation and many technical marketing skills. 

I’ve also launched digital resources and advertised them. Some have a little bit of success in terms of engagement/downloads, and some have utter failures. I’ve spent thousands of pounds to relearn, sharpen and develop my skills.

Why? Because Moonbeam Marketing can’t exist without being able to not only strategise effectively but also implement effectively and well. 

Now I am not saying I am anywhere near the gurus I listed above. Nor can I say that I have everything figured out. But what I can offer to small businesses is a unique perspective to build marketing from the right starting point, map out core sprints and main focus areas to help them find success, and implement technical marketing tactics, all for a fair price.

Not only have I worked on developing my own skills, but for Moonbeam Marketing, I have taken things further. I have invested in tools, lead generation, ads and some exciting things, including exhibiting at the Business Show in November at London ExCeL, and being in Your Business Magazine. 

I am now committing to posting more content around marketing on my and Moonbeam Marketing’s platforms, because if one tip helps a small business grow, then we will have helped fulfil our just cause. 

I am not asking for any business, for anyone reading this. I am posting this as a declaration and for the real me to be shown. If that’s interesting plase like, share and follow me and Moonbeam Marketing. 

Thank you.