#awinewith Brittanie Dreghorn
MEET Brittanie
Brittanie is the Managing Director & Co-founder of The Content Division.
Find Brittanie here:
The Content Division website or Instagram @thecontentdivision
Transcript
Danielle Lewis (00:08):
All right, let's get started. Brittany, welcome to Spark tv. Thank you so much for spending some of your very valuable time with us today. Let's get started by telling everybody how you got to where you are. So the content division is obviously an amazing business, and I know your role has recently changed as well. So talk us through how did you actually get to starting the business and what do you do? What does it look like today?
Brittanie Dreghorn (00:41):
Yeah, so I have a history in marketing, so I was one of those people who when you're at school, you have no idea what you want to do. And I went to my voc ed teacher when I was 15 and said exactly that. And she's like, oh, any ideas? I was like, oh, events, promotions sound cool. And she's like, oh yeah, I have a niece who works in marketing at the local shopping center. How about you go and do work experience with her? And I didn't even know what marketing was, but I went along and they had a list of things for me to do in the two weeks that I was there. And I finished them in two days and they were like, oh my God, we should keep her. So they offered me a school-based traineeship. So I was Colonial First State Global Asset Management, which was a Westfield sort of thing. I was their first ever trainee in the whole Australian company. Oh my God, I did not know this
Danielle Lewis (01:46):
Information about you.
Brittanie Dreghorn (01:48):
No. Anyway, they put me on as a school-based trainee. Yeah. So I started working there, doing a cert three in business and working as a marketing assistant. And I actually left school at the end of that year. So that was grade 10. I finished grade 10, and then, yeah, summer high school dropout wasn't into it. And then I finished that. I kept working there, and then I worked at a media agency in Mackay. I worked at A CFM Hot FM in Channel 10 in Mackay. And then I moved to Brisbane, sorry, I started overseas and then I moved to Brisbane and I got a job as a marketing assistant for the Department of Education. So I went into state government and stayed in marketing. And then, yeah, I did my degree in this time as well. So I did a business degree in marketing through Doing Steps course and doing that.
(02:46):
And then I got a job at Brisbane Marketing, the city's economic development agency, which was just such a sick place to work as a pretty junior marketing person, you get to go to all those fun events and go out drinking and the culture was fantastic, and you're posting about food and food blogging and great tourism things. So that was lots of fun. But it's also where I, yes, I was living the dream along with the three other Digi gals. We called ourselves the digital Content producers at the time, and our boss was my current business partner, Kurt. So we got along really well, and we used to chat all the time, usually over drinks, and he used to say things like, oh, I'm going to leave and you're going to come with me and you're going to work for me. And then he was like, you know what? I'm probably going to end up working for you.
Danielle Lewis (03:46):
I love
Brittanie Dreghorn (03:46):
It. Yeah, eventually he was like, are we starting this business together? And I was like, sounds good. I went to his house one day. I was so hungover, I was like 24 years old. This is how
Danielle Lewis (04:02):
All good business stories start.
Brittanie Dreghorn (04:06):
We sat down and we wrote out our business strategy or plan in an afternoon, and then he resigned and then I resigned. He resigned in January and I resigned a month later. We both put up $10,000, which I feel like this is a really interesting part of it. So we said we need to put some money in to start our business just because there's initial things to pay for tech subscriptions and just make sure there's some money in the bank if we need to buy anything and then start paying ourselves after a little while. I didn't have any money, so to ask my dad for a loan, amazing. So I was like to, yeah, I'm good for it. I was like, Hey dad, I'm thinking about starting a business. And my dad was really supportive and he said that he was going to lend me, give me some money to pay off my hex anyway, but if I wanted to do this with it, I could. So that was amazing. And as the story goes two years into the business, we took that money back out. I then used that money to put towards my home loan, and I've now paid off my hex through the business anyway. Oh my God. So I think that's super cool. But yeah, so we started up the business with $20,000 and left our jobs.
Danielle Lewis (05:32):
Oh my God, that is incredible. So tell me then, from what you wrote on that business strategy, hungover in the kitchen to today, how has the business changed? What do you do today?
Brittanie Dreghorn (05:45):
Yes. So we are a content marketing agency, which is what we always set out to be. So I don't think that our services have pivoted dramatically, but we probably didn't really know how we would be delivering that service, so we didn't really know how we would be operating. Kurt and my roles I think felt quite organic from the start. I've always taken a more holistic business approach as well as being quite good with the client and Kurt's in charge of strategy with the clients upfront and a lot of business development. And then I look after the execution side of things as well as managing our business, the finances, the HR and everything like that, which I love. So that's always been pretty organic. But I guess the actual structure of the services we deliver, which is a range of marketing services from website builds to copywriting to social management, email marketing and video production.
(06:51):
We've always known we've wanted to do. We want to be able to produce all of that stuff in house. So at the start, it was just the two of us and we used a range of freelancers. Our first employee was a videographer, and then over time we added multiple copywriters and graphic designers to get to where we are today, which is a team of 10. So quite different to what we started out with and we're five years in. But yeah, ultimately the service that we offer is the same. And so about 50% of our work is retainers. So clients that we deliver something for every month and 50% of the work is projects, which is often websites or a big brand thing or something like that.
Danielle Lewis (07:36):
Yeah, amazing. And I've got so many questions about that, but I want to go back to having a co-founder. And you mentioned that quite organically your roles were sort of defined, and I guess because you worked together before you became co-founders in a business, you probably knew each other's strengths. Was that a conversation? Did you actually sit down and assign roles or have you had to learn to run a business together? Has there been any stepping on toes or has it just all magically worked?
Brittanie Dreghorn (08:07):
It's definitely not magic, but all things considered we get along really well and are each other's biggest fans always there cheering the other one on. So that's been really great. And yeah, I think probably because we had worked together before, it definitely helped knowing where our strengths lie. Purchase knows that I love doing a lot of the work, so there was never any issue with me doing that stuff, whereas he really, whereas he really likes doing workshops and doing the strategy stuff upfront and working in the sales side of it. So yeah, honestly it was quite organic. I don't want to call it magic, but it has been really positive. Our friendship and our business partnership has been really, really positive and he's great. When we sat down to plan our business that day when we were talking about equity and things like that, I was like, you should have more equity in the business because you are 10 years older than me, more experienced than me.
(09:23):
You've got a home loan and all of these things. And he was like, no, we're going to be 50 50 from day one. We're both leaving our jobs. And I think that really helped because when you're both working really hard, if you weren't getting the same amount, it could be really frustrating. So I could imagine why if that was different, and maybe if there was nights where I was up working or weekends working and he wasn't or something, I could have been really annoyed. But I think by making sure that that was equal from day dot really set us up for success.
Danielle Lewis (10:01):
And just the fact that that was a conversation is awesome as well to kind of set the foundation and the strategy so that the questions aren't just hanging in the air. When you have that certainty, again, to your point, when you have that certainty and you're working on weekends and you're getting a little bit, things are stressful, you don't have to worry about those questions, they've already been answered
Brittanie Dreghorn (10:24):
For sure. We also, we've paid ourselves the exact same amount as well from day dot. So we've always just made sure that we were equal there, even though I know, and we know now after doing quite a bit of business strategy with a business advisor that there's different motivators for business leaders, pays only one of them, equity can be another one, and actual control or management over your business can be another motivator. And so the split of those can be different, but getting paid the same amount for both of us has worked pretty well.
Danielle Lewis (10:57):
Yeah, awesome. And your role in the business has recently changed, so you are now the md, is that correct? And what does that mean? That's right. What are the changes? Not that I'm stopping on social media or anything.
Brittanie Dreghorn (11:11):
Yes, no, we just thought that the business is finally at the size where our clients are looking for this role to exist. And I've naturally, like I said, always been the person who manages the business side of things. So I manage all of our HR and hiring and anything going on with the team. I lead our marketing and I look after all of our finances and set targets for that sort of stuff as well. So I'm doing a fair bit of the business strategy, making sure the business model is correct and works and coming up with theories and hypothesis and then making sure they actually work. So I've always been in that role, but then I often and still am doing social management for some of our clients role. You're still doing
Danielle Lewis (12:04):
The founder thing and wearing all the hats.
Brittanie Dreghorn (12:06):
This role now means we're hiring to take that work off me for good. And I'll just focus on the Yes. Managing director tasks and duties at hand.
Danielle Lewis (12:22):
Yeah. And how do you feel about that? Is that super easy to let go of? Are you feeling any different or has it just been the natural progression?
Brittanie Dreghorn (12:34):
It's been a natural progression for sure. There is a fair bit of work to be doing in just managing the marketing for our business, and it's one of those things where we're a marketing business, so we don't do our own marketing. We're really busy. It's the first thing to go. So yeah, I'm really excited about being able to focus on that. I'll still do a lot of client things like in quoting and proposals and tenders and stuff like that, which I think sits within my role. And if there's issues, I'll step in there and I'm always going to be there for my team members when they are dealing with something difficult. And Kurt and I really good in the business, anyone on the team can ask either of us for help and we know how to do everyone's job basically to help them. We're not as good as they are, but they can always, they've always got back up. So always be there as an extra set of hands.
Danielle Lewis (13:28):
I know that prior to running a business, I was obviously an employee and that was one of the biggest things that frustrated me working for other people was when they made decisions without knowing what you really did. So I think that's so cool as a business owner because you go through doing all of the jobs so you kind of understand the process and the stress and what the clients are saying. So I think it kind of prepares you to be a better leader by wearing all of those hats inside your business.
Brittanie Dreghorn (13:59):
Definitely. And it's also just backup because you just never know somebody's sick or something like that. And you've got this animation for your biggest client and they need this change overnight. And your videographer,
Danielle Lewis (14:13):
That's like a real life
Brittanie Dreghorn (14:14):
The door, it's, and this videographer's just walked out the door or something, and then you've opened this file and you're like, Ooh, animation good, I've got this tutorial open on YouTube.
Danielle Lewis (14:29):
That's hilarious. So then tell me while we are speaking of fun challenges that pop up along the way, what have been some of the challenges? I mean, everyone says the words running a business isn't easy and all those things. I mean, I feel like from the outside, your business has grown really organically. You guys are both amazing operators. You've built this amazing team, it looks totally sparkling from the outside. Have you encountered any challenges over the last, did you say five years?
Brittanie Dreghorn (15:04):
Yeah.
(15:06):
Yeah. So definitely. I mean there's definitely challenges in everything. I think I touched on it before around really understanding our business model and knowing what it is and knowing that we're charging enough or we have enough hours quoted in something. So I think that's one side of it, just understanding our business model and making sure that it works. And then there's the other side of that, which is just the supply and demand. So trying to resource correctly and making sure you've got the team there when work comes in because it's just that fine kind of balance. You want to attract work, but you don't want to burn out the team. So that's definitely a challenge for us. Scaling in that sense has been a real challenge. So making sure we've always got enough work so that we don't go broke, but also making sure that we have the team members there to service it.
(16:09):
So that's something that I am going to continue dealing with. Even now we're looking at onboarding a few new big clients. It means I need to hire for that. And then it's like usually I'd hire on a 12 month contract and then at the end of that 12 month contract, make that person permanent because usually by then we know that the business can sort of sustain it moving forward and the whole business has sort of moved up to that next level. So there's just things like that that I've learned along the way. We've had some staff and staffing challenges, people who weren't the right culture fit, but now we have a fantastic culture and we really attract the right type of person for our business. And everybody really works hard for our clients and each other. And it's amazing. Everyone just loves working there. And they say it all the time, not because we tell them to, and we're just so grateful because it's just a fantastic place to work.
Danielle Lewis (17:09):
And so is there something that you've learned? Is there a magic, I keep saying the word magic today. Is there a formula or a tip to actually hiring somebody that is the right fit? Have you learned anything along the way?
Brittanie Dreghorn (17:28):
It's so hard, but I actually think I've got a knack for it.
Danielle Lewis (17:33):
That's good. Which is why you're, I think,
Brittanie Dreghorn (17:36):
Yeah, it's weird. It weird. People are like, trust your gut. And honestly, it's a little bit like that if something's telling you thing's not right. But actually what I think is even more important is if you think somebody's got it, but there's something that's sort of putting you off, it's worth giving it a shot. So a lot of the times I'd say just call it, I'd just be like, no, let's just give that a go. What's the worst that can happen? You've got three months probation period. You'll figure out in that time if it's going to work or not. It's happened with us recently. We have been trying for so long to hire a developer and it's just really hard to find web developers and attract those. So we had 300 people apply to be a graphic designer in our business when we recently hired a designer.
(18:41):
And when we got down to the top two, they were both great, and one of them we thought was really creative and the other one was a great culture fit. And so we hired the creative one and because we're really looking for that and I said, I think we should hire the other one and teach them how to develop because having design as a skill in website building is more important than the other way around because you can teach development, especially the way that we build. And it turns out that person was really keen. So they're going to be doing crash courses on UX and dev and onboarding really quick. Yeah, and I think for me, that was in the back of my head and I was like, let's just try it. Let's just check and see if this person's keen. And they totally were. So watch your space. Hopefully it works out.
Danielle Lewis (19:41):
But I think that's a really good point. Ask what is the worst that can happen? It's just parting of ways, but if you don't ask the question as to whether somebody is interested, they may just not have been given the opportunity in previous workplaces to upskill. So if you give them that opportunity, and that might be the thing that keeps them around for a long time as well, because they value the fact that your business actually encourages them and enables them to grow and learn as well.
Brittanie Dreghorn (20:11):
Definitely. And so we have really great open communication with our team. I mean, we're talking to them all the time and they always come and tell us if they have issues. There's things that we've implemented like mental health days that we encourage people to take. We've got an EAP program, which we're very vocal about to make sure that people get support if they need it. We have a really great flexible working arrangement, which is the bottom of the barrel now. You have to have it, but our team really appreciates, but we do twice yearly catch-ups where we go through and set goals together if it's necessary and they can bring forward any issues. And we ask them how much, what their salary goals are and stuff like that. Because I guess if you don't ask that sort of stuff and you don't know, well then you can't be surprised when they leave because they're not getting it. So yeah, that's the sort of stuff we just try to keep the communication open and give them so many opportunities to give feedback. And that's been really positive.
Danielle Lewis (21:17):
Yeah, amazing. And that's something too, I think sometimes people are a little bit scared of getting the feedback, but it's usually not as bad as you think it is. Usually it's just something small and usually something that's so easy to solve or it's just a matter of I want to go to an event or I want to learn something or I want to do this. And just opening up that dialogue is so empowering for people. I think sometimes that employees, no matter how big the business is, kind of sees the leader or the manager as I not bother them. They're so busy and they've got things to do, and so they might not always raise issues, but giving them that open forum to actually say what's on their mind I think is awesome.
Brittanie Dreghorn (22:02):
Definitely. And I think it's hard. We think 12 months is not enough and every six months, six months comes around really quickly and sometimes you find you're just repeating yourself, but I think there's no harm in a 30 minute coffee catch up.
Danielle Lewis (22:18):
Yeah, exactly. Okay. So we talked a lot about looking after our employees as the founder of the business. How do you look after you, all the people tuning into this are business owners? Well, some people who are worried about taking the leap into being a business owner, but a lot of people who have started their own business and some of whom might be sitting there thinking, what did I just get myself into? So how do you look after you as a business owner?
Brittanie Dreghorn (22:48):
Look, it is hard to say because I feel like everybody has their own way of winding down and making sure their mental health and everything is in check. I think it really helps to have a business partner because, or just it might be your own romantic partner or whatever that is, just so that you don't feel like you are carrying the load by yourself all the time. What I find is that my business partner and I, if there's something frustrating us or there's a stress, we'll talk to each other about it and that will help to get it off our chest before we finish the working day, or even if it's at night or it's on the weekend, anything that's pressing, we can always have a chat to each other about it. So I think that has really helped. If you're asking what my self-care routine is,
Danielle Lewis (23:41):
Well, this is my self-care routine. So
Brittanie Dreghorn (23:44):
Yeah, there's a fair bit of wine definitely. And I love nothing more than sitting down with a glass of wine and going through my p and l. I can focus on the business and have a drink and that sort of thing. It really does give me joy.
Danielle Lewis (24:04):
I love that though. But it's also, we actually love our businesses, so it's not actually a bad thing to spend more time on it. And if we're having a glass of wine, then sometimes it just takes the edge off a little bit.
Brittanie Dreghorn (24:22):
Totally. I'm actually genuinely invested in it and I want to sit down and you don't have time during the day usually to look at things like that and see how you're tracking for the month and see if there's any trends. And it's also an opportunity for you to celebrate your wins, aware of what's happening. So yeah, no, I like doing that sort of thing. But then, yeah, I just try to look after my own mental and physical health the way just in the normal ways, massages and trips to asop.
Danielle Lewis (24:55):
I love that. Good. Good. So good. So then a question we always get, which, so being a marketer, I already know what your answer is, and that is, it depends. But as you've grown your business, is there any kind of tips or secret to business growth that is something that you would pass on to somebody who is just looking for generalized advice on how to grow in business?
Brittanie Dreghorn (25:26):
So I think the most important thing to do from the very start is to invest in your brand, like your visual brand. And that is not even our core service. So I'm not just saying that to prove our core service, but the sooner you look legit and you look more expensive than you are and more established than you are, the sooner you're going to get that recognition and be able to charge what you are worth. So I don't think there is anything more valuable. I mean obviously you need to be able to do whatever your product or service is and do it well, but in terms of anything else you invest in your business, I think having a really solid visual brand that is consistent and makes you look quite established is second to none.
Danielle Lewis (26:24):
Yeah. And is that something that you guys did coming from the marketing background or has it evolved over time? Have you rebranded?
Brittanie Dreghorn (26:34):
We always launched with the content division as the business name, but we designed the logo ourselves.
Danielle Lewis (26:43):
Don't worry in there I have an archive of bad scrunch logos.
Brittanie Dreghorn (26:49):
Yes. So yes, and I think it was like that for maybe 18 months. And then we got a creative director who had started their own business to read to our brand, and that's the brand that we have now, which we're really, really happy with. And if anything, it's evolved a little bit, but that has made a huge difference in our business doing that.
Danielle Lewis (27:17):
Yeah, amazing. And I love it. It looks so polished and professional. You'd think you'd been around for decades.
Brittanie Dreghorn (27:26):
We just launched a new website too, finally, which is so funny. Website's also so important, especially when you offer websites, but it's a sort of thing that took us so long to do because we just didn't have the time and all of these things. And anyway, we just kept getting leads lately, really good leads, and we were like, maybe we should leave that bin fire of a website up. That's terrible.
Danielle Lewis (27:53):
Oh my God. But also, you guys would be a bit perfectionist as well. You would put your heart and soul into delivering for clients the best level of service standard that you deliver for everyone else. So then when you look at your own, you're so critical.
Brittanie Dreghorn (28:09):
Yes, potentially. And also you look at it so much that you just sort of start hating it. You
Danielle Lewis (28:14):
Get over it. Yeah. Oh, I love it. Okay, so last question to wrap up today's chat, what advice would you give someone who wants to start their own business but is hesitating? So you obviously made the leap from corporate career to business owner and now have a team of 10, which is incredible. But sometimes when people look at that path, they go, Ooh, I don't even know where to start. What advice would you give to someone who's kind of got the idea but kind of balking at taking the leap?
Brittanie Dreghorn (28:51):
So I think maybe nothing happens overnight. And even though when we did leave our jobs and start the business, I think we had a hope for something bigger where we could do, we've always aspired to just being able to do really good work. And that happens to require lots of people, not lots, but I mean we think we probably need a couple more to be doing that really well. So we knew that there was an aspiration there, but realistically, what we were doing in our day to day was just going, where do we get our first client? Where do we get our second client? How do we make sure we're charging enough? How do we set goals now to take out our initial investment? How do we set goals now to save money for this thing we want to do? We self-funded, our office fit out last year.
(29:46):
So I think it's really baby steps. So it doesn't need to be this big thing. And I guess just be realistic about the leap that you're taking. Is it really that big of a leap? Like yes, you're leaving your job properly, but probably make sure you've got some money in the bank. Prepay your home loan for the next six to 12 months if you can, or something like that. Make sure you've got enough cash there and really, if it all goes to shit, come and get another job and everything will be okay. But if you are really good at what you do and you're going to work hard to make it work, you'll be surprised how easy it is and how organic it is because there's lots of businesses out there who are successful just because they've been around. So there's always room for disruption.
Danielle Lewis (30:41):
I love that. And I just love just the next step. It doesn't have to be this huge takeover, the world, the baby steps are what are each of the milestones, and then just focusing on hitting that and then the next one and then the next one. I think that that is very good advice.
Brittanie Dreghorn (30:58):
Definitely. And it's going to feel uncomfortable. And that is okay. Every time our salaries have grown, the businesses salary bill per month, every time that grows, there's this level of discomfort where you are moving up to that next level and then it's the new norm and then it just keeps going from there. So I think, yeah, work out what your business model is early and then take that leap, start testing it, keep refining it, and just go with your gut
Danielle Lewis (31:34):
And maybe always get used to being uncomfortable, just bigger and bigger and bigger.
Brittanie Dreghorn (31:40):
Drink lots of coffee and get used to just a little bit of anxiety.
Danielle Lewis (31:46):
Amazing. Well, on that note, you are the best. Thank you so much for spending your time with the Spark community. I know there are a bunch of nuggets of wisdom in there, so I really appreciate you spending your time with us and having a wine with me today.
Brittanie Dreghorn (32:03):
No worries. Thanks Danielle.
