What I’ve Learned From Annie

If you’re reading this, the cat’s out of the bag and you know that I have departed my beloved Austin to open a new Rock Candy Media office in Los Angeles. Being away from the RCM home base is a great opportunity, but I’ll miss interacting with all of my brilliant coworkers that are remaining in Austin. However, all baby content birds must one day spread their wings and ride currents of strategy out of the nest. I’m also not going empty-handed, I’ve learned a lot during my time at RCM—especially from Annie, the RCM founder. Here is some Austin wisdom that I’ll be taking with me to the West Coast.

Give a Sh*t
I know the names, emails and phone numbers of every client that RCM has—in fact, I talk to all of them several times a week. So does the rest of the senior team, including Annie. It doesn’t matter if you’re on our smallest retainer or you’re our biggest client, everyone working with RCM gets treated with the same level of dedication. Annie routinely reminds us how tough it is to be a business owner and that it’s our job to care about our clients’ businesses just as much as we care about our own. And two months after launching DIET RCM, 60% of our clients upgraded to full retainer client status because we were paying for ourselves. It felt good to be a part of that growth.

Be Yourself
RCM has a very particular attitude, an “anti-template,” if you will. This manifests itself in several ways—our branding, our kickoff meetings (with complimentary prank phone calls to a person of your choice) and our approach to strategy. We aren’t like other agencies because we don’t do traditional media that is always forced on clients.

Do What You Want
RCM WEST has been a longtime dream of Annie’s, but up until now, we haven’t had anyone willing to take the leap two time zones away. I’ve always wanted to live in LA, but it took me a long time to work up the courage to pitch the idea to Annie. In the end, one of my major inspirations was the story she often tells about the founding of RCM. She was working a job where she was very successful, but she knew there was more out there, so she took a leap of faith. Eliminating ‘what-ifs’ in life is something she’s mentioned more than once.

Now, I’m taking a leap, and I’m confident that RCM WEST will be a success.