🎯 When Leadership Won’t Listen
In 2019, I found myself at a career crossroads.
I was approached by a B2B company with a solid offer—one that I initially turned down. They later increased their offer by $15,000, but I still declined, choosing instead a lower-paying position at a finance company that, from the outside, appeared to have more potential.
It didn’t take long to realize I had made a mistake. While the company looked great on paper, the internal culture and poor management made it clear that this wasn’t the right fit for me.
During this time, I stayed in touch with a close friend who worked at the original B2B company. We used to arrive at work an hour early just to brainstorm ideas—about the company, about business, and about possibilities. One day, around the six-month mark at my finance job, I sent him a text suggesting a campaign for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. He replied with something unexpected:
“Are you still interested in working here?”
When I said yes, he immediately responded: “Call me.”
🏗️ Rebuilding a Company from a Legacy Mindset
I rejoined the B2B company, but it was clear from day one that we were facing an uphill battle. The original founder—now serving as a general manager and advisor—had built the company with his wife in the 1990s. It had been a huge success in its time. However, his refusal to evolve the business model or adapt to modern marketing was holding the company back.
One of his most damaging stances?
He had promised decades ago that the company would never sell direct to consumers—a decision that was now sinking the ship.
Meanwhile, my friend had taken initiative. While still at the company, he created a private Facebook Group for customers, offering helpful how-to videos for those struggling with the company’s software. The group grew to about 1,600 engaged members—an early indicator of community-driven marketing potential.
🚀 A Masterclass (and a Masterstroke) in Digital Marketing
In August 2019, my friend left the company and launched his own business. Drawing on his background as a high school art teacher and his deep knowledge of the software he helped design, he started producing professional video tutorials to teach embroidery digitizing.
We stayed in touch, regularly meeting for coffee to discuss strategy. I helped him set up his website, email list, and infrastructure. He set his launch date for February 6, 2020.
That evening, we met up after work. As I sat down, I noticed an alarm going off on his laptop every few minutes. Curious, I asked what it was.
“Each ding is a sale,” he said, flipping his screen around.
In less than 24 hours, he had made $22,000—and the only marketing had been word-of-mouth and posts in that original Facebook Group. During our hour-long dinner, his laptop pinged 10–20 more times. At $497 per sale, that added roughly another $4,000 in revenue—earned while simply enjoying a meal.
đź’ˇ Lessons From a Six-Figure Launch
By April, just a few months later, he had generated $79,000 in sales. I joked that he could take the rest of the year off. He didn’t. Instead, he started building his next masterclass.
That one wasn’t quite as successful, but the momentum led to something bigger. Dealerships he had once visited during his corporate days began inviting him to speak at their events. Today, he sells his masterclass on flash drives at these events—making between $8,000 and $80,000 in a single weekend, with all expenses covered by the hosts.
🧠Takeaway: Your Audience Might Be Ready Before Your Company Is
The most ironic part?
He had pitched this very idea to the original company years earlier. The owner shut it down with a dismissive, “It’ll never work.”
Well, it worked.
This experience reminded me—again—that leadership doesn’t always have the clearest vision, even when they’ve built something successful in the past. Times change. Customers evolve. Markets shift. And sometimes the greatest insights come from the people on the ground, not the top floor.
🔑 Final Thoughts
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Legacy thinking can kill innovation.
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Your community might already be your customer base—you just need to listen.
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A highly engaged, niche audience is more powerful than broad, unqualified traffic.
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Execution beats ideas—especially when you already have the trust of your audience.
Success today isn’t just about having a great product. It’s about knowing how and to whom to communicate that product—and being willing to evolve when the time is right.
And sometimes, the right time is now.