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Founded in 2005, Soap Media is a full-service digital agency dedicated to helping clients across industries achieve their online goals, acting as an extension of their internal teams.
The agency embraces the mission ‘Your Partner in Digital’ and has experienced significant growth, including the promotion of Jack Oddy to Managing Director in July 2023, marking the agency’s most successful year.
Here, Jack offers insight into his motivations, industry inspirations and his unique business approach.
What was the inspiration behind wanting to climb to the top of the organizational chart?
I just wanted a career that I could be proud of. Just as a child looks at a firefighter or a doctor, I can remember times when I stared in awe as a businessman, dressed and booted, stepped out of his fancy car while having an important business call. That’s how I liked to imagine it anyway.
After struggling my way through the traditional education years, my crossroads came at university, during year 2 of a 4-year business course, when I started to lose my passion and interest in the subject of entrepreneurship. Honestly, it might have helped if I showed up more!
I decided to drop out of college. It was an extremely difficult decision, with feelings of failure and disappointment lurking. Eager to find my true calling, I worked numerous part-time jobs over the next few years. Once upon a time you would have seen me serving Greggs sausage rolls in the center of Blackpool!
Perhaps by fate, I was eventually drawn back into the corporate world, where I became an apprentice business administrator. The company had multidisciplinary teams within its departments, which opened my eyes to the world of account management. Due to a lack of opportunities, I scoured the job market, where I met and fell in love with Soap Media.
The timing turned out to be perfect. I came to Soap at a time when co-founder and CEO Markerle Davis had a mountain of incredibly exciting ideas. As a brand new resource, hungry to make an impact, I jumped at the chance to work closely with this business mastermind. We have had a unique relationship over the years that has transformed into mentorship and a friendship. Starting at Soap in a business support role, I completed my first year as Managing Director 7 years later, overseeing our best ever year of business performance.
So I find myself in the position I’ve always dreamed of, but the irony is that today I’m in shorts, having important business conversations via video meetings.
Who do you admire and why?
That’s easy – Markerle Davis, co-founder and CEO of Soap. The hardest part is knowing where to start with the “why?”
I have seen problems solved and deals closed with what I can only describe as masterful wizardry. Markerle’s knowledge and acumen have had me hooked from day one. The opportunities he has given me, with the performance-based rewards, have literally changed my life. To this day, we continue to learn and grow together, and I am beyond grateful.
I would also like to mention Rob Pierre, founder of Jellyfish.
Halfway through my trip with Markerle he recommended that I watch an interview between Rob and the Drum; Scaling for impact with Rob Pierre. I had so many penny-dropping, light bulb moments. I always remember him comparing business growth to bodybuilding; you get bigger (grow) and then you cut back for the tournament (refine) – and it gives you a headache.
Looking back, is there anything you would have done differently?
Given the position I find myself and the agency in today, no. I’ve made my fair share of mistakes, but every loss is an opportunity to learn and grow.
I am not a religious person, but in my recent search for continued development and understanding I have found clarity in religious speaking. Today I saw a post on Linkedin that said, “If you get what you want, that’s God’s direction. If you don’t get what you want, that’s God’s protection.” The parable of the old man and the white horse has a similar moral to the story; Happiness can be rooted in perceived unhappiness.
Of course, it’s hard to stay passionate and confident in your decisions when things start going against you. But you have to accept that that’s business, and that’s life. Whenever I find myself getting sucked into the micro, I can now step out and gain macro validation. I also have a fantastic support team around me.
What defines your way of doing business?
The company’s core values are passion, freedom, respect, integrity, creativity and dedication. And all this is summarized in the company slogan ‘your partner in digital’.
Our teams, called ‘Soaperstars’, are committed to achieving the very best results in all aspects of our partnerships. And we expect the same level of dedication from the companies we work with.
We truly embody an end-to-end digital marketing agency with a collective passion for improving every stage of the customer journey and experience.
Each person has autonomy and has the reporting frameworks from which to make the best decisions. This is an approach without a ceiling. We use a meritocracy-based progression process whereby employees can ‘pitch for a promotion’ up to four times a year. Just look at me; I started at the bottom, now we’re here!
Transparent communication takes place regularly throughout the agency. This honesty helps us face challenges and learn quickly from mistakes. Facing complex problems comes naturally to our game, but we pride ourselves on our creativity and innovation.
What advice would you give to someone starting out?
Write your own story and be its hero. Take inspiration and guidance from those you admire, but understand that no two stories are the same as yours.
When circumstances permit, use time and patience as your ally. It’s amazing what your subconscious will do. Countless times I’ve stalled an RFP submission or put off sending a response to a difficult email, only to have “the winning adjustment” come to me while on a dog walk or in the shower. In quick moments, you can rely on your experience and, as I said before, see a loss as an opportunity to learn and grow.
Create a vision and align with it every day. Create a plan to realize that vision and accept that the plan will require constant iterations over time. Admittedly, agility, dynamism and resilience are a whole bunch of ‘buzzwords’, but so far they have been integral features of our story.
It is an incredibly valuable use of time to look back every now and then. When you’ve been facing a challenge for a long time and doubt begins to creep in, past memories of achievements and progress bring a vital wave of optimism and motivation.
Last but not least, make sure you love it.