Community Highlights: Meet Julian Grell of AdWalk | part of Digital Spectrum

Today we’d like to introduce you to Julian Grell.

Hi Julian, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My story is far from a straight line.

Growing up, life wasn’t always easy. I faced challenges early on that shaped my perspective, resilience, and determination. Looking back, I don’t see those experiences only as obstacles, I also see them as part of the foundation that made me who I am today.

I’ve always had an entrepreneurial mindset. Even as a kid, I was constantly looking for opportunities, whether that meant trading snacks at school or finding creative ways to create value. At eighteen, I launched my first business. It wasn’t successful, but it taught me one of the most important lessons in entrepreneurship: failure is often the tuition fee for future success.

Over the years, I started several ventures in different industries. What fascinated me most was never the product or service itself it was understanding people, creating opportunities, and finding innovative ways to connect with customers. I loved the challenge of building something from nothing and figuring out how to grow it.

Like many entrepreneurs, my journey included difficult decisions, setbacks, and periods where I lost my way. There was a chapter in my life that I’m not proud of. I made choices that ultimately led me down the wrong path and resulted in time spent in prison. While that period was one of the darkest moments of my life, it also forced me to confront who I was, who I wanted to become, and what kind of future I wanted for myself and the people I cared about.

The turning point came more than 10 years ago when I had a nearly dead experience, and decides that enough is enhough.
Through the support of my wife. At a time when many people have walked away, she always keept standing beside me. She helped me rebuild my life, encouraged me to take responsibility, and reminded me that I was capable of more. When we started our family, everything changed. Becoming a husband and father gave me a purpose greater than myself and motivated me to create a future built on integrity, stability, and meaningful work.

From that moment on, I committed myself to building businesses the right way. I worked, studied marketing and e-commerce, and became increasingly fascinated by how companies connect with their audiences. The more I learned, the more I saw opportunities to improve the traditional approach of marketing.

That realization eventually led to starting a company in 2017 with boards for advertising in shopping carts and later to the creation of AdWalk, the company I lead today.
Our mission is simple: bridge the gap between the physical and digital worlds. We help organizations create meaningful interactions with their audiences while generating valuable insights, measurable results, and real-world impact.
For me, marketing isn’t just about visibility It’s about helping organizations achieve their objectives and better understand the people they serve.

Today, I’m the founder of AdWalk and Digital Spectrum, where I combine creativity, technology, and strategy to help organizations grow. Whether we’re helping a company attract customers, recruit talent, promote a public initiative, or activate audiences at events, the goal remains the same: create meaningful connections that drive results.

If there’s one theme that runs throughout my life, it’s resilience. I’ve experienced failure, adversity, and gladly transformation. Every setback taught me something valuable. Every challenge forced me to grow.

Today, success means something very different to me than it did when I was younger. It’s no longer about chasing money or status. It’s about creating freedom, building something meaningful, spending time with my family, and helping others achieve their goals.

The entrepreneur in me has never changed. The difference is that today, that drive is guided by purpose.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Like many entrepreneurs, my journey included difficult decisions, setbacks, and periods where I almost lost to easy and fast money. While that period was one of the darkest moments of my life, it also forced me to confront who I was, who I wanted to become, and what kind of future I wanted for my family, myself and the people I care about.

The turning point came more than 10 years ago when I had a heavy nearly dead experience, and decide change my life.
Through the support of my wife. At a time when many people have walked away, she always keept standing beside me. She helped me rebuild my life, encouraged me to take responsibility, and reminded me that I was capable of more. When we started our family, everything changed. Becoming a husband and father gave me a purpose greater than myself and motivated me to create a future built on integrity, stability, and meaningful work.

The statistics are bad for starting business owners, so don’t expect a pink cloud, but storm, in regarding of this I like to share one of my favorite sayings, this one is from Denzel Washington; When you pray for rain, you gotta deal with the mud too.

One of my biggest challenges was focusing too much on the product/service itself instead of the problems we fix and the added value we bring to the table.

Like many entrepreneurs I met before, I became deeply passionate about what I had built. I spent 3 years refining the technology, improving the experience, new features and possibilities.

The reality is that clients don’t buy products or subscriptions, they buy outcomes and want to know from you how yo fix their problem and why they should trust you to do it.

For a long time, I found myself hiding behind the product instead of having deeper conversations about where a client is today, where they want to go, and what obstacles stand in their way.

The last years I visited many expo’s and business events. What helped my out most is talking with other entrepreneurs and professionals. I learned to share more about myself and feeling free to share who I am instead of just want to sell quickly and now there is more eye for the person behind the business.

The breakthrough came after I invested in coaching and professional development. I worked with multiple coaches and followed several sales and communication training programs. One lesson in particular had a lasting impact on me: listen, summarize, and ask better questions.

It sounds simple, but truly listening and understanding someone’s goals before proposing a solution changed everything.
It helped me move from selling services to creating meaningful outcomes, with valuable insights and feedback.

From time to time, I have to remind myself of those lessons. Entrepreneurship is often about recognizing old habits before they become patterns again.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that growth happens when you’re willing to stay curious, keep learning, and continue believing in the value you bring even when the path isn’t always clear.

As you know, we’re big fans of AdWalk | part of Digital Spectrum. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
I am the founder of Adwalk, a company that helps organizations connect the physical and digital world in a measurable and meaningful way.

We specialize in “phygital engagement” combining real-world visibility with digital interaction, data, insights, and feedback. Through strategically deployed mobile digital displays, QR technology, NFC technology, surveys, funnels, and live engagement, we help organizations reach people where they are and understand how they think.

Our clients range from businesses and event organizers to governments and technology companies.
Some want to increase brand awareness. Others want to recruit talent, gather public feedback, validate ideas, promote services, or better understand their audience.

What sets us apart is that we don’t just create visibility.
Many marketing efforts generate attention but leave organizations guessing about the impact. We focus on both visibility, experience and intelligence. Every campaign is an opportunity to learn something valuable about the audience while simultaneously achieving business objectives.

My mission has always been to make technology more human. In an increasingly digital world, I believe genuine human interaction remains one of the most powerful ways to create trust, build relationships, and generate meaningful insights.

After working extensively across Europe, I’m especially excited about exploring opportunities in the United States.
The American market has an incredible entrepreneurial spirit, and I see tremendous opportunities to help businesses and organizations better connect & understand with their audiences, employees, customers, and communities.

You should know that when you choose for us, you get insights on demand, even real-time dashboards are possible.
Ultimately, we’re not just helping organizations get views.
We’re helping to find and understand target groups, and the objectives they want to reach, while making them smarter by sharing valuable insight’s and data.

How do you think about happiness?
What makes me happiest is seeing ideas become reality.
I love the moment when something that started as a conversation, a challenge, or a simple concept turns into something tangible that creates real impact for people.

I genuinely enjoy meeting ambitious people. Some of the most valuable opportunities in my life and business have come from conversations I never expected to have. Beyond business, I find happiness in growth both personal and professional. Learning new skills, challenging assumptions, and becoming better at what I do gives me energy I need to proceed.

Most importantly, I enjoy helping others achieve their goals. Whether that’s helping a company attract talent, gather meaningful insights, launch a new initiative, or connect with a community, there’s something incredibly rewarding and gratifying about knowing you’ve contributed to someone else’s success.

Pricing:

• Starting at $350: Single-location visibility campaign including digital display activation, audience engagement, QR/NFC integration, and campaign reporting.
• $1,250 – $3,000: Event activations designed to increase brand awareness, generate leads, collect audience feedback, and drive measurable engagement.
• $3,000 – $12,500+: Recruitment, public outreach, and community engagement campaigns combining physical visibility with digital data collection and audience insights.
• Per month $1,750 – $6,500: Ongoing interactive visibility and audience intelligence programs for organizations looking to strengthen brand presence, gather market insights, and improve customer engagement.
• Custom pricing available: Multi-city campaigns, international activations, market research projects, and fully integrated phygital experiences tailored to specific business objectives.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://adwalk.io
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adwalk.io
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/193dqXbTRt/?mibextid=wwXIfr
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/adwalking/
• Twitter: https://x.com/adwalk_io
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@adwalk-io
• Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julian-grell