Today we’d like to introduce you to Darrell Noe.
Hi Darrell, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
As a graduate of the Ringling School of Art & Design in 1999, Atlanta was the first (and last) place I moved to after college. I worked my way through and up in the agency world, cutting my teeth at Macquarium, Moxie, Razorfish, and Sagepath. Back in the early-mid 2000s, I learned from the incredibly talented design and development teams and industry leaders that created the foundation for where I am today. The creativity, leadership, and leading-edge projects we worked on had a lasting impact on how I work and approach projects to this day. As most creative leaders, I transitioned to in-house agencies at Turner and Cox Automotive, and it was there where I realized that I wanted to run my own agency, have a closer connection to helping clients and see the impact we could make on their business. In late 2019, I left the corporate world to pursue opening up Seventy Seven Collective, a different kind of boutique agency that services small to medium-sized businesses.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
One of the biggest challenges in deciding to open our agency– Covid 19. The world stopped roughly 3 months into our business venture. Budgets dried up, businesses went into a state of flux and it was truly unprecedented times. But we powered through and earned the trust of amazing clients who saw the forest through the trees. We emerged with a stronger focus on our client’s success and in turn, our own.
The other major hurdle, and still can be, is the necessary ability to wear all the hats in the company, especially in the beginning. Sales, finance, creative, account, and project management are all skills used on a daily basis. I was used to having amazing teams to collaborate with and now, it was just myself, my laptop, and coffee… lots of coffee. But in time, I learned where and when to partner with the right people for the right jobs which eventually led to our hybrid staffing business model. It’s been a game changer to be able to focus on what I love to do and rely on talented individuals to assist us along the way.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Seventy Seven Collective is an agile digital marketing agency that focuses on helping small to medium-sized businesses thrive through digital marketing. Our agency was born out of the need to help businesses that don’t always have Nike-sized budgets but need big results. Most agencies charge massive overhead that price themselves out of helping the companies who need it most. That’s where we come in. Whether your brand needs a robust digital presence and expression or your latest product release needs a digital marketing strategy and execution, Seventy Seven Collective can be there alongside your team, creating amazing work that drives results. We partner with our clients, listen, understand, and execute our shared vision for success that drives results to improve your business. Absence of fancy corner offices, your team can deal directly with our team without going through layers of account management that drive costs up and focus away from results. You can think of us as your CCO or CMO for hire that will develop a solid relationship to help your brand thrive.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
Trust the process because it is a process to build a business, no matter how experienced or seasoned you may be in your career. Enjoy learning; from your clients, from your peers, from tutorials, and from your own process of getting work done. Ensure you are building solid relationships that are long-lasting. People often do not partner with you just because of your work, they partner with you because of who you are and what you/your agency can bring to the table.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.seventyseven.co
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seventy7co/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seventy7co/
