AMA: Dan Meade & Laura Westmore, founders of Speccy Media

Great things come in small packages. Speccy Media is a small but ambitious agency with an emphasis on ethical digital product design and marketing, founded by Laura Westmore and Dan Meade.

Hi Dan. Hi Laura! Tell us a bit about your company.

Speccy Media is a small (but growing) digital agency with a big heart. We help small and medium-sized businesses grow and showcase themselves to the world effectively through modern web design and customer-focused marketing.

How did the idea for Speccy Media come about?

Laura: I founded the company in 2017 after wanting to offer marketing services to our local community with more compassion than what I'd experienced elsewhere.

I saw that solid relationships and loyalty were often missing, and the desire to help (the bit I love most) became drowned in a sea of profit-driven agencies so I set out to change this, and Speccy Media was born.

Love that. What is the biggest mistake you've made as entrepreneurs?

Hiring staff who weren’t ready for the role or didn’t share our values. Safe to say we’ve improved our interview process since then!

Did you experience a business disappointment that led to something better?

We had an enquiry drop into our inbox one day from a lovely little business with some big ambitions, we got on the phone with the prospective client and we had an amazing rapport.

They were absolutely lovely and had been dramatically let down by a previous agency (performing an overnight disappearing act). We knew we wanted to work together.

I think there was a disappointment on both sides when we just couldn’t get the numbers to align. We left the call having felt like we had made a new friend but the timing just wasn’t right.

A few hours later we had another email drop into our inbox that read “if we could find the funds, when can you start?”

We’re now very pleased to say that we’re fortunate enough to be working with this incredible team on their new project and we can’t wait to reveal it later in the year.

Brilliant. Let's talk about your team. What does company culture mean to you?

Company culture for us is all about being part of a team that are all equally invested in both our and our client's success.

We want our employees to share their ideas, be creative, think outside the box and be invested in us.

They can’t do that if they feel unheard, so we have a very relaxed culture where coming forward is encouraged and business is spoken about very freely.

It helps our staff understand where they fit and where their career prospects might lead.

Can you share any practical tips or processes to help people work remotely?

We use lots of fantastic tools to help our teamwork remotely. We particularly like Toggl for time management, Asana for project management and Slack for day to day communications.

How do you keep your team aligned?

Communication is everything. People don’t know what is expected of them if you don’t tell them.

Our team is a mixture of remote and in office, but we ensure that everyone is included in regular team meetings whether they’re in the office or not. 

Do you have a share or option scheme in place for your team? 

We don’t have one, but we’d consider it in the future.

Do you have any office pets?

Yes! Pixel (pictured). 

Give us an interesting fact about yourselves that the business community doesn’t know.

Laura: I camped my way through Africa in a truck for 3 months whilst maintaining relationships with each of our clients and delivering all work required. Most of our clients didn’t even know I was away!

Dan: I have a jerry can tattoo on my wrist. The jerry can is a symbol for those in countries without clean water and without luxuries, it helps to remind me to be grateful for what I have. I am a regular supporter of water-related charities too.

And finally, who would play you both in a film about your lives?

Laura: Maisie Williams.

Dan: Joseph Gordon-Levitt. But if we can’t get him, let’s go with Vin Diesel.

We'll make some calls! Thanks so much for your time, Dan, Laura. All the best!