My Story

My story to date isn't one of success but of learning and experience.

Not enough learning or experience to think I know more than anyone else.

But not little enough to think I don't have something worth sharing.

My story so far is different from the one you might expect.

The internet is overflowing with stories of entrepreneurs telling stories about how they went from nothing to something.

Many of them make it sound easy like anyone can do it.

But the truth is that most entrepreneurs struggle to find success, and many give up before the going gets tough.

Most can't do it.

There's a reason why most businesses fail.

This story is my truth, not just another variant of something you've heard before.

It's not pretty or flashy; it might not inspire much confidence, and you might not like it.

But it's the truth.

I have many dreams, ambitions, and goals like any other entrepreneur.

The difference is that I'm not writing this to sell you something or to make you think I'm something I'm not.

I'm writing this so you, as the reader, have context. 

Context about where I come from, my philosophy towards my work, and why I do what I do.

But I'm also writing this so you can understand the mistakes I've made so far and learn from them.

Because if you're reading this as an entrepreneur, you have no reason to make the same mistakes I did.

My story is ongoing; in many ways, it's barely even begun.

I'm not asking you to care, but I am asking you to keep an open mind.

So, let's start from the beginning.

Chapter 1: A Fork in The Road

This story started when I was just 17 (I've not long turned 24 at the time of writing).

As I was coming to the end of my time at school, I had two options.

Go to university.

Or go out on a limb and start a business.

Truthfully, I'd given up on education by the time I left school; I was hungry for real-world experience.

I was considering three different businesses.

1. A digital marketing agency
2. A property company
3. An e-commerce business

I knew nothing about any of these industries.

I had no idea what or who I would sell to.

I was just trying to figure out which would be easiest to start.

The following provides more context on my thinking at the time, even if it was a bit simplistic.

A digital marketing agency would initially depend on me selling my skills. A customer would be investing in me and what I could bring to the table.

Overall, it had a relatively low barrier to entry.

It was a feasible option.

Getting into the property industry was more of a nice idea than a realistic option.

I let go of that one quickly.

An e-commerce business was more realistic.

The problem was that I had no idea what to sell, and I knew I would have needed a reasonable amount of capital to get started.

And to clarify, when I say e-commerce business, I mean a genuine e-commerce brand, not a drop-shipping website - big difference.

Even though I was 17, I still knew drop-shipping was a joke.

In the end, I decided to start a digital marketing agency. 

It didn't require any capital to get started (which meant no debt), and my success would be based on me developing skills businesses would find valuable.

It seemed like the best approach, considering I was a complete beginner.

Looking back on it now, I can't believe I ever had the arrogance to think I could just go out and start a business.

I was naive.

I knew nothing.

But I did know I had to start somewhere.

After my exams were over and I finished school, I picked up a part-time job in Glasgow at a men's clothing store called Topman, which has since closed completely.

The commute was about an hour from where I lived, but it didn't bother me. 

I grew up in a small town called Stevenston on the West Coast of Scotland, so I always enjoyed working in the city, even if I didn't enjoy the work as much.

Once I began working there, I enrolled in a few online courses to expand my knowledge of design, marketing, leadership, SEO, Branding, and other related subjects.

I also joined my local Business Gateway and acquired a small grant, which helped me buy a few things I needed at the time.

I also read a lot; I'm a big book fan.

The hard part when it comes to books is finding the right ones.

There are more books in the world than one could read in several lifetimes - finding the right ones is half the battle.

Considering I knew nothing, anything I learned was progress.

The main course I enrolled in was by Tai Lopez; he had a course on how to start a social media marketing agency.

It was a good starting point; it provided a unique point of view, even if it could have been more thorough in some areas.

I knew I wanted to make this a success; I just didn't have the knowledge or experience to make it happen.

Nonetheless, I made a start, which is the hardest part for some people.

"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation" is an accurate quote - I didn't want to grow up wondering what my life might have been if I just took a risk.

Thankfully, I did, even if things haven't worked out exactly as planned.

Chapter 2: Taking Action

Theoretically, I was making progress, but I needed to take action. 

Coming to the end of 2017, that's what I was missing.

But going into 2018, I was optimistic, even though I didn't even have a business name, let alone a brand.

Complacency and procrastination can be an issue for me. 

I remember spending the first month of 2018 shying away from the work I knew I needed to do

In many ways, I was scared. 

Fear is natural for several reasons when you're starting something new, especially something you haven't done before.

Firstly, you don't want to tell the world you're doing something only for it to fail.

Secondly, when you're doing something that deviates from the norm, you know the people around you will likely be sceptical.

Because of this, starting can be much more challenging than it needs to be.

I didn't want to do this half-heartedly, and I didn't want it to fail.

A couple of months into 2018, I eventually:

1. Opened a business bank account 
2. Reluctantly decided on a name
3. Launched a company website on WordPress
4. Started making some content

I called the brand Visionary Bound Marketing. 

As you might expect, this name didn't stick around.

I would show you the website that accompanied it, but that's long gone.

I remember being stuck on the name and really overthinking it.

Eventually, I got impatient and decided to go with Visionary Bound Marking, thinking it wouldn't matter much.

It goes to show how much I knew about branding back then.

The image below was the logo: 

I find this logo hard to look at, but it does help illustrate how much of a beginner I was.

Later that month, I approached the owner of my gym, someone I'd known for a few years at that point, hoping they could give me some work to get me started.

I offered to work for them for free to get some experience under my belt.

I didn't have any leverage, and they knew that.

Paying me would have been risky. 

There was no evidence that they would get a return on their investment.

I did about three months of social media management for them - I learned a lot and gained some valuable experience.

Beyond this, I was stuck; I had no other leads and needed to do the work to make it happen.

 I regularly contacted local businesses and did what I could with content creation. 

However, despite my best efforts, I wasn't making any progress.

I started to step back when I realised it wasn't working out.

Was this really for me? 

Was I lying to myself? 

How do other entrepreneurs make this work?

This was one of several moments where I could have called it quits and moved on.

Maybe I should have, but I didn't.

Heading into the later stages of the year, I managed to score a few real meetings.

One meeting was with a local art gallery, another with a framing company, and a third with a transportation business.

I signed the art gallery for a 3-month contract at £500/mo to manage their social media accounts and Facebook Ads, build a new website, and grow their email list.

The framing company fell through.

The transportation company thought I was too young and inexperienced, rightfully so, but meeting with them was still beneficial.

I'll come back to them later.

My time with the art gallery went well overall:

• I built them a new e-commerce website to sell their paintings.
• They expanded their social media presence across Facebook and Instagram.
• They quickly acquired an engaged email list of potential customers.

Despite this, my work wasn't increasing their revenue, or at least I didn't have an adequate way of measuring the impact I was having.

Given that I didn't achieve the results they were looking for, we parted ways after the three-month contract.

In reflection, I would have done a few things differently, but I did the best with the knowledge I had at the time.

And even though it ended, I was grateful for the work.

Not long after I started working for the gallery, I met Megan, my girlfriend.

We met at a party one of my friends was having and hit it off immediately.

She's played a significant role in my journey beyond just being my girlfriend.

We've been together for five years now.

In that time, we've been through a lot as a couple. 

She's seen me at my best, my worst, and always supported me when it mattered most. 

Everything we've been through has only strengthened our relationship, given it more depth. 

It's important to say that because there's an assumption that hard times make relationships weaker when, in reality, it makes them stronger.

You need people around you who care about you, cheer you on, and can be a shoulder to lean on when things don't go as planned.

Not everyone finds that kind of relationship easily; in that sense, I was fortunate to meet someone like her as early as I did.

Towards the end of 2018, I'd built some momentum, started a new relationship, and was ready for the next chapter.

Chapter 3: The Right Direction

Even though any hope of work with the transportation company fell through, the CEO's assistant put me in touch with the lead of a business accelerator programme they were also part of, funded by the Hunter Foundation .

The programme was called West Coast Accelerator.

I'll come back to this soon.

Before joining the accelerator, I decided to get some life experience doing something else. 

I wasn't enjoying retail at all at that point, and my frustrations with the company only added to my contempt for it.

So, I ended up taking a job in forestry working in Carlisle. 

I only did it for about 6 - 8 weeks, but it was long enough to clear my head and do some deep thinking.

I met many good people during my time there, and as hard as the work was, I have many fond memories of it.

While there, I was in touch with West Coast Accelerator to see if I'd be accepted in their next intake.

I'd always travel back home each weekend, but on my 5th or 6th week, I decided to stay home a little longer to meet with the programme director.

I was about a twenty-minute drive from where the WCA hub, which was beneficial.

I remember being extremely nervous about this meeting, more than any other.

I think it was because I knew how stuck I was; I'd made next to no progress apart from the few minor wins I'd already discussed.

In truth, I had my expectations too high.

I was still young at that time, only 19, and even though I did have experience at that point, it wasn't enough.

Nonetheless, I went to the meeting and remember leaving energised.

The programme director was an entrepreneur earlier in his life, so he understood what it was like.

He was a great guy and very well-liked.

I decided to return to Carlisle for a few weeks before the next accelerator intake started.

After that, I decided to go full-time with the business for a while and see what would happen.

I had some money saved up from all the work I'd been doing, so I thought this was a good time to give it a try.

This was a mistake.

Even though I had savings, I had no consistent income from the business.

I should have found a different part-time job and utilised West Coast Accelerator in my spare time.

Instead, I jumped into trying to make the business work full-time.

Looking back, I had a lot of energy; I just wanted to get to work.

I was also the youngest in the programme by over ten years.

I thought things would begin to change if I put all my eggs in one basket and put my mind to it.

And they did, sort of.

I decided to base myself down there permanently to make the most of the program.

I only had a standalone computer then, which meant I could only do my work from there.

As you can imagine, I ended up spending all of my time there.

As a result, I met many great people and built some good connections.

It was great.

I picked up my first client within a few weeks of basing myself there.

It was nothing huge; they were paying £250 a month for social media management, but it helped build momentum, and it was progress, considering I had no other revenue streams.

I may not have thought it then, but the biggest thing I was learning during this time was how to network.

I say that because effectively communicating with people in this line of work is an essential skill.

If you can't do it, acquiring customers is incredibly difficult.

I could have been better at it back then, but I was good enough to get some clients under my belt.

Within a few months, I had a reasonable number of leads in my pipeline. 

I was always in talks with a few people at any moment, but only a few signed up as clients.

Nonetheless, I was confident that things were progressing.

Confident enough that on the 30th of July 2019, I incorporated Ambio Media Ltd.

Ambio means 'I wander' in Latin, perfectly encapsulating what the company is about.

You can't be an entrepreneur without wandering, experimenting, and dreaming, and Ambio is a compliment to that.

It's a name I've come to like, even though it might not make sense to others at face value.

A few months later, I was in talks with a company based in Manhattan, quite a long way from the West Coast of Scotland.

Given my inexperience, it took about a month to strike a deal with them, but in the end, they agreed to a small retainer. 

I say small, but it was more than I'd ever made from any client then, and I needed the money.

I was also in talks with a few companies up in Glasgow. 

These were more prominent companies but would still be considered small by any formal standard.

Out of the three in Glasgow, one of them signed on as a client.

But it didn't turn out to be what I thought it was.

The following is a story I wasn't planning on sharing, but it illustrates an important lesson about knowing who you're working with

This company, whom I won't name, was in financial services.

They dealt with mortgages, insurance policies, financial advice, all the stuff you would expect.

I visited their offices and had a positive meeting with one of the directors. 

He liked what I was saying, and we hit it off quite well.

The pitch was for me to optimise their sales pipeline and run some Facebook ads for them.

It didn't take me long to grasp what they needed.

I left their office that day feeling good about everything.

A few weeks later, I got a call from the same director, who had the CEO on the line from Canada.

The call was positive; the CEO challenged me more on specific points than the director, but overall, it went well.

A few days later, I submitted a formal proposal.

They signed my contract the following Monday, and I signed their NDA.

And that was where everything positive about this relationship ended.

I thought I would be doing work for the company I'd pitched in Glasgow. 

However, this alleged CEO wanted me to help him sell payday loans to people in Canada.

He wanted a fake persona to do the selling, and he had another contractor handling his landing pages and automated emails.

My job would have been to create the ads and manage them.

Long story short, this didn't work out.

I did some of the work, but the relationship only lasted a few days before it was clear this wasn't what I wanted to be doing.

The CEO still covered me for my time, but it didn't end on good terms.

This was a lesson for me.

Since then, I've been more cautious about who I work with.

It's important not to let anyone jeopardise your ethics.

The company is no longer trading today, which isn't surprising.

Even though it was a bad experience, I learned a lot from it.

As you read this, you might think I'm using learning as an excuse for not achieving. 

But the truth is I was learning; I was young enough that learning was all it needed to be. 

Of course, I was aiming for much more than that, but any financial gain was a bonus.

I believe you're either learning or earning at any given moment.

In the beginning, you'll usually be learning instead of earning.

After a certain amount of time and achievement, you'll usually find it flips; suddenly, you're earning but not learning anymore.

The sweet spot is to be in a constant state of learning and earning.

I think this is hard to achieve, but it's a sound aspiration.

Anyway, when it was all said and done, I was going into 2020 with a few clients, some on retainers, some with single website design projects.

Then lockdown hit.

I know that for many people, lockdown accelerated their growth and momentum as more business owners were forced to operate online.

For me, this wasn't the case.

Even though I find in-person networking hard, I ironically got more out of it than trying to connect with people online.

When selling a service, in-person interaction goes a long way, primarily because you can build a real relationship.

So, after March 2020, my momentum slowed.

And this marks the beginning of a new chapter.

Chapter 4: Stagnation

I was getting fewer leads than I had previously, and I felt like I was back to square one in many ways.

The only difference was that I was building a solid relationship with my client in New York, and I did have consistent revenue.

They seemed happy with what I was doing and showed no signs of wanting to leave.

I got comfortable with the work I was doing with them, and they brought me in as a subcontractor for some of their own projects.

This helped me gain more exposure and experience.

I enjoyed it.

While I never actually spent time with any team members in person, I built some good relationships.

Over 2020, I acquired a few web design projects and consulting work on top of what I was doing for my New York client, but nothing big.

I was in a better position than a year prior, but it still wasn't enough for me to feel like the business model was validated.

During this time, I also remember going around in circles with my brand. 

I always found it easy to brand for others, but never for myself.

I've improved at it over time, but I found it incredibly difficult back then. 

I remember 2020 as a challenging year, but I knew I had it easy compared to many worldwide.

Going into 2021, I was hopeful. 

Over Christmas that year, I started exploring ideas of how I could make the brand more holistic.

I wanted to build a customer relationship management tool (CRM) that I could sell to customers. 

I wanted to launch a service focused on helping local businesses gain more online exposure.

I wanted to launch an online academy for marketing, web development, and other online skills.

I wanted to launch an email newsletter called Ambio Insights for tech news.

And I wanted to launch a marketplace for specific services that could be more automated, like copywriting, graphic design, videography, etc.

I was beginning to get a clearer picture of what I wanted the company to be, even if looking at it now I know I was thinking too far ahead.

I just needed to get one thing right.

Sell one good service that people could buy.

But what happened in 2021?

None of what I planned, that's for sure.

I'd reached a point of stagnation and didn't even realise it.

I wasn't being honest with myself about where I was on this journey.

I was still living at home, making some money but not a lot; I wouldn't have even been able to support myself from what I was making.

And even though my cost of operations wasn't that high in real terms, compared to what I was making, it felt like a significant expenditure.

This wasn't the business I wanted.

This wasn't the business I envisioned.

Yet this was the business I continued with.

Going into 2021, I would have been better off if the company failed there and then.

To put this in perspective, consider getting checkmated in a game of chess. 

Once you're in checkmate, that's it, you've lost. 

You can only shake hands and take the loss in your stride. 

In business, even if it feels like everything's failing apart, there's always the temptation to say:

"if I could just do X, then I could get Y, which would lead to Z = problem solved."

While this might be sound thinking for many problems, it doesn't address the root cause of the problem.

For me, I didn't have the fundamentals of my business nailed down; everything was a mess.

There's an argument for organised chaos in some instances. 

However, it's usually only justifiable if the company's direction is clear; it's like stumbling towards the finish line.

It might be poor execution, but the direction's right.

In my case, my execution wasn't great, and my direction was unclear.

I should have realised this then and paused, but instead, I kept going.

And this is where I can safely mark the beginning of my collapse.

I didn't believe things were falling apart for most of this time, but looking back, it was clear I was fighting a losing battle.

Chapter 5: The collapse 

I applied to Scottish Edge, a business funding competition, at the beginning of 2021.

It consisted of a huge application form and a video presentation.

I shared my ideas and ambitions to the best of my ability and waited a few weeks for a response.

I didn't get through the first round, but I got a lot of positive feedback from the judges.

My pitch focused on building the Ambio CRM, a marketplace for certain services, and an online academy to accompany my software.

The main takeaway was that I needed to build what I was pitching them - they needed more evidence and data to validate what I was proposing.

In truth, my pitch wasn't strong enough, and I don't even think the proposed product offering was strong enough.

I intended to reapply to this competition with at least a beta product, but never got around to it.

During this time, my focus was everywhere and nowhere, and that was the problem.

I could have built the Ambio platform I had in mind if I'd just taken a breath and committed to it. 

Instead, I doubled down on getting more clients and was insistent on hiring employees.

This was another lesson because hiring shouldn't have been a priority, but I thought it was the natural next step.

You could say I was frustrated with my lack of progress.

At the time, I thought that an employee or two could help me gain more bandwidth, allowing me to work on the business and not necessarily in the business.

A few months after Scottish Edge, I managed to get Ambio on the kickstart scheme (the government-funded programme to boost job opportunities for young people).

I hired two good people through this program fresh out of university.

The kickstart scheme gave me enough funding to give each employee a 6-month probationary contract.

But I couldn't commit to anything beyond that.

I believed if I could get the employees to a place where they were taking care of most of the day-to-day operations, then I would be able to focus on growing the brand and driving the business forward.

If executed successfully, I could offer those from the kickstart scheme a permanent position.

It didn't work out like this, and it was poor thinking on my part.

And the reason it didn't work out was because I couldn't decide what to focus on.

Like I said, my focus was everywhere and nowhere.

The first boy I hired was great. 

He was quiet but very analytical, and he was good regarding anything to do with data and operations.

I think he enjoyed the six months he worked with me; we got along well.

After working for me, he went on to work for a global financial services company pretty much straight away.

His skill set was perfect for a job like that, and from what I know, he fit right in.

Even though I couldn't support him in the way I intended, I felt good that he could at least use Ambio as a stepping stone to something better.

The second person, a girl fresh out of university - creative, driven, and great with people.

Not long after I hired her, we signed a local manufacturing client.

She managed their account almost exclusively, helping them grow their brand organically on LinkedIn.

The client always provided positive feedback on working with her.

I didn't have to worry.

I think we made a lot of progress together, but it wasn't enough.

We'd acquired the manufacturing client on retainer, and I'd picked up a few web design projects.

I needed at least three, ideally five, small clients on retainer to pay myself, her, and I still have some leftover for operational expenses.

By this point, we're in early 2022.

We worked really hard to try and make it work, but in the end, she ended up leaving prematurely to do social media management for another company.

These situations weren't easy to navigate, and when I employed these people, I knew I was doing it on borrowed time.

It was a risk. 

I knew that. 

And this brings me back to the main problem with the business during that time.

Fundamentally, the business model was flawed. 

It lacked focus.

What was the purpose of Ambio? 

Why did it exist? 

What problem was it trying to solve?

Back then, I wouldn't have been able to give a good answer.

Not long after my second employee left, my New York client decided it was time for us to part ways.

They had to make some cutbacks of their own, and with me being an overseas contractor, it made sense that I was one of the first to go.

This was the hardest loss I'd experienced regarding professional relationships. 

I depended on that work every month, arguably too much.

I received a message from them one night out of nowhere with news that they were going in a separate direction.

I wasn't expecting it.

They offered to chat with me the following day to explain everything, and I accepted.

That night, I remember wrenching my guts up, knowing I didn't have a plan. 

This was the only time that the stress made me physically sick.

I knew how hard it was to get clients, and I knew I didn't have a predictable system for generating them.

It was too messy, and it didn't have to be.

I was done, even if I didn't know it at the time.

I depended on that work, and the absence of it proved I didn't have a sustainable business model.

I'd just about given up, and I was coming to terms with the fact that I'd completely dropped the ball.

A few months later, the manufacturing client decided they would also be taking their work elsewhere.

This didn't surprise me as much; if anything, I was expecting it.

It was the nail in the coffin.

I was stuck.

I felt so ashamed for letting it fall flat on its face the way it did, but the truth is I was holding up a house of cards.

It was always destined to fail; I was just in denial.

If my New York client left sooner, I would have been forced to confront the underlying issues sooner.

In simpler terms, I would have been better off failing sooner.

I was at an all-time low, and I recoiled inward; I remember the feeling like it was yesterday.

What was I supposed to do now?

I'd already applied to the University of Strathclyde to do software engineering in May/June of 2022, which was super late for an application. 

Even though everything hadn't entirely fallen apart then, I knew the writing was on the wall.

But I figured if I wanted to revive Ambio and pivot to a software company, I better ensure I have the skills to make it happen.

I received a conditional for university, which meant I had to complete their summer school in mathematics to get in.

The summer school occurred right around when my second employee and New York client were leaving.

I wasn't in the right frame of mind to focus on it.

I ended up having to withdraw from it, but they assured me that if I tried again next year, they could give me the same offer, and they did.

I wasn't in a good place when I got into the later stages of 2022.

Did all the work I'd done until that point count for anything?

Was it all for nothing?

Was I in denial about my potential that entire time?

I believe we only regret the past when we don't like the present.

And I wasn't happy with my present.

At that moment, there was no way I could look at everything I'd done and feel good about it.

Ambio served about 35 - 40 companies over that time in varying degrees; I should have at least seen that as some kind of accomplishment.

Instead, there was so much shame, regret, and resentment.

But the good thing about being at your lowest is that the only way is up.

Chapter 6: The Climb Back

When the dust started to settle, all I was left with was my own thoughts.

For the first time since I started Ambio, I felt really confused about what I was supposed to do.

I quickly got a job as a delivery driver working for my local pizza place.

I needed to take anything I could get to try to build some momentum again.

This was around about the beginning of October 2022.

I didn't stay here long; it was only part-time, and I needed more money.

It's probably important to note that while Ambio effectively stopped trading, I didn't shut it down.

Even though I knew I failed, I struggled with completely giving it up.

If I had, I probably wouldn't be writing this story now.

I still had a vision, not just for Ambio but for everything else I wanted to accomplish.

Letting go would have been confirmation that I was giving up on my dreams.

Even though I'm pretty sure Megan and my family thought the best thing for me to do was give it up, I didn't see it that way, probably irrationally.

I started looking for another job.

My cousin and their partner own a forestry company called McLaughlin and Ling Reforestation.

Their working season kicked off around that time of year (November).

After chatting with them they were kind enough to give me a job with them on the Isle of Mull, a few hours of driving and a ferry away from home.

I didn't particularly want to return to forestry; it wasn't that appealing to me the first time, but I needed the work and had nowhere else to turn; I was grateful.

So off I went.

Most of the work was done on the side of an unofficial Munro. 

I say unofficial because its height fell short of what would be considered a Munro, but the terrain was similar to what you might expect from one.

It was hard work, much harder than what I'd done back in 2019, but it did me good getting away from home for a while.

It was pretty remote, there was never any phone signal, and the wifi in the caravan was volatile to say the least.

We played a lot of chess in the evenings, accompanied by some interesting conversations, mainly because there was nothing else to do.

But it was good, healthy even.

But the thing I found most challenging about it wasn't the physical work but the isolation.

It's not like I was alone all the time, but you're working by yourself on your own patch during the day.

It's just you, your thoughts, and the silence of the hills.

But I needed this more than I thought.

I needed to confront myself on everything that had happened in the previous 6 months.

And I did.

By the time I finished there, I was definitely in a better frame of mind, even if I didn't think it at the time.

I intended to stay in forestry until about May, but it didn't work out that way.

I went home one weekend to visit family and see Megan.

I intended to head back to Mull on Tuesday but got contacted by a company a few towns down the coast from me.

They were in the property business and needed someone to help manage their website and content creation.

They also had a marketing agency with several small clients.

After speaking with the owner, I felt positive about things. 

I went down for an interview that week and started the following day.

There were a lot of red flags that I chose to ignore when I went in for this interview.

They had no employees other than the owner and another director, which wasn't a good sign.

They wanted me to start immediately, which suggested I was about to get a load of work dumped on my desk.

I also had a bad gut feeling about the owner, but I gave him the benefit of the doubt.

So I told the co-owner of the forestry company that I had a work opportunity come out of virtually nowhere and that even though it was extremely short notice, I had to take it.

This wasn't good for them, and I knew it left them in a difficult position from a team point of view - the last thing they needed was someone leaving mid-season.

In retrospect, I wish I'd trusted my gut and just stayed with them, but I didn't know how things were going to turn out at the time.

So the next day after the interview, I started, and as I already suggested, got a load of work dumped on my desk.

The owner of the company appeared to have a history of buying businesses and then stripping them down for parts, metaphorically speaking.

My attention was split between their primary property brand and their marketing agency brands.

The problem was that their infrastructure was a mess.

And I think 'mess' is a generous word to use.

I hadn't seen anything like it.

Imagine hundreds of websites all split between different hosting providers, all with different passwords, different versions of WordPress, and different plugins. 

Combine that with the fact that every website had security vulnerabilities, and you have quite the problem on your hands.

The part that tripped me up initially was that I couldn't figure out why the owner had hundreds of websites as part of these agency brands when they clearly didn't have hundreds of customers.

Later, I found out that the owner (about ten years earlier) had engaged in building personal backlink networks (PBNs).

A PBN is when hundreds of websites are unnaturally linked to boost search engine optimisation (SEO). 

He had clearly done this before Google had sophisticated methods of identifying PBNs and penalising them for it.

The PBN represented a significant portion of the websites; he just never bothered to remove them.

Identifying the PBN from legitimate clients was the hard part.

On top of that, almost every website was built using some dodgy free plugin as its content management system (CMS).

I don't remember the name of it, but it definitely wasn't Elementor, Divi, or any of the other leading WordPress builders.

So, initially, I spent most of my days trying to organise this colossal mess.

After about a month there, I'd made a lot of progress. 

I managed to get their systems in order and contacted some existing customers to see if they needed anything updated.

I still had reservations about the owner, and in my first month there, I watched them repeatedly try to hire a sales representative, but no one would stick.

It's possible they had the same feeling I did and chose to listen to it, or maybe because it wasn't for them.

I don't know.

Regardless, the situation they were in was very telling.

I was probably the first employee to stick around for a while.

Even if something felt off, I was happy just to have some consistent, stable work.

On my 6th - 8th week, Megan and I were set to fly out to Portugal for a friend's wedding.

I remember finishing up that Thursday feeling good about things.

This was the beginning of April 2023.

We were coming out of a long winter; I was finally making a stable income in a job that I believed had potential.

Megan and I could now start thinking about moving out and getting on with our lives.

We went to Portugal and had a great weekend with family.

We returned home on Monday, and I wasn't at work until Wednesday.

I spent the Tuesday night planning my week.

Later that night, I got a half-baked text from the owner saying they were closing down part of the company (the marketing side) and moving in a different direction.

Privately, this was a real kick in the teeth for me. 

Angry doesn't even begin to describe how I felt.

I kept it together professionally and arranged to collect my stuff from the office the next day.

Ironically, when I went to collect my stuff, the owner was on a trip down in London. However, I had a long chat with the other director.

She assured me that the reason for letting me go had nothing to do with my performance but because of internal issues they were having with the property business.

In short, the owner had taken their eye off the ball, and his business was suffering as a result.

I remember walking in and the office being turned upside down - computers were pulled apart, desks randomly moved around, and stuff was everywhere.

On top of that, they were considering giving up their lease for the office.

It sounded like everything was a knee-jerk reaction to realising they were in the red.

Nonetheless, I believed everything the director told me that morning was sincere.

I felt relieved that my dismissal had nothing to do with my performance. However, I was frustrated that I was let go via a poorly written text message.

I immediately started applying for jobs in my industry like crazy, hoping someone else could give me a shot.

I got a little back.

Weeks later, I got a call from a well-known automotive company based in Glasgow.

They liked my CV and wanted to get me in for an interview.

About a week later, I arrived at their HQ, a beautiful big building.

I was very nervous.

I needed this job; everything depended on it, and I had no more time to spare.

The interview was with the head of web design and one of his associates.

They were a great couple of guys.

I remember trying to hold my composure and keep my nerves at bay.

The interview lasted 2 hours, and I had to present my work.

I left feeling good about it.

But I had a nagging feeling that I didn't meet the mark.

They were impressed with my work on design and user experience, but they also required someone with a knowledge of programming.

This was unique for a company like them.

Usually, there is one team for design and user experience and another for programming and deployment.

They expected each team member to have the capacity to do both.

While I could write minor bits of code when needed, I wasn't a proficient programmer and was upfront with them about this from the beginning.

This, combined with my uneven work history, contributed to them telling me that I didn't get the job.

However, at least the head of web design had the decency to give a phone call a few days later.

I took it in my stride and moved on, but despite my efforts, I didn't get another interview like that with any other company.

I heard back from plenty of companies but never reached the interview stage.

After this, I was out work for at least a month.

Then, a friend of Megan's family was gracious enough to give me a job stacking shelves at a retail store where he was the store manager.

I could only get 20 hours a week max, but it was a lifeline for me at the time.

I was there for about two months.

I'd seen jobs online for delivery driving with Amazon.

At that point, I'd given up on the prospect of getting a job in my industry; it seemed impossible; I didn't have the right connections.

Amazon always needed drivers, so I was hired on the spot since I fit the criteria they sought.

I got paid a day rate of about £140, minus £40 for renting the van.

I only intended to do this job for the summer; then I was hopeful I'd be going to uni at Strathclyde.

I ended up working this job six days a week.

It was a tough haul but still nowhere near as hard as the forestry work.

It was also summer, so there was the added benefit of that.

I hammered this job while I was there, but I knew it wasn't a long-term solution to my problems.

I eventually got a place at the University of West of Scotland on clearing after complications with my application to Strathclyde.

I didn't even get to give their summer school a try.

I left Amazon at the beginning of September last year in preparation for starting university.

Once I'd secured my place, I started looking for a more local job, something I could balance with university.

I got interviews for two jobs, one as a first responder in a call centre and the other as a store assistant at a local Aldi store.

My goal was to make sure Megan and I were at least working in the same area, so long story short, I ended up took a job with Aldi, even though the job with the police would have been much better financially.

Once I'd secured university and a job, Megan and I started looking for somewhere to rent.

Like I said previously, until then, Megan and I had been living together at my parent's house, essentially in my bedroom. 

It made sense, considering her work was a 15-minute drive from my house and close to an hour's drive from her house.

It was tight, and we were constantly on each other's toes, but looking back, that period was a testament to our relationship.

We really struggled to find somewhere to live.

Our budget was small, which meant we didn't have much leverage, and on top of that, the market was hyper-competitive for any rental at that time.

We had always wanted to move to Glasgow, but at that moment, we were just looking for the cheapest place we could get in Ayrshire.

By coincidence, one of my friends was buying his first house and moving at the end of November 2023.

His family owned the rental. 

It was in good condition and was within our budget.

We ended up moving in at the end of that November.

We were fortunate that my friend was happy to let us move in. I made no secret about my troubles over the last 18 months, and I knew they would see me as a risky tenant.

Regardless, we moved in and have been there since.

Life has been more stable since then.

I've been able to double down on uni and enjoy having a regular, stable job.

Outside of that, I'm chipping away at bringing Ambio back to life, hopefully for the last time.

On top of that, I'm working on some other businesses conceptually; whether I'll ever launch them is a separate conversation.

You would think I would have learned to give up and move on by now, but I'd always wonder.

Given everything I've been through with the company, I find it hard to say that's it and put it to bed. However, if I do get in a position this time where I know it isn't happening, I'll happily cut my losses and put it to bed.

And that summarises my story to date.

It's not pretty or a success story, but it is the truth.

Hopefully, with a few good decisions and some luck, I'll look back and say this was all worth it.

But maybe I won't, and knowing and accepting that as a potential for the future is an important truth to come to terms with.

I try not to look back and regret my decisions because those were the best decisions I could have made with the information I had at the time.

Of course, I would have done things differently. However, I'm grateful I've at least allowed myself to try new things, make mistakes, and understand business through real-world experience.

But what's the one thing you should take away from this story?

Two words: Fail Faster.

What do I mean by that?

My most significant error was being stubborn and not accepting that I was failing.

I should have pivoted sooner.

If I'd accepted and learned from what was happening, I would have progressed much more quickly.

Accepting failure doesn't mean you have to give up; it just means you have to acknowledge that whatever you're doing right now isn't working and that it has to change.

Rejection of this truth is where problems begin to surface.

Take action on new ideas and watch them succeed or fail.

If they fail, accept it, learn what you can and move on.

Seek truth; don't lie to yourself about where you are on your journey.

My Current Projects:

Ambio has pivoted to a software company. I'm currently building a new CRM platform and other business intelligence tools.

I also still offer services via Ambio Agency. I've also left links for that below.

Ambio: https://ambio.dev/

Ambio Agency: https://ambio.dev/agency/home

I'm looking forward to growing this business into the brand I always wanted it to be.

Thanks for reading my story so far.

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