At the end of the 2023 Summer, I was made redundant for the fifth time in 11 years. You could say, I’ve somewhat mastered the habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
In the weeks that followed, I reflected on my career history and reviewed over 15 years worth of notes. I was shocked and inspired to find that I’d worked with everyone from troubled teenagers to CEOs. I’d led endless workshops, helped launch five start-ups, created purpose driven-values on a global level, helped brands recover from complicated restructures, and over that last year alone I’d worked with the marketing departments of 27 global brands including Moncler, Adidas, Diageo, and Accor.
My journey had taken me from cleaner to Strategy Director and I realised that Founder was my next step. So I launched Anthem.
As a snapshot, Anthem works with higher order brands, visionary start ups, and small businesses with big ideas. We use a combination of coaching and workshops to help brands amplify their Collective Fluency and invest in their company culture; helping functions and stakeholders to collaborate effectively to find the stories that make them distinctive and help their brand rise above the noise.
Over Christmas I sat down at my desk to try and bring Anthem to life on a page. I crunched the numbers, unpacked its business operations, and analysed its target market. My mission? Create a sound business case in an effort to secure the Build Your Business Programme award.
I found out in early February that my application had been successful. It meant that Anthem wasn’t just a passion project, it was a business proposition that others could get behind. I was delighted. And it’s really going to help.
The first benefit is focused on content. In September we launched a new podcast called Strategy Shorts. Every episode is short, practical and packed with common-sense advice from leading minds from the world’s of marketing, brand strategy, leadership and team building. The Build Your Business Programme has enabled me to invest in a new camera and microphone allowing me not just to improve the show, but to expand the kind of content I can create including in person interviews.
The second is around advertising. There is some heavy lifting to complete first in terms of Anthem’s messaging and website, but shortly we’ll be in a position to experiment with broadcasting our message through ads. This is going to help the brand reach people around the world we otherwise couldn’t and could quite literally open the door to commercial success!
Without question, the support of the BIPC has been crucial. One-to-one coaching, networking opportunities, and access to the Build Your Business Programme are just some of the ways Anthem has already benefited and I am so excited to see what the future holds.
If you would like to follow Anthem’s story, please visit https://anthem.ooo
If you would like to follow mine, please visit https://www.linkedin.com/in/dandowman/
Here’s to progress 🚀