How to Build a Creative Agency So Good It Markets Itself ft. Chad Cohen

21:58What's so funny is I went to a pop-up on Abbey Kinney a few nights ago with my fiance and it was for a store opening of this shoe store. And it was cool. They got a DJ, someone given free tattoos, drinks, but she goes, really thought we were going to walk away with some free shoes. I was like, no, we're getting invited. Dude, that's what Hoka did. I did a thing for Hoka like a month ago or whenever, not a month ago, for the LA Marathon. And they were giving those fucking Cielos out like hotcakes. Just getting them out there on people's feet. And then they had a room for people to raffle. And if they tried them on the treadmill, they didn't know they were going to get in a raffle.

22:41And then those people got shoes. But it's like, I feel like that was a really good moment. I could hear people talking. They're like, this is so sick. I'm fired up. They got a bunch of goodie bags and stuff. And people are a lot more inclined to post stuff that they got for free than that they paid for.

22:54Chad Cohen:that's another part of the recipe that we've kind of discussed in building community with brand is like the concept of surprise and delight as well if you can surprise people i think there's elements of people want more people will come back the challenge is then you need to keep surprising but i think but wait there's more yeah but yeah i think um that that's definitely an element of like uh the ingredients to building great community is like giving people an opportunity that they otherwise wouldn't have had themselves but then surprising them with things and just when And they thought that there wasn't more there is.

23:25Yeah. And I think about that too with the events that we go to with Sam for the creators. Like when we have those events, I feel like so many folks are in the room and you get this like infectious energy of just excitement and you feel just creatively fulfilled and we're not even making shit. We're just talking. Yeah. You know? And like you come out of there and you're like energized. Like, damn, I want to get my notebook so I can write something tonight. Because that community all together, it's like you all just kind of breed like a feeling in that room that's like you can't quantify. You have a common interest of sorts.

23:57And also going back to whoever's saying that it's overplayed, they're just not getting invited. They're not at the dinner. They're just jealous.

24:06Chad Cohen:Yeah. I think, I mean, yeah, I definitely agree with you there, but in part as well, like we, we often get brands that challenge us, you know? And I think that's also where we learn a lot. It's like when we go to a brand and we say, Hey, you should do this. And they turn around and they go, well, that's already been done or that's this or that's that. I think there's a lot of learning in that. And that's probably also something that I'd pass on and share is like, whether it's an agency owner or team or builder, or you're an individual freelancer or creative, like feedback truly is a gift. And I know that's cliche, but if you can take what you're learning from all the different people that you're speaking to, you're actually building knowledge to then put forward for the next thing.

24:43Chad Cohen:And you can take that stuff, the nuggets that you learned in one meeting that you had three weeks ago, you can actually use that three weeks later to redevelop and redesign a strategy for another brand that you're speaking to and for in a way in which you're building this cultural knowledge and understanding what is and isn't working from the perspective of someone that you're listening to and I think that that's really important because we're living in a world which is you know you're testing and shaping and AI and real and what is and what isn't um and I like by no means I'm scared of what's happening with AI I think it enhances anyone who can use it correctly but I think people are craving human connection.

25:19Chad Cohen:And that's why the word community is thrown around so much. It's because brands like Nike and all these massive brands, they've lost, they were, they had it for so long, but they've lost the ability to connect on grassroots level with the people. So the quickest way they think they can do that is now host a run club, bring community. But like, why would I as a consumer go to a Nike run club anymore? Like, I don't think my friends are going to be there. What are they going to do? They too big to give me anything. Do they care about me? They're so big. Whereas if you can find a way to like bring that in and you know bring a coach in that people really love to like bring it down the food chain to make it more real more human etc that's where i think these experiences really enhance everything i even saw represent is doing a watch party for the world cup like that is so it has nothing to do with the clothing but you know that i'd probably rather go to a represent watch party than a random other watch party.

26:15A hundred percent.

26:15Chad Cohen:Yeah, I think that's cool. And the reason I saw they did it for the England game. Sure. And like, I think that's yet again, that's like super authentic. And like knowing George, I think it's, it feels right for that brand and it feels right for him. And that's why I think they would pick up an audience. The second something feels wrong. So, you know, hosting a watch party, but there's no connection, like it's coming home, England, soccer i'm sure they played when they were younger it feels real but it's like if um maybe nike could do it but it feels too big it's like fordham's hosting a watch party for the soccer like yeah we love soccer but like why like do you know what i mean and we could curate and find a way to make it feel right and authentic but we'd have to do that in our messaging and that comes back to like some of the stuff that we've spoken to about building community and creating valuable assets and taking people down that journey.

27:08Chad Cohen:Like there needs to be a reason that someone wants to be a part of whatever you're building. And it can't just be, we need community. It's about the individual, not about what you need first. Now, when a brand comes to you and wants to work with you, do you do one-off projects or are you leaning towards, hey, the partners that we, or the brands that we like to partner with, we're looking at this as a much longer term partnership. We see that if we can spend six months to a year to a few years with a brand, we can really help develop their brand, their content, build community with them. And we look at it more so as a partnership or are you guys doing quite a bit of one-off projects with brands?

27:48Chad Cohen:Honestly, it's probably like 50-50 at the moment. In an ideal world, if you speak as like an agency founder or owner, you obviously want ongoing retainer work and know that you're producing great work for a brand and it's coming month on and month on. but the reality is is as quick as you pull on a retainer and someone on an ongoing relationship you'll lose them just as fast if you're not doing great great work so i think we focus project by project in terms of how we operate to deliver great results every single time we're doing something and that is challenging over time when you've got so many clients but at the end of the day like we will we will do both often our project work is more on the side of um production so shooting or yeah production and websites and design it's like we need to design this and create this website and that's a project in itself or we've got an event and we want you guys to capture it and produce all the assets off the back of it or we're launching a new product into the market in three months time what's the strategy for how we launch that and then what's the actual execution and campaign and push that out and that kind of ends there and then on a more so retainer basis always on that.

28:53Chad Cohen:Those are the conversations we're having. It kind of will often start in like strategy, like where are you now and where do you want to be? And then it'll move through into like, what are we going to do together to kind of take you to the way you want to be? And then how are we actively working alongside you as a team to actually get the results that you want to get? So it is 50-50. I enjoy working on, it's easier to do the projects where you go in, you shoot, you edit and deliver and you're done. But I actually enjoy embedding ourselves in our clients teams and trying to get results alongside them.

29:21Chad Cohen:You're more finger on the pulse. You understand what makes them tick. You can help them. The impact I feel is better. But as with anything, the closer you are to a client or the closer you are to the brand, the more you feel the highs and the lows as well. And the pressure is definitely there. Yeah. Especially when the checks get bigger. Oh yeah. So people, people see what you guys are got going on in Australia. You have about 37 employees, right? Yeah. You come over to New York to stake your claim in the United States market. how different has this been for you when you showed up in the city and you're like well we're here i i don't have my whole crew here obviously you have a great team in australia but what is that what has that been like and what has been the toughest part you think for being in a completely new country doing it i think first like for me and it's a big quite loaded question so i appreciate at?

30:13Chad Cohen:A lot of the growth and passion for what this has become has come from just me being a kid who just relentlessly wanted to build something sick. And somehow it landed up being this, but as we've evolved and kind of gotten deeper and deeper into what Fordham means and what we want to produce for brands, we're at the point now where we want to, as I said before, we want to put brands at the epicenter of culture and creativity. And I've always spoken about two things. So on a personal level, it's about always being the man in the arena and actually going after and doing the thing that I said I would do.

30:45Chad Cohen:And I think that's really challenging for a lot of people. And sometimes it's very challenging for me. And so I looked at New York as the opportunity on both a personal level and a business level to be the man in the arena. Like there is no place on earth, at least that I've heard of or come across, that is at the epicenter of culture and creativity. You walk out of your hotel, you walk out of your apartment, and you are bombarded with the most information, advertising, people hustling. Like if you are in New York, you have to be doing something like that's the reality. And so that was like, how do I put myself personally in a position to build something in what I think is one of the craziest cities in the world.

31:22Chad Cohen:On a business side of things, it was like, if we are going to be able to put brands at the epicenter of culture and creativity, as a brand, we need to be living that. So we need to be in the heat of all of this information, all of this culture, everything that's going on to really pull valuable insights into the strategy and execution of what we're doing with brands. So how do I feel about getting to the point now where that is truly happening? Honestly, I'm nervous and excited. My two favorite emotions at the same time. But also it's like incredibly nerve wracking. I think like I really back our team and we are obviously the Australian business is providing a lot of support to the US business as we've kind of building out the team here.

32:01Chad Cohen:But my role now is to connect with the right people, make sure we're in the right rooms, make sure the brand is being upheld to the same standard that we have over the last seven years in Australia, but then also finding ways to build and tap into culture in New York and through New York that we can also bring back home to magnify and amplify what we're doing back there. But New York moves a million miles an hour fast than Australia does. And Australia is not that slow. And so it's really interesting being now in a space that's like motivating, but intense. and you know i'm heading back to australia tomorrow for like almost two weeks and like i'm scared that it's going to be too slow when i get back home like that's the reality but i've learned so much and there's been so many amazing valuable insights in such a short period of time what four weeks in new york that i feel like what i'll be able to take back and then bring back with me i leave feeling inspired i'll leave feeling inspired when i come back because i'll have been able to give the team some really interesting, insightful moments and experiences and share that with them.

33:03Chad Cohen:But yeah, I'm definitely nervous for this new chapter, but at the same time, very excited. How has the last, how long have you been in New York? We've been, we were there three and a half weeks. And how have those last, specifically these last three and a half weeks been in the city? Crazy. Like genuinely crazy. I think, can I pull my phone out? yeah absolutely i'll uh i took a photo of this so often i find myself journaling on planes isn't that dude the ideas flow on the planes it's mental i think it's because you're up high man it's because you're up high there's also there's nothing to do facts it's nuts like i i feel like it's like right or right yeah i'm just picture books perfect what kind of picture books um no so i i kind of journaled whilst i was on the plane and i i release all of these things on substack so i it's like one of the things i've been doing for the last couple years which has been really interesting to see the support and like people conversing over it like there's nothing more i love i for a long long time there were two years of my life where i read a book a week and i think that that had one of the biggest impacts i've ever had like in any action or activity that i've taken reading a book a week gave me probably the most valuable insights and impact on my life that I've had doing anything else.

34:20Favorite book that you read in that two-year period?

34:23Chad Cohen:In that two-year period, one of the best books I've read was actually Amp It Up, which was a Ross Cadence suggestion. So if you haven't read it, Amp It Up. By? I don't even remember who it's by. Give me a little synopsis. The synopsis is basically like whatever you're doing right now, Amp It Up. If you think you're going at it full time, dial that focus. Be better. Do more for your team. Do more. and it hit me at a really serendipitous and important moment in what I was building. So that also works. But I think like, I love that, you know, Relentless by Tim Grover. That was one of my favorite books.

34:58Chad Cohen:Like great book. I love Shoe Dog. Like the whole - Shoe Dog's a good one. There are tons and I can share the list. But I, back to like my journal, right? I was thinking about like all the things that, I wrote 20 things in this journal in a list of like big monumental moments that happened within a three week period. Like we shot a campaign for a barn for the world cup, like three days after being in the city, nine days later, we were shooting a campaign, which was six figures for Raban in New York city. We're an Australian business. Like how, like if we weren't in that room at the right time doing the thing, that was impossible.

35:42Chad Cohen:It wasn't going to happen. And then, you know, even just like smaller things, like Max is a really good soccer player and Leon's Bagels is a client of ours. And we shot a sick campaign for the World Cup where Max was the guy dribbling a ball through the city. Like such a cool experience and none of that stuff. And we do amazing things in Sydney, but the magnification and how densely populated that city is, is genuinely how densely populated your opportunity is if you open your eyes to seeing it. And I always say it to our team. It's like, if you're on the streets in New York and you're carrying a camera and someone comes and speaks to you, like he could be a famous director, like talk to him and talk to whoever it is because in Australia, like that doesn't really happen.

36:24Chad Cohen:And every moment is an opportunity. And I've always believed that. And not even just an opportunity for you to take something, but it's a moment like an opportunity for you to share something, to learn a new perspective, to speak to someone. And that's one of the main reasons I stay in nice hotels. So it magnifies and amplifies the opportunity to learn and experience and shape your perception. So to answer your question and loop all the way back, like it was wild. Like there is nothing more I can say. It was a crazy three weeks. Where are you staying here? I'm staying at the one hotel. Sick. Are you one hotel in New York as well?

36:57Chad Cohen:No, so my favorite hotel in New York is Soho Grand. And funnily enough, for a very, very long time, I like admired George Represent. And it was pre his LA days. Like there were a lot of similarities and credit to him. he's done way more than me. Um, but like we were wearing black, black, black and whatever. And, um, it just happened one day, a friend of mine sent me his YouTube and I like religiously watched this thing. And, um, they were like, dude, George stays at the same hotel as you whenever he's in New York. I was like, no ways, that's crazy. And this was like from a past vlog. And I just kept staying there, whatever.

37:36Chad Cohen:And it was New York marathon a year and a half or two years ago. came down into the lobby and George was standing there. And that's how we originally connected. And it was at a time in my life where the only clothing I'd wear was represent. And it just happened that that day was so cold in New York and I didn't have any warm represent clothing that I was like, yeah, man, big fan of your brand. And I looked down and I had no represent clothing on. But, and even just that, like I left it in that moment. And I was like, I didn't want to be the guy, obviously like I admired the business they've built those boys.

38:06Chad Cohen:And I didn't want to be the guy that was like super, like, oh my God, I'm a fan. but I was genuinely like I loved all of their stuff and I left a dad introduced myself and later that afternoon we were walking through the city New York this is like this only happens in New York and we go into Kith walk upstairs to Kith treats when it was still upstairs and George is in the corner just eating Kith treats and I looked at him and I was like I didn't think you eat that stuff and we kind of connected and he was like yo dude what are you doing this afternoon and I was like oh going on a podcast and he turns around to me he goes well can I come watch and I was like what?

38:38Chad Cohen:George wants to come watch the podcast. He knew a few of the guys that I was on it with. And me being me, I was just like, yo, dude, do you just want to come on the podcast? And anyway, we podcasted with George and that was like the most New York, obviously like there was the most New York thing that could ever happen. And I think, would I have been that opportunistic if I wasn't in that city? I think there's something about that city that just makes you like wanted to be open to opportunities and take what's in front of you so i love it we need to get back back going back i'm going back in in august and i'm going for a week i'm so stoked it's just so happening that my friend ariel is visiting la the same week that like i'm going for a cousin's wedding boom and it she's like you can stay at our apartment i go oh perfect i go normally i just go for like three nights you know because hotels are expensive now we're going for we're going to go for a week sick you're lying well i'll probably be there so you're gonna be there yeah okay sick we'll have to link um being that you're from australia yeah there's i'm gonna blank on it what's the term tall poppy syndrome can you talk to us about your relationship with that how has that been you've built an incredible company 37 employees did you struggle at all with that growing up in australia it's definitely real okay and i think it's real in the uk as well and i didn't think it was real for a very long time until I spent a lot more time in the US.

40:03Chad Cohen:And that made it very real for me. And is that just because in the US, everyone is just like, grind, you're doing well, hell yeah. I think Australian, it's really hard, because I've thought about this a lot. There is potential that Australians work harder. Oh, maybe not New York. But I feel like, you know, a lot of the American cities to me feel a little bit transient, you know, like, people are there they're kind of working from home what do you do oh i kind of do this this this this like there's no like i'm doing this or there is but a lot of people are kind of like i'm fingers in multiple pies it's a little bit easier to be like float around la especially in la yeah i'm a dj i'm a bartender i'm an actor i'm an actor on the side yeah i just got back from love island but um and whether or not it's like comparing how hard people work i think like the attitude and I've only realized this in being in the US is like people want you to win here.

40:57Chad Cohen:Like there is an element of like, whether it's like the American dream or whatever it is, is like the feeling is that there is enough here for everyone to win. And if you win, like I'm happy for you. Whereas in Australia, I've found that there's almost an air, and I don't know if this is merely due to population because Australia versus the US is completely like chalk and cheese, but maybe there's an air of like, there's not enough for us all to truly win in Australia. And therefore when someone else is winning, it feels like it affects you. And coming to the US, like we see it in the content that we put out as well.

41:33Chad Cohen:So in Australia, I never, ever get stopped on the streets being like, hey man, like congrats on everything you're building. Like I watch your vlog and it's sick. I'm like fully subscribed and into it, whatever. 10, 15 people in New York this time stopped us and were like, congrats. A guy flew down from Boston, flew down? Yeah, flew down to come and meet us because he's inspired by what Max is creating for the brand. And that for me, like that doesn't happen in Australia because that's like an act of someone saying like, hey, you're better at this than me. And I want to celebrate you. And I want like, what can you share with me?

42:07Chad Cohen:And I'm like, dude, like, wow, thank you so much. Happy to share whatever you need. And so there is definitely an air of this tall poppy syndrome in Australia. And I think it's been amplified by me experiencing the other side of the world and seeing like when someone turns around to me and my buddies in New York, like, dude, you're going to LA and you're going on the 505 podcast. I listened to that. That's sick, man. Like, congrats. Like, that's so cool. And I think if I said that to some people in Australia, they'd be like, oh, cool, man. And I'd be like, oh, yeah, sick. That doesn't make me feel great.

42:39Chad Cohen:But yeah, there definitely is this element of like celebration of success in the US. And I think it's inspiring. and that's partly why I'm here is to kind of like use that inspiration and motivation the opportunity that this place brings but also I feel like at the same time like when people give you that energy you want to give people that energy back and that's like tying it even back into what we said about community like if you're there and you're giving people energy and you're giving them something that's greater than they otherwise would have been able to achieve themselves they want to do it for you anyway and it's not about the what did you give me and what did I give you relationship But I think that is like elements of life and elements of building.

43:18Chad Cohen:And I just, yeah, I think in America, there is definitely a bigger push for people to succeed. And it doesn't feel like the pie is small here. It feels like it's a pie to be shared. I agree. I think it's infinite. And we've said that forever. We've said that on the pod. I want to go back to when you first start the company, because now I think it's easy for a lot of people to see it and go, well, they're doing well. but I want to go back to when you were at zero employees and you said you know you originally were building an e-com watch brand and now you decide to go into like this agency model did you have did you have money saved I want to know like the nitty-gritty of like starting Fordham at that baby scale and did you have one client that paid the bills like I find that fascinating yeah to go back to that period yeah cool um so yeah obviously with the watch company when I was I've been building little businesses since I was 13.

44:08Chad Cohen:So 31 now. And so I've always, in comparison to my peers, had a little bit more disposable income to do things with just by nature of like wanting to build and not spending money on going out on weekends and all that sort of stuff versus just like, I inherently enjoyed building things. And so that set me up. I had a lot of big losses when I was younger as well. Like I had someone that I invested over$200 ,000 in as like a kid, that basically I lost all of my money. And that really shaped a lot of like future and how I've dealt with certain things and obviously has impacted the way in which I choose to make decisions.

44:42Chad Cohen:But there was definitely a time where I, when Fordham started, like I had a bit of the cash coming through from the watch business and I was able to be like, okay, is this the path that I want to go down? But I do hand on heart genuinely believe like if you back yourself to create something and you're truly passionate about it, it will work. It might not happen today, tomorrow, three months but you can push through and you can make something work and it might not look exactly like what you thought you wanted it to be but it will be something and so when Fordham started it was literally just relentless I've always been like top line revenue guy the bottom will work itself out and so it was just like relentless selling it was like I need to speak to 100 people this week because one of them is going to say yes and if one says yes this week one next week, one the week after and one the week after, I can pay a creative to do the work that needs to be done.

45:33Chad Cohen:And that's kind of always been my thing. But I've always said to myself, it's like, what am I skilled at? And what do I need around me? And what parts of this can I truly take on the best and then build a team around? And that was what I did earlier on. So did I have money to start this? Yeah, there was some disposable money. Did I raise money? No. Did I think I needed to raise money? No. Have I been tempted to raise money as like we've been growing and there's been like cash flow challenges with time, like absolutely. But for me, it was just like honing in on like what I knew to be true of myself and what I was trying to build at the time and just relentlessly making sure that I took every single action that I possibly could to make sure that it came off the ground.

46:13Can you talk about relationships and networking in a way that isn't transactional because in what we do, we see a lot of ads of these coaches or people putting out ads being like, oh, I just implemented this AI outreach system into my business and I'm getting clients like clockwork. And we call bullshit on it because like to work with a sick brand, it doesn't come from like sending out 500 automated AI emails you also talked about when you're in New York like I got to be in the right rooms and all that kind of stuff and and that I think someone might hear that and say well that sounds nice in in theory but like how do I even connect with someone to get in the room and how do I even get in the room in the first place So when you're first starting out, like, how did you go about building those relationships?

47:16And how important have the relationships that you've formed over the years, over the past seven and a half years that you said you've built Fordham, like, how important have those been to the business and, you know, keeping relationships with clients and then also getting new business for Fordham?

47:31Chad Cohen:100%. I mean, relationships are incredibly important. And I think, I mean, I can give you a live example that I shared this actually on my sub stack, but a live example, I was with my dad for his 60th birthday in Fiji a couple of weeks ago, just before I flew over to the US. And I boarded the flight and the guy in front of me was wheeling his carry on bag. And he's got a United, what's the top United status called global services badge on his bag. and his name was Richard Gordon. And I read the tag and I saw it just was like global services. And I'm Premier 1K because of all the flying that I do between Australia and the US.

48:09Chad Cohen:Which is like, what is that? That's like - You're right below? It's right below. Okay, okay. Which is, it's already like really challenging to hold. And I've had it for like three years just because the flight, international flights are massive. But like to have global services, I know how much more flying that must be, right? So I'm like, bing, community. Like, who is this guy? I'm like, well, what does this guy do? And that's like curiosity. So I've always been really curious. And so he gets onto the plane and I'm sitting, like I was in row. I actually got a, I upgrade, this is another put yourself in the room thing.

48:43Chad Cohen:So on the way to the airport, I was having a really, I got like the cab was taking me somewhere and like there's guys like whistling at the cab and stuff. He's whistling at people. I'm like, am I about to be abducted? Like what's going on? And it was just like really shitty. Like my suitcase had got thrown around and it was like a bad day. And I was leaving my family holiday early to fly over to the US. And in the back of the taxi, I'm like, nah, there's six hour flight. I wanna do it. I'm gonna bid for an upgrade. So I bid for an upgrade. It was$250, which is probably 160 US. And I got the upgrade.

49:15Chad Cohen:So I got to the front desk. She gave me the upgrade and I'm seat 1A or 1B or whatever it is. And as I'm hopping on, there's a couple of people in front of me had got on already. And as I'm hopping on to put my bag up into the locker, the guy who's sitting in the seat behind me looks at me and he goes that's for business class only i was like i'm sitting here and that was like just i was like i'm not even in like a way of like i was just like dude like what do you mean yeah yeah and so anyway i put my bag up and that was he was talking shit to you yeah he's like how are you sitting in business class yeah yeah and so i was like another passenger that was a great moment why don't you go to fucking 34a and shut up um anyway so my dad owns this fucking airline so shut the fuck up i'll get you kicked off the flight um and so we um i sit down and as i'm sitting down this guy richard gordon sits next to me the guy the global services tag right and i was like oh okay whatever like so i started chatting i was like oh like what's it you're sitting down you're like yeah yeah so i was like This is for business class.

50:18I was like, sorry, man, you can't sit here.

50:21Chad Cohen:No, and I said, oh, like I noticed on your bag, I was behind you when we're getting onto the thing. And I noticed that you're a global services guy. I was like, what's it like? Like, what do you do to have flown so much? So that's like the curiosity thing. And I guess at that moment, it was simply just like, how do you have that, right? Like, what is it? And, you know, wanting to know more. and that's like the curiosity that I have for so many different things and and I also use that curiosity to then shape what we do in business what we do in um in life and I've for a very long time I've said I I aspire to always live on the left hand side of a menu and not on the right hand side so everything that I do is to be able to pick whatever I want for me myself my friends my family etc and not have to worry about what it costs and not in like an arrogant way at all but it was just like simply I want to work hard enough and do enough with my life that if I want to experience something and do something with the people I love or myself, I'm able and capable to do it.

51:16Chad Cohen:And a lot of that has been shaped through curiosity, meeting the right people, you know, spending the$250 to be in business class because at the time I wanted to be comfortable, but then how do I make that an opportunity to be greater? So sit down next to this guy and we start chatting. He says, well, you know, I do a lot of flying. I work for this company and this company. And, you know, over the years, I've been doing this for so long. I do 20, 30, 40, 50 flights, whatever it is and we start chatting i go well i'm he's like well where are you off to and i was like well i've left my family holiday early i'm flying over back home i'm home for 24 hours and i fly over to new york my company's officially starting there i'm really excited he goes no ways i'm from new york i was like great um chat chat chat chat chat i've got a house in connecticut a house in new york and a house somewhere else and i was like ah the old connecticut west village combo.

52:05Chad Cohen:And at that point, yet again, just geography, you kind of know that this guy is, you know, he's, he's doing something, right? And so we get talking and then yet again, curiosity, culture, what goes on in the city? Like, oh, so like, where's your favorite restaurants? Like, do you have any recommendations for me? I've got a list I enjoy in the city. Happy to share with you. Yet again, experiencing things, my own knowledge bank. And this is how I've forged and created relationships with people that are significantly ahead in this game than I have. It's like having the knowledge and the curiosity and building up that bank of opportunities to connect with people through just being curious.

52:40Chad Cohen:And I sit down and he's like, so like, what's one of your favorite restaurants? We got chatting and I was like, well, you know, like one of the restaurants that I've really loved pretty much every time I've been there is Via Corotta. And he goes, ah, Via Corotta, yes. I love that restaurant too. He goes, let me tell you a funny story about Via Corotta. He goes, my farm in Connecticut actually provides the tomatoes for Via Corotta. And that is the exact perfect example of what happens if you open your mouth and have a conversation with a stranger, no matter who they are, what they do, what you think they do, just have the conversation.

53:17Chad Cohen:It's honestly not that scary. You never know where it's going to be. And this is a really small example, but he turned around to me at the end of the flight and he said, it was so nice meeting you. Let me know if you ever want to stay at my place in Connecticut. it. Let me know if you want to stay in my place in West Village. If you ever need a reservation at Via Corotta, which is impossible to get a reservation at, he's like, don't worry, I'm very close friends with Jody. And Jody's the owner. And how their relationship started was he was sitting with his wife just before COVID in the restaurant.

53:44Chad Cohen:And Jody came over to them and asked, oh, like, do you enjoy the food here? And she did it as if she was another patron. And he turned around and he was like, oh, my tomatoes are better. Wow. And that's how he started selling tomatoes to Via Corotta. No way. What a story. And even just that in itself of like building that story and being able to share that with you guys is an opportunity to connect. And I think that's what it's like. Building a life of stories is another thing that I always take away is like, how do you create this? How do you curate a life that is rich enough in experiences to share with people your thoughts?

54:22Chad Cohen:And networking and connection building doesn't have to be transactional. There just needs to be some level of value. And I've always said, people often ask me like, how have you had your mentors over time? And how have you built up that group? For a long time, I had like a mentor for each element of my life and they were like a specific guy. And that's kind of shifted with time. But I truly believe you might look at someone that's 20, 30 years ahead of you in business or better creative than you are or someone who's podcasted better than you guys have. But at the end of the day, there is something that you've learned in this room from someone else that you can share with someone who's done this so much longer than you that they will find value and connect with you over.

55:00Chad Cohen:And then it's just about how do you continue that relationship? And I often talk about my spider web, like once you're in, if there's an opportunity for us to connect and build and do great things together, I try to keep you there. I love that. Yeah, that's an amazing story. It's so interesting. I could so see that man's wife just being like, God, there he goes about the fucking tomatoes again. Does this every time we go out. We've got another stranger staying at our house this week. that is so fucking funny dude oh that's amazing yeah what about what about in now that you've been in new york what has been the hardest part about growing the company on foreign soil because i think a lot of people want to go to new york i mean i i think i might even want to live in new york for like a year at some point because with the production company like literally as we speak right now i am sourcing three guys for a job in new york that like we're not there and we're just gonna produce it and oversee it but i get hit up all the time to go to new york and it's like now we have this little web and i'm like i'd be so sick to be bi-coastal and like have an apartment me my business partner can fly over to and just know that it's there and it's like a home and obviously it makes sense but what has been what has been like one of the tougher parts about being over there i think the hardest thing for me being not bi-coastal but on the other side of the world is definitely time zone.

56:20Chad Cohen:Like there's two hours of crossover with the team in Sydney in business hours. And the hours after business hours that work are usually the evenings in New York. And everyone wants to network in the evenings in New York. Like dinners are a real thing. So then I'll go to a dinner and then I've got Australia being like, yo dude, what's going on? And so for me, it's definitely communication piece with the team back home, which is so integral and important for us building. But at the same time, it's like doing business in multiple locations. Like I can't tell you I'm an expert. I'm literally learning right now and it's hard.

56:51Chad Cohen:It's really challenging. And I think it probably comes down to, and I'm learning this live, but the right people, like having people that you can trust in each of those places to really help embrace and build upon your values and what you're trying to do on your mission within the company, because it's very hard to do it yourself. Now, can you speak to, and maybe this isn't the same, but maybe it's similar. Can you speak to someone who is in a smaller town, maybe somewhere in the US, but they want to build their business or break into a larger city, but maybe they don't have those relationships with somebody else that is living in that major city.

57:30Can you speak to that creative?

57:32Chad Cohen:Honestly, I would just say, if you've got an urge to do something, do it and it will work out, but just be willing to work incredibly hard and open up 20 times the opportunities you otherwise would. And that naturally happens by putting yourself in the room yet again. Like if I was a creative moving to a new city, I mean, Max did that. Max moved to Sydney to be able to do what he does. But even in general, like put yourself in the coffee shop and work and speak to the person next to you and do that all day, every day until you make it what it needs to be for you. Because if you are coming from a smaller city, the opportunities are just less.

58:09Chad Cohen:Like it's less densely populated. There's less budget because whoever's targeting that specific area is not spending as much. So I think what you, yes, take the leap, take the risk. And, but you have to know that a bigger city demands more of you. And that's just the reality is because the fish in the big city are just bigger and they're more relentless. They're more cutthroat. But if you're someone who's willing to take the gamble on yourself, do it. As someone who has 37 employees, what have been those few key hires that like really moved the needle for Fordham? There's been a lot. I mean, I find staff, to be honest, really challenging.

58:47Chad Cohen:Like it's definitely not my, like this is the first time I've built a company that's had a lot of staff. And so, you know, when I get a great staff member, I learn what that feels like. But when I lose a great staff member, I feel it afterwards rather than knowing what that feels like. And I'm still in that phase and stage. And I'm really trying to learn. But some of the, I mean, one of the most pivotal hires I hired was Louise, who's our chief of staff. And basically the goal for me was to get to a point at which I could float. That was the word we used to build the business, create relationships, create opportunities, but also drive the vision of what this company looks like moving forward and the sorts of people that we would hire, not necessarily the individual, but the sort of individual that we would hire.

59:29Chad Cohen:and the chief of staff role for me was someone just below where I sit within the company org chart that could deal with the majority of the challenges or problems and if they needed to be escalated get escalated to me but that hire one is expensive and to the level of trust by nature of how much access they have to information is a big one and that's like letting go so I think the best hires I've made are the ones that I felt like I can let go of valuable information and resourcing to allow that individual to do a better job than me in what that role particularly is. And sometimes, unfortunately for me, at least in my own experience, is once you relinquish that control and you give someone that trust and it doesn't land up in the way in which you would have, it's like my fault.

1:00:15Chad Cohen:I was the one who hired them and that hurts. And so it's this battle for me, it's always been this battle of like putting the right person in the right seat, giving them enough accountability and responsibility to see them shine and truly backing them to be able to do that and finding any way you can to make that happen. But I'm still learning. Like I find people are the thing that I'm trying to get better and better at because transparently, like I've lost great staff over the years. And that's partly one of my regrets. But at the same time, it's also something that is natural in any company.

1:00:45Chad Cohen:You know, as people grow, as they see opportunity, I think Fordham has been an amazing place for people over time. but at the same time, like it gets to a point where people want to move on. And sometimes that's really sad. Um, and so often like it is for me, like there's, there's guys who have left Fordham who I am still so sad about. And like, I still have so much love for who they are and what they brought to the company because the company would not be the same without them. But I want to know how I can be better at it. And that's something that I constantly search for. I think that's the hardest part about being the boss is just the dealing with the people.

1:01:18It's so hard and like like retaining great talent. 100%. You know what I mean? What have been some of the growing pains that have surprised you? That maybe like you didn't realize were there as the company was making more revenue and as the team was growing that you could share for a founder that has a little bit lower of an employee number that's growing like a weed.

1:01:39Chad Cohen:I think one of the things that surprised me the most was how much little money I earned for so long. Like knowing that with the amount of work that I was putting in, it still took for it took so long it was on it took five and a half years until i paid myself a salary that was in line with what i was earning before i took the jump into going to entrepreneurship um brother i feel that like it's hard yeah do the bank bank account feels big i don't feel big yeah um and that that i think was really challenging and and in ways demotivating because like you are you you're not just doing that for yourself you're doing for the greater purpose of what you're creating and the impact that you do for brands.

1:02:16Chad Cohen:But at the same time, when you're working incredibly hard, you want to be able to reap the rewards and feel it. And I think that was something quite challenging and surprising for me. But on more less of a personal level and more so on like a business level, I think how quickly you need systems, processes and structure really creeps up on you if you don't have them in place. And so we've been through waves and periods of time where we've experienced really amazing growth, and the systems have worked. And all of a sudden, and the systems just simply do not work. And that downtime in a way of not being quick enough to communicate with clients or not collecting data in the right way, or not automating signature on a proposal through to an invoice being sent and that being reconciled so that the job can be booked in.

1:02:59Chad Cohen:Like moments like that, where your systems haven't caught up to where you wanna be, I think are detrimental for businesses. And it taught me a big lesson and continues to as we grow. But I just say like, and often I'm asked this like in the early phases and stages, like creatives will reach out to us and they'll go from like their individual team into a team of two, three or five. And they go, is it worthwhile setting up this system right now rather than having an Excel spreadsheet? And I'm like, dude, trust me, do it. Like set yourself up as best as you possibly can right now because it does come back to bite you if you don't have that in place.

1:03:32Chad Cohen:So I think that's probably been one of the biggest surprises. I think you hear of it and you're sold all of these products and you know that people are buying them, but when you're in it and you just wanna be relentless and doing the thing, you kind of lose sight of that. And I think it bites you in the bum quite quickly. Can you give me three of the top systems that have saved either massive time, money, or came and bit you in the ass that you're like, this had to change? Whether it's like invoicing and you're like, I use this software now and this has massively made our lives easy. We've just, I think the biggest thing that helped us get from where we were, like when we, between like two and eight million, I think for us was using monday.com.

1:04:10Chad Cohen:and I don't want to plug monday.com, but it served us really, really well. It was having a system that actually tracked all of the work in one place that was accessible by the whole team. It wasn't just like me telling this person they needed to do this task, coming back to the task list. And when the whole team could see the world in which we were living in and provided a great platform for us to do great work. And why I bring that up is because we've just built our own proprietary software to do exactly that, but in the way in which we need it to work. And I wouldn't have made that investment if I didn't think that that was like the thing that really will propel us from where we are today to take the next step.

1:04:45Chad Cohen:And then the other thing is just as a founder, I think it's very easy to lose track of your finances. And so having, whether it's someone in-house finance or someone that's a partner that understands the day-to-day outgoings and incomings of what your business is doing. I think as you grow, the revenue starts to grow really quickly, but so too do your expenses. And so just understanding cashflow is really important, but that's basics. I love that you brought up that you've been getting stopped for your YouTube channel. And I'd love to know why the decision to go all in on YouTube. We talked about it before we started rolling, but you're doing it differently.

1:05:22You don't have a product that you're selling through YouTube. And how valuable has the YouTube channel been to, you know, gaining new business and fostering relationships? 100 % well I guess if we go back I think it was in November

1:05:39Chad Cohen:November 2025 was when I made the proper decision we we were we were vlogging for about a year before that but it was with Matt who funnily enough is now the creative who has moved from Sydney to start our New York office which is a side note very exciting in his interview he said to me one day it's my dream to work in New York and we've been able to make that that's one of my career highlights myself is to be able to make that possible for him to move over. But Matt was part-time client work and part-time my brand in building the YouTube. And Matt's an incredible creative. Like every single one of our old school vlogs was like a literal movie.

1:06:15Chad Cohen:Like people watched the Go On More Ultra vlog that I did when we were with Nick Bear in Austin. It was a good vlog. Thank you, bro. And it was like, it was like a little mini movie, you know, like it was shot and so highly produced that it aligned with what we were as a brand as Fordham. But it was split and I hadn't made the full commitment to actually building the behind the scenes of our vlog. And then came Max, who's sitting in the room with us now. And Max sent me a LinkedIn message in, must have been late October, 2025. And he said, hey man, along these lines, he's like, hey man, I've been building my own YouTube.

1:06:53Chad Cohen:Here it is. I want to do this, but I want to do it for you. I'm currently on scholarship at college in, where were you? Missouri, South Carolina. And I'm from New Zealand and I want to do this for you. And I said, great, that works. Meet me in New York in two weeks. I'm going to be running the marathon. Come and vlog for a week with us. You vibe us, I vibe you, and you've got a job. And it was like this serendipitous moment of like one person reaching out to me and being like, hey, I'm doing the thing. I want to do the thing for you. And I think I can get you from here to here. I know that a person that's this close to me needs to be relentless and they need to be on the go real quick because like that's just how we move.

1:07:38Chad Cohen:And so it was a big decision on a personal level as well. Like we had to vibe check each other. But the fact that this guy would fly to New York, stay with us for a week. And it was a weekend, I think it landed up being, shoot something, deliver it, and then show me what he could do. delivered and I was like this is the guy and so our vlogs have very much changed they are still cinematic and mini movies in a sense but one of Max's biggest things was making these vlogs more of like a personable story so people can can actually connect with me in the videos and yes it is the behind the scenes story of who I am but what's most important to me is it's the behind the scenes story of what we're building and what we're connecting and who we're connecting and what we're creating for brands and the experiences we're creating for individuals and the experiences that I'm creating for myself, which is aspirational for some people that are just starting out.

1:08:33Chad Cohen:And very quickly, did I start seeing the results of that? It first started in a sense of like, you know, people reaching out on Instagram being like, hey, found you on YouTube. Just wanted to say like, thank you so much for putting out that content. I'm not in the city, but I'm a creative in Amsterdam and a buddy of mine has a brand in New York. I think you guys should connect because I saw you're starting your company in New York. And I was like, hmm. And this was early. Like I was sending Max screenshots every day of people reaching out to us. And in that moment, I was just like, one, I took the risk because obviously it's a full-time salary.

1:09:09Chad Cohen:Like Max's job is literally to document behind the scenes of what we're building at Fordham. It's not like I'm hiring someone to come and shoot for a day that I've curated to be the day. And I think that's what makes it real. But I inadvertently think that that's what makes people want to be a part of what we're building. And so showing the true elements or as much of it as we possibly can, the rooms that we're in, the people we're meeting, it's enticing for brands to know that if they're going to work with Fordham, they're not just working with myself and the team that's creating this work, but they're working within an ecosystem of what we're creating every single day so that the value that we can share with them is far greater than just, hey, we're Fordham.

1:09:49Chad Cohen:We've shot for a bagels brand before. You're a bagels brand in another city. So let's do the same with you. No, well, we're Fordham. We're in the room with all these incredible founders. We're creating, curating and creating amazing experiences across so many different industries. You want to meet that guy. I probably know him. In fact, you know I know him because you've seen it on my vlog. And you want to do a collaboration with his clothing brand in your bagel shop. Well, like, let's make it happen. And so there's this element and opportunity for brands to kind of live in our world rather than enter our world by having a pay us.

1:10:22Chad Cohen:And I think that that's incredibly attractive. So Max is also transparently comped on the growth in our channel. And I think that that's really important as well. So as the channel grows, so too does he, but that for us, then inadvertently comes back to Fordham as well. So I think in the last, you know, six to 12 months this week good for max but he's been an amazing investment it's been great and like we we're already talking about like how does max do this for more people and how do we provide this to other people and it's his dream eventually to have an agency that allows him to do what he's doing for me but for lots of people so that's something that i want to help him curate that's sick and i think there's a big need for that i think a lot of founders like want to start being a little bit more forward-facing and showing the behind the scenes because like you said it kind of humanizes the company and doesn't make you just like everybody else.

1:11:09Which is awesome.

1:11:10Chad Cohen:100%. You brought up something on the pre-show call, which is a lot of people think about entrepreneurship and they think it's really hard. But you look at it, of course it is difficult, but you talk about keeping promises to yourself and the confidence that that brings into not only business, but every day, everything that you do in your life. So I'd love for you to talk about your life right now and how you look at, you know, what you do day in and day out. Of course, there's these, you know, big wins that we all experience, whether it be, you know, finishing a new project or landing a new client.

1:11:50But talk to those like little wins that you've been you've been having in your life and how that has helped build your confidence. and yeah.

1:11:58Chad Cohen:One of the ways I have built confidence in myself and what I'm building and pretty much in everything that I do is committing to small things every single day that I know make me feel better as a person. And transparently, as I said on the pre-show call, life has been so busy right now that I've felt that I've dropped the ball in some of these small things that I know make me feel good and I think there is a beauty in being okay with that but at the same time if I know that that's those are the things that make me feel energized and positive and excited in small moments I think they are incredibly important and so for me it was a period of my life and it has been for a very long time but as I said recently it's been challenging just with you know flying over to New York doing LA like the intensity of thought in trying to actually make the company happen to do these little things.

1:12:54Chad Cohen:Sometimes they've slipped. But for me, it's like drinking a certain amount of water a day. It's reading 20 pages of a book. It's meditating and it's gratitude journaling. And those are the couple of things that I felt and training, sorry, making sure that I move every single day. Those are the things that I can literally write down on a piece of paper every day. And at the end of the day, come by and just tick, tick, tick, tick and that moment that you have to yourself to be like I said I was going to do this today and I did it I said I did just going to do this today and I did it I said I was going to do this today and I did it that small act and moment that you give to yourself upon reflection and looking at the periods of my life when I felt so confident in myself and so confident in what I was building it directly correlates with the period in my life where I upheld the promises that I made to myself and I think anxiety and I'm not one to speak into it but anxiety and a lack of clear direction can come from not being consistent in the minor small moments that you have each day and I think if you start the day off by doing things that are meaningful and matter the most to you you are more capable and more able to be the person that you wish to be for those around you and I've seen that to be really true in the moments of life that I've felt my best.

1:14:14I've been on a consistent streak in the gym, not every single day, but like three days a week, getting back into it for five weeks. Quick gun show. It's starting to show. Yeah. And so it's funny because I was talking to my fiance and she's like, man, you carry yourself a little bit different when you're consistent in the gym. And I'm like, I just think everybody does. I feel more confident now that I'm five weeks of being consistent in the gym than I was in the previous month or two months before I started being more consistent. And I think it's so true. And it doesn't have to be, I think you can see the social media stuff and you can't, and I think we've almost gone too far down the road of like over optimization and feeling like you need to have an hour, two hour long morning routine before you can even get into work because you need to check all these boxes, do all these things.

1:15:12But to your point, it's like, it doesn't have to be like that. It's did you did you spend some time to meditate or have some gratitude, which takes five minutes? Did you read? You know, it doesn't have to be 20 pages. Could be, you know, did you read for 10, 15, 20 minutes, whatever, whatever it is that you can do to drink enough water like or move your body doesn't have to be a two hour perfect training session. But it could be, you know, going for a 30 minute walk outside or something. Did you get movement in those little things that if you can continue to check off those boxes, little wins every day?

1:15:44Like those for sure are what build the confidence. I have found that for myself as well. Definitely. Yeah, man. Dude, this has been an epic episode. Ladies and gentlemen, if you're still here, please hit the subscribe button, drop us a comment, leave us a like. That's been episode 213. We'll see you guys all next week. Peace.