Pull Don’t Push

Originally sent out: 13/02/25

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It was my birthday yesterday; I turned 41.

Last year when I turned 40, it felt like a big milestone and in many ways it was.

I started Evergreen when I was 30, so as I turned 40, I had officially completed a decade of being self-employed, which was a satisfying feeling.

That said, as I turned 40 exactly a year ago, I knew that in my 40s, I wanted to go a lot further.

I wanted to use everything I’d learned and experienced in my 30s – all the highs, lows and realities of building an independent, boot-strapped business to be bigger and better in my 40s.

A year later, as I celebrated my birthday yesterday (in the office, at work as usual) I cast my mind back at the most incredible 365 days of my career to date.

Now bear with me, as I’m going to blow my own trumpet for a few sentences here.

In the past year:

I’ve navigated my business through an incredibly tough economic time.

I’ve fundamentally changed our business model for the better.

I’ve niched into a specific sector(home, garden and lifestyle), something few agencies are brave enough to do.

I’ve built an entirely new, far superior and vastly more experienced team. I’ve almost doubled my businesses turnover in the past 12 months.

Now of course it’s not just me. All of the above is only possible thanks to the incredible team I have around me.

But as many of you will be able relate to, as the business owner, ultimately the buck stops with us. We have to steer the ship, whatever the weather.

The responsibilities we embrace, the risks we take, the pressures we endure, that all sits firmly on our shoulders 24/7.

And it’s for these reasons and more that I’m damn proud of what I’ve achieved in the past 365 days.

Right that’s enough self praise for one newsletter!

As I look towards the next year of building Evergreen, I want to share the number one thing that I believe has made the biggest difference to my business since I turned 40.

I figured out how to pull not push.

I now pull opportunities towards my business like a magnet pulling metal objects towards it.

Whereas before, we’d be constantly pushing for opportunities, which is exhausting, often frustrating and highly unpredictable.

It gets even better.

I now pull talented individuals towards my business who want to work for us. Whereas before, we’d be pushing to attract and retain top talent.

How have I done this?

What is the magic ingredient I’ve discovered after turning 40 last year?

How have I fundamentally changed my business from one that needed to constantly push for opportunities to one that now pulls them in daily?

N + C + C

The biggest realisation of my professional career can be boiled down to three simple words.

Niche

Content

Consistency

Niche – In the past year, we’ve 100% committed to a niche. We will only work with home, garden and lifestyle brands.

Content – In the past year we’ve 100% committed to creating a wide range of content. From podcasts, to talk shows to behind the scenes content and even this very newsletter you’re reading now.

Consistency – In the past year we’ve 100% committed to absolute consistency, never missing a beat. New quality content released every single week.

Committing to a niche was painful and costly at the start, but we did it.

Committing to creating content religiously was hard and yes it’s exhausting at times, but we did it.

Committing to be as consistent as clockwork requires a dedication few can muster, but we did it.

N + C + C

That’s how I sum up the first year of my 40s and now that I’m 41, I plan on doing even more of the same.

So if your business isn’t where you want it to be or you think it could be bigger and better, just like I did this time last year then…

Think about your niche, who are you famous to?

Think about your content, what else could and should you be doing to stand out?

Think about your consistency, have you really dedicated yourself as much as you could?

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