“Business is really simple. We make it so complicated. If you just take care of people, if you just want what’s best for them and you treat them like human beings—it’s amazing what will happen to your business,” says Wayne Mullins, founder and CEO of Ugly Mug Marketing: a marketing, social media, web design, and graphic design agency.

Wayne says one key to success is thinking of clients as people rather than transactions and getting personal beyond the job at hand. It all comes down to two humans connecting, he says. 

In this week’s episode, you’ll hear how Wayne and his team prioritize human connection with clients. And then Carol and Wayne take a step back to dive into his journey from landscaper to founder of a marketing company. 

They discuss the company culture he’s created and an idea he lives by: Discomfort is necessary for growth. And he tells us how he implemented that concept among his employees. You’ll also hear how he chose his employees’ wellbeings over the expansion of his company and the tough decisions that came with that. 

Wayne speaks candidly about the marketing industry and what he believes many agencies are doing wrong: Measuring results based on “vanity metrics” rather than true leads.

Learn more about Wayne Mullins and Ugly Mug Marketing.

You can find more information on all our episodes at Vertical Elevation, and you can find Carol on Twitter @carolbschultz or on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolbschultz/.