Our Founder, Nikki Lindgren's Professional Story

We love Exploding Topics and when Nikki was given the opportunity to be featured on their site, she jumped!

Here’s the Q&A that went down.

Exploding Topics: How did you come up with your business? 

Nikki: My dad's experience as an entrepreneur taught me a valuable lesson. After being fired, he built his own successful auto body shop in Pennock, Minnesota. His drive inspired me.

I grew up with two competing ambitions: to climb the corporate ladder and to build my own business.

By my mid-thirties, I had spent a decade in DTC brand marketing. After a layoff, I decided to chase my dream of starting a fashion brand. After a year of hard work, that venture didn't work out.

So, I pivoted. I took the experience I had and launched an agency. We help emerging DTC brands acquire new customers.

Exploding Topics: What market research did you to do validate your idea?
Nikki: I did very little market research. The numbers showed the odds were against me. I knew there were over 18,000 new agencies with two or more people in the USA alone.

Instead of research, I focused on action. I joined an agency owner mastermind group. I built a professional network of complementary service firms. This established trust and authority, which got the ball rolling with new clients.

We didn't rely on data; we relied on execution. I knew my personal level of care was a key differentiator, and it's a value I built the company on.

Exploding Topics: What’s been your biggest “win” so far?
Nikki: Our biggest win is the growth we've driven for our clients. On average, we consistently exceed their monthly business projections.

Client growth directly fuels our own. There is nothing more rewarding than surpassing expectations. That is what keeps our team motivated and hungry for more.

Exploding Topics: What was your #1 growth channel or tactic?
Nikki: We are a performance marketing agency that does a terrible job with our own marketing.

That said, our biggest growth driver was honing our positioning. We pivoted to become the dedicated growth agency for beauty brands. This focused approach allowed us to dial in our efforts.

We now buy ad placements in industry publications and on relevant podcasts. This has created traction and a steady stream of inbound leads within our specific industry.

Exploding Topics: What’s the one piece of advice you’d give to someone starting out?
Nikki: A client of ours likes to say, “You can’t microwave growth.” It happens on a slow cooker timeline. That has been the defining lesson of our first three years.

Starting out in January of 2020, my COO and I were incredibly ambitious. We created aggressive financial forecasts for the first three years of the agency. We expected a much faster trajectory for both our revenue and client list. We thought we could sprint to the top.

The reality was very different. Living through that period, watching a much slower pace play out, was really tough. There were frustrating moments and even some depressing ones because our reality wasn't matching our plan.

I learned that starting something new takes time, and patience is key. We had to understand that slow, steady progress was still progress. We also learned that you have to be comfortable saying "no." Not every client is the right one, even when the money is on the table. Accepting just any client can derail your long-term vision and damage your ability to deliver high-quality work.

The first three years weren't a sprint. They were a marathon of learning to be patient, strategic, and disciplined. This is how we built a foundation that will last.