Ross Hudgens is the founder and CEO of Siege Media, a content marketing agency specializing in SEO. 3x Inc. 5000 & Fastest Growing Companies in SD.
Q: What would you like to see your team accomplish in 2019?
We’ve been pushing hard to grow our video production services in 2019 and plan to continue on that path into 2020.
We have a lot of national clients, and we’ve realized that servicing them with video is often expensive given the cost of flying to them/bringing equipment. So, we’re working on building out a pipeline locally, which we’ve realized is harder than it looks on the surface.
Q: What were the most challenging areas in the early stages of the company’s growth?
Work-life balance was a challenge in early years. I worked really hard to get us going and not always at a positive or healthy level.
That said, I enjoyed a lot of that grind/effort and sometimes putting the nose to the grindstone is still enjoyable when a challenge presents itself. Probably not as much as I used to, though.
Q: Who is your role model or hero?
My father’s great work ethic always inspired me early on in my career. He always was working, whether on a house project or to put food on the table to provide for his family. That rubbed off positively on me in my career.
Q: What is your favorite book?
The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz.
Q: Do you use any specific method or system to run daily operations?
We currently use 1000ft for time tracking/operations.
Q: Why did you choose your present industry at this time?
My background is in SEO/link building, so was natural to stay in that arena with content marketing with an SEO focus.
Q: What is the best/worst moment you can remember in your career?
Best: Starting Siege Media and taking the plunge/risk.
Worst: I had someone at my first speaking gig say I didn’t belong to be up there on Twitter. It inspired me to improve and I frequently speak at events today.
Q: Looking back – if you could advise a younger version of yourself to do something different – what would it be?
Probably not move to Long Beach/move to a clearer tech center when I quit my job to start Siege. It was a fine city, but not the best move to start a company compared to a bigger #1 city.
Follow on Twitter: @RossHudgens
