Meet AJ

After spending 8 years in a corporate environment with Intuit I felt lost. I was continuing to grow and get promoted through the ranks, but it was really hard to understand exactly how the work I was contributing was really helping that huge machine. I decided to take a position at Anchor Wave which is the local agency that I now own with Mike Schmidt. At Anchor Wave I was able to work directly with small business owners and I could clearly see the direct impact our strategies and efforts were having on their businesses. This was exactly what I needed in order to go all in on both our clients and our business.

Mike and I spent the last 18 years growing Anchor Wave into a successful and thriving agency, but I began feeling called to do more. Our agency has built over 1,400 sites and managed hundreds of digital marketing campaigns, but our impact was limited to our local area. A mentor of mine told me that if I wanted to continue to grow I had to have more impact. I knew the strategies we had implemented were desperately needed by other agencies and by coaching them we could truly have a global impact. We began teaching our strategies to agencies in the US, Canada, UK, Australia and they began using them with their clients. I truly believe small businesses are the lifeblood of local communities and It is extremely rewarding to see how the frameworks, processes and strategies are helping them win.

The truth is that teaching others has motivated us to grow as well. I take pride in the fact that we’ve built our agency to the point that we can still own it, yet not be actively involved in day to day operations. We own a business…not a job and because of that we have the time and financial freedom to spend our time focusing on our new challenge….coaching others to achieve the same freedom.