We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Chris Hagan. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Chris below.
Chris, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
So, I would have to say the most meaningful project is the one I’m working on right now called “The Freedom & Honor Walk”. It’s a charity walk where I’ll walk all the way across the USA from the 9/11 Memorial in New York City to Coronado Bay in San Diego, California where the US Navy Seals train. It’s roughly a 2,800+ mile walk that I’ll be doing to help raise money for Folds of Honor.
The project actually came about as a result of something one of the owners said to me late one evening at the office that got me thinking. 2A Marketing isn’t a very big agency and Jon, one of the owners, said to me one night, “I don’t really want to grow into a massive agency, I like the dynamic we have with the group we have right now.” The response I had in my head was, “Umm… Yeah, well that’s great Jon but I kinda wanna keep selling.” You see, my job, as the President of Sales, is to keep new business coming in and if I keep doing that I’ll eventually overload the staff and we’ll have to hire more people to handle the additional work or the existing staff will be overworked and they’ll leave. So to me that comment meant no growth for the company or me. I knew that wasn’t exactly what Jon meant but it got me thinking. I needed to find a way for the agency to make money with projects that we could facilitate as a staff of our current size. So, I went home and started working on new promotional ideas we could pitch to customers. I came up with five concepts and pitched them to the owners and they loved the ideas. I figured we should start with the hardest one first because if we could do that one we could certainly accomplish the other four. That’s how “The Freedom & Honor Walk” came about. Now I meet with Folds of Honor on a weekly basis to discuss strategy and how we get this massive project off the ground. We’ve captured the interest of some rather sizable companies thus far, so things are looking good. One step at a time…
You can learn more about “The Freedom & Honor Walk” via this link: https://freedomandhonorwalk.com
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
My path into the Broadcast / Sales / Marketing industry was an interesting one for sure. As a kid I was absolutely terrified of public speaking. When it came time to read out loud in class I was the kid who would count to see how many kids there were before me then count the paragraphs in the story to find the one I was supposed to read. I’d pre read it so I didn’t sound like a fool when it was my turn. I was pretty much like that until about 7th grade when we moved to a different state. My Dad worked for in the airline industry for TWA and we moved all over the country so I was essentially forced to be outgoing, I had no choice. I was born in Dallas, Texas and we moved to St. Louis, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Florida, Pennsylvania and finally to Kansas City where I’ve lived since 1986. I attended 6 different schools in 5 years and 3 different High Schools in 4 years all in different parts of the county. I got over my fear of public speaking in the process and ultimately became the President of my Senior Class. I went to college at Northwest Missouri State University and got my degree in Broadcasting and worked for several different radio stations. I started behind the mic as an On-Air Personality and soon realized that the money was in Sales. I met the love of my life and made the jump to sales because I wanted to get married and have a family. That path ultimately lead me to where I am now, the President of Sales for 2A Marketing.
Everything I’ve done in life so far has helped prepare me for my current position. Too often in this industry the “Creatives” and the “Sales” side of the industry don’t always agree but they need to realize that each side needs the other side. Unfortunately not everyone sees it that way. Early in my radio career, when I was on the creative side, I had a Sales Manager come up to me and tell me, “If it wasn’t for us you guys wouldn’t have a job!” His arrogance really frustrated me and I looked right at him and replied, “Well, if it wasn’t for us you guys wouldn’t have anything to sell.” I tell every client I meet with now that I’m lucky and blessed to be able to sell the abilities and talents of the people I work with. They make my job much easier. So, my statement from all those years ago really rings true today. If it wasn’t for the “Creatives” I wouldn’t have anything to sell.
The coolest thing about 2A Marketing is that it’s a family of creative people all working to solve a problem for the client. We don’t have cookie cutter proposals with “Option 1” or “Option 2” we customize everything we do to meet the unique needs of our clients and that’s what makes this company so much fun to work for. We look for real answers for our customers.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
When I was 16 years old I flatlined… That was it, my life as as I knew it was over. The worst part was that my parents were right there and they heard that awful tone from the heart monitor the moment I flatlined. I found out, the hard way, that I’m violently allergic to the sting from fire ants. I was 16 years old and we lived in Florida at the time and I was outside walking my dog when it happened. I was barefoot, like everyone else in Florida, and I got stung by about 10 to 15 of those nasty little suckers and it ultimately stopped my heart. I guess it gave me a slightly different outlook on life. I could either continue to be afraid of public speaking or I could face the challenge and move forward. I ultimately embraced my fear and turned it into a career. Now, I help other people and companies on a day to day basis confront their challenges in business and offer solutions to their problems with solutions in marketing.
I’m also a member of “Youth Speaker University” and I’m pursuing my goal of being a motivational speaker for middle school and High School aged kids. That’s when my life changed so I felt like I could help kids around the same age. There’s far too much negativity in the world today so it’s a way for me to use my experience and give back. Josh Shipp, the founder of Youth Speaker University, mentioned that “every kid is one caring adult away from being a success story.” His speech about Marbles is fantastic! Just go to YouTube and type in “Josh Shipp Marbles” and you’ll see what I mean. I thought I could use my flatline experience to help other kids see that there is so much opportunity in front of them and not to give up. If I could be that one caring adult then perhaps I too could help change a kids life. So that’s why I joined “Youth Speaker University” and that’s why I use my position to speak to kids as much as I can. It’s so rewarding to connect with the kids… So I guess you could say my resilience helped me turn my fear into a career.
Any fun sales or marketing stories?
There was a brand new brewery opening in my home town and I really wanted to earn their business. I had a fool proof marketing program that I knew would work for them I just needed to get in touch with the right people so I could make the pitch. The business was new and they were literally gutting and old brick building and starting over so there was no phone number to call no address for mail yet, no website and no email. The only thing they had was Facebook and I didn’t want to tip my hand by putting a comment on one of their posts so I sent a few short messages via messenger but I kept getting ignored. It was time to elevate my prospecting game a little so I went by the brewery when there were people there working. I eventually found the right person to talk to, who was being rather guarded and aloof when I introduced myself. I figured he’d already heard all kinds of pitches from other people. Right then I knew I had to get right to the point or this chance meeting was going to end very quickly. I think he was at least somewhat impressed that I walked into a construction site in dress clothes and wasn’t afraid to shake his hand even though he was dusty and dirty from all the work they were doing. I told him, I know you’re busy working here and the last thing you want right now is a sales pitch but I have something that I think will really help you and if you’ll give me 5 minutes I’ll prove it to you. It won’t cost you anything, it will actually make you money. I can tell you now or I can come back you just name the time and I’ll be here. He stopped and said, “It won’t cost me anything, and I’ll make money? Ok Mr. Sales Guy you’ve got 5 minutes.” So I explained my program to him right then and there and slapped a clean crisp $100.00 bill down on the table in front of him and told him I’d make the first purchase. He agreed and the rest was history. I earned a new client and we helped them launch the new brewery. It was a fantastic program. We earned money and they earned a ton of money, exposure and new customers. That program has worked so well for me that I’ve used it successfully with several other companies and currently have a similar program running for a brand new client right now. If you’re looking for a great way to gain exposure, earn new customers and make money this program has a 100% success rate with my customers so far.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.2amarketing.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chris.hagan.1297
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christophermhagan/
Image Credits
I didn’t have a ton of photos but I included the photo of my wife and me because she’s literally everything to me. I wouldn’t be where I am now without her. She’s my rock! The group photo at the bowling alley is the team at 2A Marketing that I get to work with. Such an amazing group of people! The photo of me talking to all the kids is after a presentation I gave at the High School and several kids came up to talk to me after my presentation. The photo of me pointing to the “Brick” is the grand opening of the Brewery I mentioned. Such a wonderful success story for me in sales. The other photo is me as a DJ putting my Broadcasting degree to work. I’ve been a DJ at the largest country nightclub in the midwest for almost 19 years now.