We recently connected with Dustin Lucas and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Dustin, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

The idea and creation of my business came after a life-saving liver transplant I received last year. I didn’t even know I was sick until I ended up in the emergency room with multiple organ failure. I had no idea how little time I had left until I was placed at the top of the liver transplant list at UC Medical Hospital. That experience completely changed my life and how I looked at everything. I had been working as an HR Generalist for a lab company, but after months in the hospital and then coming home to in-home nursing and physical therapy, I knew I couldn’t go back. My FMLA was running out, and it was time to make a change.

That second chance made me view everything in a different light and gave me a fire to chase, drive, and live my life. I had always wanted to be an entrepreneur. Over the years I had side hustles and even grew one into a real business. Through it, we taught ourselves how to understand social media algorithms, create content that reached millions, run ads, and design websites that brought in hundreds of visitors a day. We repeated that success more than once, but eventually the business fizzled out. After Covid, our 9-5s became 8-6 and sometimes 7-7, and by the time we got home there was no drive left to keep going.

While I was laying in bed recovering, I kept asking myself what life was going to look like moving forward. That’s when the idea for digital marketing came to me. I thought, why not take all the skills we had proven we could do and make them into something that helps small businesses. I wanted to offer services that big companies pay a fortune for, but at a price that worked for local businesses. I believe every business needs to be online these days. People have to see you and understand you, and my goal was to bring that personal touch. I want to meet business owners face to face, see their business firsthand, and figure out how to grow their visibility and audience, not just rely on Zoom or Teams.

I spent days and weeks working on a business plan. Then I called my buddy Mike, who had partnered with me on our old business, and asked him if he wanted to be part of this new venture. From there, IntelliTrend Digital Marketing was born. Even though I knew we had the skills, I wanted people to take us seriously, so I enrolled in a six-month Google-certified digital marketing course while I continued to heal.

The drive to make this succeed comes from that second chance. I want to live life to the fullest while doing something I truly enjoy. Helping businesses get noticed and reach their goals has been rewarding. It is a new journey and a new challenge every day, but it is one I am grateful to be on.

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.

I’m an owner of IntelliTrend Digital Marketing. I first learned the skills I use today through a previous business I helped run with my current business partner, Mike Hicks. What started as a hobby grew into a side business that built a great community around it. That experience gave us a lot of trial and error, and also the wins that taught us what really works. Now we use that knowledge to help other small businesses grow. Especially those who may not know what to do, what steps to take, or who just feel stuck. It’s a comforting feeling of being able to run another business with someone who has the same mindset, knowledge and understanding to serve other business owners.

Our digital marketing services center on four main areas. Reputation Management helps businesses build credibility, grow online reviews, and attract future customers. Graphic Design started with small projects like logos and backgrounds, but now includes product packaging, branding, and graphics for social media and beyond. We design business websites that are custom for you that make it easy for people to find you, built with SEO keywords to improve visibility in Google searches. And lastly, Digital Advertising. We create and manage ad campaigns on platforms like Google, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok to help businesses get seen and generate leads.

I also know that a lot of these tools are easier than ever for business owners to try on their own. Building a website, running ads, or creating a design has become more accessible, and I encourage people to give it a shot first. Sometimes you’ll surprise yourself and not need outside help, and that’s great. But when it doesn’t work out, we’re here to step in with experience and make sure it gets done right.

When I wrote out my business plan, one of the biggest things I wanted to build IntelliTrend on was integrity. Being transparent, communicating openly, and doing the right thing even when it’s not easy. I’ve even fired myself from a project recently. The systems we built were very successful, but they weren’t really reaching the client’s in-mind goal. I’d rather be upfront about that than let someone feel like they wasted their money. At the end of the day, I want people to know that they can trust us to be honest, deliver value, and put their business first. When people feel like they can trust you, those are the ones who tell others.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

The beginning of this new journey was the liver transplant I received. It completely changed who I am and shifted my entire life going forward. Without going through that and fighting every day, I don’t think I would fully understand the meaning of resilience. When I first went to the ER for a dizzy spell and a few days later my kidneys and liver were shutting down, it was overwhelming. I still remember being told it didn’t look very good. My response was simple: if I was going to make it, I was going home. I wasn’t dying in a hospital. I had my family to live for and everything to fight for. Eventually I was transferred to UC Medical where they told me my MELD score was 39, with 40 being the highest, and that my days were basically numbered.

Through all of it, I kept telling myself I had to make it back home. Some days were worse than others, but I pushed myself by thinking of my wife and our dogs, who are basically our kids. That gave me the drive to keep going. Each day I reminded myself to keep moving forward, even when it was hard. After over a year of not giving in and fighting, here I am, healthier than ever with a mindset that is stronger than ever.

I sometimes joke that my transplant was like getting a green mushroom from Mario. It gave me another life. But it’s not just a joke to me. It’s a reminder that I was given another chance and I don’t want to waste it.

When I reflect back, I always think of a quote by Rocky:

“It’s not about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward.”

Setbacks happen, whether it is health, life, or business. What matters is that we keep moving forward. Even in the moments when it feels like there is nowhere to go, you take one more step. Always forward.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I’ve had to pivot in my career a few different times. I graduated from NKU with a Bachelor’s degree in business. My mindset was that everything in life is a business in some way, so I knew that degree would give me options. While I was in college, I worked part-time at Babies R Us selling car seats and cribs. By the time I graduated, the company had invested in me and I started moving up quickly. I always enjoyed looking at numbers, data, and trends, and I think that connects to the digital marketing work I do today. Looking at P&Ls, I could see where the company was heading, and I left about a month before they announced bankruptcy. That move got me ahead of the rush of people looking for new jobs.

My next stop was Party City, where I worked for several years. I eventually became a District Team Trainer, responsible for training new general managers and district managers. I wanted to keep moving higher, but the next step required constant travel and I realized that wasn’t the life I wanted. Around this time, my friend Mike and I started Game Enthusiast, a hobby that grew into a real business. We built a following of over 50,000 on Facebook, had videos hit millions of views, and had hundreds of people visiting our website daily. That’s where I picked up many of the skills I still use today in digital marketing. After COVID, things became harder to keep up with, and as life changed and Party City business needs changed, Game Enthusiast eventually fizzled out.

From there I pivoted into HR, something I had always gravitated toward in college. A former HR supervisor from Toys R Us reached out with an opportunity and I decided to go for it. The role had a steep learning curve. I had experience with hiring, training, and letting people go in retail, but this was much more in-depth. I got to be part of recruiting, developing in-house HR systems, and even handling investigations. It was valuable experience, even if it came with its share of stress.

All of those pivots eventually led me here, to creating IntelliTrend. It feels fulfilling because I get to combine everything I’ve learned along the way. Each step in my career gave me skills I still use today, and each pivot taught me to adapt, learn, and keep improving.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://IntelliTrendDM.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/intellitrenddm
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/intellitrenddm