Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Logan Campbell. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Logan, appreciate you joining us today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

When you hear the phrase, “no risk, no reward” – it’s all true. Anything worth doing takes risk. Until you realize that you have to step out of your normal day-today (your comfort zone), in order to achieve more – you will never get to where you want to go. For me, in 2014 I was working in Las Vegas and was metaphorically on a hamster wheel that I thought was my purpose. I had a couple mentors remind me that there was more for me to achieve and in order to accomplish my greatest, I would need to change my environment – all of it.

At the time I was comfortable being extroverted with a girlfriend or roommate, and before that – college friends and parents. I had never lived alone or completely independent. In fact, I was terrified to be alone and was being presented with an opportunity to uproot myself from my home in Las Vegas and move to Colorado for a job as a Director of Sales and Marketing for a Cannabis startup.

I had never moved away from home, and certainly had never lived by myself. During this time I refused to be compartmentalized with my fears and knew that I had to face those fears head on. So, I packed up my dog Buddha, all my things and took a leap into the unknown, with no friends, no girlfriends, no parents, and a world of independence and accountability that I had never known.

If I had never taken that risk, I wouldn’t be here today as the Founder and CEO of a marketing and design agency in Colorado with a wonderful wife and a brand new landscape and network of friends/colleagues that I love and cherish. Take a risk, thank yourself later.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

In short, I always wanted to deviate from the normal “white picket fence” lifestyle. I will say that there is nothing wrong with this lifestyle and for many is the optimal landscape for what they want to achieve. Because of this, I found a career in hospitality and nightlife in Las Vegas from 2002-2014 and oh what an experience it was. I learned a lot about people, but more importantly – I learned from some of the best marketing professionals in the world.

Previously, I had cracked this question open in detail as it relates to how I fell into my line of work, so I will would like to share this part of my upbringing. My Step Father, Marty was a Director of Marketing for Budweiser and for most of my childhood, I was tagging along to the events they sponsored that I was allowed to get in as a minor. Most of these were sporting events, concerts. etc.

I watched Marty do his thing day in and day out. He was always looking at brand placement, messaging, and how crowds interacted with the Budweiser brand. Ultimately, I believe that a lot of the design and marketing “eye” that I have today is the result of being exposed to what he did when I was a youngster.

Another notable mention was the role that I played at My 420 Tours as the Director of Marketing. The truth is that I stepped into this role a bit more green than the Founder, Danny, would have liked to have known. However, I learned a ton of the skillsets that I use everyday while in this position. Thank you for taking a chance on me Danny, you’re the man! : )

UP Marketing Group is hyper focused on brand development, web design, photo and videography. These verticals were the beginning of our agency and still remain to this day. In Q4 2021, we launched a software solutions wing of the business that houses useful tools for small and medium sized companies in the online reputation management space.

What sets us apart from the masses is that we are a boutique agency that puts a lot more focus on your brand than a massive marketing company has the bandwidth for. We thrive in this space and aim to keep that personal touch in all of the services that we offer.

Conversations about M&A are often focused on multibillion dollar transactions – but M&A can be an important part of a small or medium business owner’s journey. We’d love to hear about your experience with selling businesses.

I sold my first business in 2019. It was a water utility that my Mother and I inherited from our family. This was a doozy to say the least. The utility pulled potable water from the ground and serviced 167 households in rural South Texas. My Mother is a career art teacher and resides in Las Vegas, and I was a hospitality marketeer in Denver, CO. Neither of us were prepared or possessed the skills, education, and ability to operate this utility. So I went to work.

From a distance, I relied on local operators that came with the company, some good, and some not so good. We then signed operating agreements with companies that we thought had the communities best interest in mind, More lessons to say the least. Then we some folks to work with in the area that got us where we needed to be from an operational, financial, and managerial standpoint.

We set an appointment with the PUC (Public Utility Commission) team of lawyers to discuss out options. At the time, we were under the impression that we had the right to operate this utility and that it was our responsibility to do so according to conditions of inheriting the business. For me, I was dead set on scaling the community through growth and resources provided at the State and National level.

It was my understanding that everything that my parents had worked for was on the line if we didn’t operate the utility according to the TCEQ (Texas Charter of Environmental Quality) standards. My purpose was to maintain quality drinking water for the folks out in South Texas, protect my families legacy and estates, and grow the business as my first opportunity as a young entrepreneur.

In the end, the legal team at the PUC told us that we had been volunteering as the operators of the utility and had an opportunity to step away. For me, it disabled my ability to fulfill my purpose, “my why”. So, I did what I had to do to obtain my CCN (Certificate of Convenience and Necessity). Ultimately, I had to prove that we had the financial, managerial, and technical ability to operate a civil water utility.

To answer your question – we sold the utility for $10 to get it in the right hands, for the people. I successfully obtained my CCN which gave me the ability to sell and saw my goals all the way through. My families legacy, estate, and most of all, the people of the community down there remained intact and is in good hands to this day. To all of you out there, my advice is to understand your “why” – and attack! That’s the only way.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Pivots should and will always be a part of your journey. Some of them are planned, and some are forced. UP Marketing Group was originally going to be focused on the hospitality sector, special event marketing etc. leading up to 2020. COVID-19 had an opinion on my direction and placed a hard stop on my desk with a big hammer.

The hospitality sector was crippled massively, and there were no more events – anywhere. This was a problem to and forced me to pivot my direction 180 degrees. During the lockdown, I tucked in and taught myself the Adobe Creative Cloud Suite, and started building a new website that was aimed at marketing and design solutions for small and medium sized businesses as a whole.

Ultimately, this was a blessing in disguise. We started working diligently on solutions for essential businesses that started coming back online and UP Marketing was off and running. I never would have thought that this would be the direction UP Marketing was going in, but I am happy that it did. Plan pivots, or don’t. The lesson here is to always embrace change no matter how it is presented or planned.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.upmktgroup.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/upmktgroup
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/upmktgroup
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/upmktgroup/
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/upmktgroup

Image Credits
All images by UP Marketing Group.