We recently connected with McCain Kennedy and have shared our conversation below.
McCain, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
Here at Set Fire Creative, we help small- to mid-size businesses grow through digital marketing. After having worked in marketing for several years, I noticed that most agencies want to work with big brands and tend to stay away from the smaller ones. While working at an agency a few years back, I started helping a small brand on the side with its marketing. I was helping run its online ads and improve its site’s conversion rate. I remember the day the business owner called me and told me he quit his day job that day because he could finally afford to make his side business his full-time gig. I was estatic. Our mission is based off of that experience. We want to help small- to mid-size businesses get to the point where they can grow their team, get a bigger office space, or maybe even turn a side hustle into a full-time business.
McCain, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I got my start in marketing in high school while taking a graphic design class. I was able to design promotional material for organizations around campus. From there, I went on to get a degree in advertising with a minor in public relations in college. Since graduating back in 2015, I’ve had the opportunity to work on the marketing team at one of the country’s top consulting firms and later took on the role of director at Utah’s top SEO digital marketing agency. In 2019, I made the leap into full-time entrepreneurship with my own agency Set Fire Creative. We primarily work with small- to mid-size businesses, helping them grow their business through SEO, Google Ads, social media advertising, and organic social media management.
What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?
Shortly after graduating from college in 2015, people began reaching out asking if I offered specific marketing services. If the agency I was currently working at provided the service, I would make an introduction to our sales team. If the agency didn’t provide the service, I would help those people myself in my free time. At the start, I didn’t think much of it, but within six months, I was creating the official Set Fire Creative LLC and began working on a company website and social media channels. Set Fire Creative was a side hustle for three years. In those three years, I brought on a partner to handle all of the financial and administrative aspects of the business, we hired a few contractors, and we 10X’d our client count. In 2019, my partner and I finally went full-time at Set Fire Creative after hiring our first two full-time employees. We joke that patience was our best friend throughout the entire process. There were many times between 2016 and 2019 when we thought about calling it quits or felt like we weren’t growing fast enough. But it’s true what they say—slow and steady wins the race.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
The two books I recommend to anyone looking to start a business are The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber and Profit First by Mike Michalowicz. The E-Myth Revisited talks about why most small businesses fail and the importance of creating processes for your business. Profit First talks about a unique way of managing your finances and the importance of putting profit before all else. These two books will help any new business owner avoid common pitfalls.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://setfirecreative.com/
- Linkedin: https://setfirecreative.com/