We recently connected with Walter Boza and have shared our conversation below.

Walter, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?

I officially launched my business in January 2024, two months after turning 52. I have been a senior executive in the advertising business for over 20 years, leading teams and companies across continents. I had the fortune of working for large multinational firms, start-ups, as well as family-owned businesses. I had plenty of experience managing and leading on behalf of others, but never really had the guts to start something on my own. I always felt the timing was never “perfect”, but looking back, I now believe that the “perfect time” is always NOW. If I had started earlier I would have learned much sooner the difference between managing and creating, of generating wealth vs managing resources. I would have learned much earlier that most of the time, opportunities are not given, they have to be created. I would have overcome the fear of failure at a younger age, which in turn would have given me more time to learn from failure.
For those on the fence of becoming an entrepreneur, I would say that sometimes you just have to go for it, believe in yourself, reach out for help, don’t be afraid of rejection and failure, and create your own opportunities.

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

I’ve been working in the advertising industry for over 20 years. During this time, I’ve achieved considerable success managing teams, leading agencies, and building brands across continents in both small and large markets. I’ve worked with start-ups, independent agencies, and global agencies, providing me with a deep and broad perspective of the advertising industry.

Throughout this journey, I’ve drawn valuable lessons from both my successes and the occasional setbacks. However, the most profound insights have emerged from interactions with remarkably talented and hardworking agencies, clients, colleagues, teammates, and even competitors.

These learnings converged in three ideas, inspiring me to launch The Collab Hub:
1. There’s need for a more flexible and open model: Not all marketing challenges fit the mold of an AOR (Agency of Record) or Full-Service agency model. Some situations demand a more adaptable and open approach. Whether it’s the limitations in resources, the desire for fresh perspectives, or the complexity of a challenge, there’s a growing need to unlock flexibility in marketing solutions.

2. Diversity and Collaboration Ignite Great Ideas: Ground-breaking ideas are ignited when talent from different cultures, backgrounds, perspectives, experiences and expertise come together, in the right environment, to harness their collective energy towards a common goal.

3. Independent is Talent ready to Connect: In today’s modern economy there is an increasing number of independent and exceptionally qualified talent, available and eager to connect to do great work for clients. The opportunity to harness the prowess of independent talent has never been more accessible.

I launched The Collab Hub with one mission in mind: To be a catalyst for a more flexible, efficient and modern approach to offering marketing services by creating a network of independent agencies and professionals who collaborate in designing and implementing effective solutions to clients’ marketing challenges.

The Collab Hub is a network of independent advertising and marketing professionals ready to connect, collaborate, unlock, and flawlessly execute solutions for our clients’ marketing challenges.
The network of Collaborators includes companies and professionals in different fields: Strategy (Business, Marketing, and Advertising), Creative (Big ideas, social, digital, content, production), Consumer Connection (paid media, social media, SEM, PR, Influencer Marketing), Research and Data (MMM, Budget Optimization, Consumer research) and Project Management.

While none of us, individually, claims we can do it all, through The Collab Hub we can offer a full menu of marketing and advertising services. We serve two types of clients:

1, Direct Clients: Local, Regional, or National Small to midsize companies, which may or may not have a current agency or agency roster, or have in-house agencies, and need support on specific projects or initiatives, or need to outsource specialized advertising and marketing services.

2. Advertising agencies: Small to midsize independent Agencies who offer full-service capabilities to their clients, but find themselves needing access to specialized capabilities to deliver their services, but don’t want or are not ready to bring the capability in-house (or may have a bandwidth crunch).

The bottom line, we want to provide top-quality services in a more flexible and cost-efficient manner.

Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?

I was the CEO and General Manager of a mid-size agency. One of my Account Directors was a good friend of the Marketing Director of a mid-size bank. In an informal conversation with her friend, the Account Director found out that the bank was not happy with their current agency due to poor performance. The Account Director relayed this information to me in another informal conversation. That turned my “hunter mode” on. I told the Account Director to invite her friend for lunch, on behalf of the agency, and relay my message: we want the bank’s business and that I was going to personally ensure that we would deliver great work, consistently, for the bank. The entire agency rallied behind me and the Account Director, and within 2 months we had the business, without pitching. We increased our revenue by 15% with that bold move, the Account Director got a raise and got to manage the business she won.

I felt proud of my team for rallying together, of the Account Director for flawlessly executing the plan, and of myself for having the guts to go after that business, the clarity of direction on how to approach the process, and the leadership skills to rally my team.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Be as transparent as possible. I say “as possible” and not “always” because sometimes, as leaders, we have access to sensitive information that cannot be shared. But if it can be shared, don’t hold or hide information from the team.

Be human, always. Even when delivering tough news, never forget that on the receiving end of each message and each decision, there are human beings. Be aware of the consequences of your actions and words.

Don’t forget that your actions and words carry a lot of weight. When you are a leader, people look up to you, so each word and action has the potential to impact the morale of the team.

Provide clarity of vision and direction, and be a source of inspiration, but let people do their job. Have them own their work and projects, Be there to support and not to interfere.

Listen and be open to feedback.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://thecollabhub.net/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/walterboza/
• Other: https://walterboza1971.wixsite.com/walter-boza