Oliver Hodgson
One reason people seek mentors who are also a founder is it’s somebody who is equally crazy; who dreams something at three in the morning, then gets up and tries to make it happen.
25 November 2024
Smells like teen spirit
Name: Oliver Hodgson
Business: Platinum Live
Key success factor: Confidence
He may no longer have the teen superstar tag, having reached the grand old age of 21, but Oliver Hodgson still has youth on his side. Having dropped out of school at 15, he launched creative communications agency Platinum Live when he was 16. That was in March 2020, a week into the UK’s first Covid lockdown.
A year later he moved into a local Eagle Lab, landed a local healthcare company as a client and went from there. Today, Platinum serves clients across the world, linking them via PR, social media and events to youth culture, building connections with new generations of consumers.
An instant network
Hodgson says the Eagle Lab has been instrumental to success. “What’s been useful in this environment is access to experienced businesspeople. I can't stand half of the stuff to do with running a business. I’m more interested in what we do, rather than how we do it. Here, I not only have access to the national network Eagle Labs provides, but I can also knock on doors along this corridor and speak to people two or three times my age who are running businesses in all sectors.”
Hodgson is an expert on youth and Generation Z and has reverse-mentored older clients, helping them understand younger clients and teams. “I worked with a woman who worked in communications for a firm in the nuclear industry. It was all about Gen Z and understanding their demands, and how and why they’re different. She was having issues communicating effectively with a younger team and wanted to understand how to engage, recruit and retain them. But I got as much out of it as she did.”
One reason people seek mentors who are also a founder is it’s somebody who is equally crazy; who dreams something at three in the morning, then gets up and tries to make it happen.
Informal support on tap
Hodgson says the Eagle Lab has provided deep connections with fellow founders, including one who took him under her wing early on and even drove him to work, before he could drive. “The conversations and mentoring we had were amazing. She’s run businesses all her life, and she’s now in her 50s. She’s been there and done it.”
A big lesson from this fellow founder was not to take the wrong client. “She was big on ‘never take bad business’. If it's going to bring you down and affect you or your team and other clients, don’t take it. She instilled in me the importance of making sure you get on with clients. We now have a rigorous onboarding process, where if we don't like you, politely, we’re not going to work with you.”
A transformational location
Hodgson says his move into the Eagle Lab “skyrocketed” the firm’s growth and credibility. “I’d spent a year working online. Coming into the office meant I was meeting other founders and experts. People introduce people to people. Being in this environment has allowed me to excel. I’m also big on ‘invisible PR’. I'll give my time to someone, even if I think I'm not going to get anything out of it, because you don’t know who they’ll speak to.”
Hodgson says building a business is lonely and takes a toll on your mental health. This, he says, is one of the main reasons founders seek advice and mentorship from one another, because the way a founder’s head operates is different. “When people tell you, your ideas are too big, I want someone to tell me they aren’t big enough. When you speak to a founder, you're aligned, regardless of sector. They have that excitement and get up and go. If there's a hurdle, we jump over it. When there's an accolade, or success, you don't stop. It’s never enough. Speaking to founders has been powerful because you don't feel alone.
“Just having somebody there who knows how it feels, even if they can’t help, helps. That’s one reason people seek mentors who are also a founder; somebody who is equally crazy, who dreams something at three o'clock in the morning then gets up half an hour later and writes an email to somebody to try and make it happen.”
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