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Founder@ Interview
Interview with Amanda Perry
“My favourite quote is from Mary Oliver: “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” I go back to this when I am feeling overwhelmed, and it really helps me focus and gain perspective..” – Amanda Perry
Today we feature Amanda Perry, the founder at SOUP Agency. We hear their story in their own words, their successes, their challenges and their insights.
Let’s start by getting to know you. Can you please tell us a little bit about you and what you do?
I’m Amanda Perry and I own SOUP, a digital marketing agency for e-commerce brands supporting them with paid social and online routes to market. I’m also founder of The Ecom Growth Hub, a training platform for small e-commerce brands, which has really come into its own during the pandemic; helping 600+ members generate a collective revenue of £15 million in the past 12 months alone.
I’m also an investor into a number of businesses and share my experience scaling and selling my own brands, as well as daily life tips, over on my Instagram and LinkedIn pages. I am based in Sheffield and live with my husband, and we’ve just moved into a gorgeous house that we’ve built, after months of building works!
A great introduction and start to this interview. Can you please tell us, how did you start, from what age, and what made you decide to change direction and start?
I’ve had a wide selection of jobs over the years but have always worked hard; from waitressing at 14 through to managing a bar, becoming a chef, and even doing telesales. All of this before starting my first business in 2007.
I didn’t actually go to uni, although I did secure a place at Salford Uni to do Film Studies. I soon realised that I had no idea what I wanted to do so deferred for a year and then didn’t end up going at all.
When I look back, the thing that I have enjoyed through all my business is the marketing and creative aspect, which makes sense that I would ultimately end up focusing on marketing and founding an agency!
Thank you for that insight. So can you tell us…What does your business do and where is your company based?
We’re based in Sheffield and help ecommerce brands to grow their revenue through targeted and impactful digital marketing. We’ve grown significantly over the past 18 months: starting lockdown as a team of five and returning as a team of 27. We’re now at 30, with more growth planned too!
What’s the story behind your success? What led to your aha moment? how did you get to where you are now?
I started in business back in 2007 and grew a really successful cupcake business. I had seven stores, with 70 staff, turning over £1 million a year selling £2.50 cupcakes. It was pretty incredible. I had that business for around seven years before the wheels fell off, as a result of growing too quickly, and I ended up bankrupt. That really was my life (and business) defining moment!
It took me a year or so to dust myself off and come back with a version of the business that allowed me to keep doing what I loved, and that was creating recipes and seeing people enjoy the product. I got rid of the stuff I hated – the high rents, business rates and dealing with staff – and launched a baking kit subscription box. This is what led to me launching a few e-commerce brands and really falling in love with the power of digital marketing.
As I grew the business, I attracted attention of other brands and began consulting, and this is how SOUP was born. I wanted to help other brands grow too!
Thank you for sharing that. What’s been your life’s biggest lesson so far?
Going through a public failing is a real turning point in your life. During the bankruptcy, I remember desperately trying to find examples of other women who had been through the same and come through the other side. At the time, I felt like life would never be normal again and I needed to see that there was light at the end of the tunnel.
It was horrible and impacted every single area of my life, including family relationships as well as my mental and physical health. The sense of shame was enormous: it either breaks you or leads to huge growth. I am so proud that I have grown from the experience and been able to make amends on a lot of the fall-out from it. I try and talk about it whenever I can now, in that hope that I may be able to help someone else going through what I went through.
I think it goes back to what I’d tell my younger self; lean into your differences and recognise that they are your superpower. I don’t think we tell people this enough and it’s such a missed opportunity. We’re all unique so it makes sense for us to be different and bring new ideas and approaches to situations.
If you were to go back in time, what piece of advice would you give to your younger self?
I would tell younger me that the things people tell you are your greatest weakness, are actually your superpower. I re-read my school reports recently when I was packing to move house and the theme was the same the whole way through: “she talks too much… is easily distracted… has so much potential but can be disruptive.” It made me sad because schools didn’t value creativity then and that judgement stays with you. I wish things had changed more in mainstream education, but I know that this is still largely the case.
We’re nearly halfway through our interview so it’s a great time to ask how does your business run. What three tools make your business run better?
At SOUP, we couldn’t live without Slack (although I wish we could!), and Notion is great for holding company information. I, personally, couldn’t live without Instagram… although, again – I wish I could!
What do you know now that you wished you had known before?
I think it goes back to what I’d tell my younger self; lean into your differences and recognise that they are your superpower. I don’t think we tell people this enough and it’s such a missed opportunity. We’re all unique so it makes sense for us to be different and bring new ideas and approaches to situations.
What has been your greatest or proudest achievement or moment?
I try to stop and look at my achievements as regularly as I can. I remember when I was growing the cupcake business, I was too busy in the daily grind and I forgot to notice the big milestones. It’s so important to do this, even more so when you run your own business.
There are lots of things that make me feel proud now. On a personal level, being able to look after my parents is really important to me and also building our house… it’s something I’ve always wanted to do but never thought was a reality! With SOUP, being able to employ 20 people during a pandemic when times were tough was a huge ‘wow’ moment, and testament to the dedication of the team. As was being nominated as The Drum’s Marketing Agency of the Year this year.
What future life goals do you want to achieve and why?
It’s funny – because I still think that I’m 20 and have loads of time, when in reality, I’m actually 43! I have worked so hard for so long that my life goals now are more about enjoying life and creating memories. I want to use my experiences to help others through difficult times – we all need a big sister figure in our lives from time to time when we mess up!
To finish our inspire questions…”We believe that sharing inspiring words can inspire others.” If there was one positive thing you would say to someone to inspire and empower them what would it be and why?
My favourite quote is from Mary Oliver: “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” I go back to this when I am feeling overwhelmed, and it really helps me focus and gain perspective.
“Thank you it has been great learning more about your founder story and SOUP Agency”
To learn more about SOUP Agency Visit https://www.soupagency.co.uk/
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