Vagabond Digital 

As the CEO of Vagabond Digital, a dynamic and fast-growing agency specialising in paid media and social strategies, I lead a highly ambitious team and collaborate with an extensive network of skilled freelancers. Together, we are dedicated to crafting innovative campaigns that seamlessly integrate direct response and brand building.

At Vagabond Digital, we excel in leveraging our expertise to create, develop, and optimise paid search and social initiatives for clients across diverse industries. Our primary goal is to generate tangible results by strategically positioning advertisements directly in front of our clients' desired audiences, driving sales and generating valuable leads for their businesses.

With a relentless focus on achieving exceptional outcomes, we combine data-driven insights with creative ingenuity to deliver compelling campaigns that captivate audiences, spark engagement, and ultimately drive conversions. Our unwavering commitment to staying at the forefront of industry trends and technologies ensures that our clients benefit from cutting-edge strategies that consistently exceed expectations.

If you're seeking a forward-thinking agency partner that possesses a deep understanding of paid media and social platforms, and a passion for driving business growth through innovative marketing techniques, please feel free to DM me.

CEO & Founder

PPC & Paid Social Freelancer

SQ Digital

After excelling in my previous role of PPC Consultant I was offered the role Head of PPC in which I was tasked with managing and growing the PPC department. I successfully hired, trained and grew the team to be one of the most effective within the company. By focusing on R&D combined with tried and tested methods we were able to exceed all targets and the hard work culminated in several industry awards. 

In tandem with managing the team I was integral to winning new business and nurturing the accounts once on board. I hosted several workshops with Google which garnered lots of positive feedback and led me to creating my very own PPC Agency.

Head of PPC

In this role I got to grips with the basics and advanced best practices in PPC marketing. Taking control of some key accounts I pushed myself to learn outside of work as much as I could about business and marketing so that I could look at problems from different angles in order to provide better solutions.

PPC Consultant 

In the past we used to advertise broad messages to broad audiences on billboards and newspaper spreads but now, thanks to the advent of PPC (pay-per-click) and social advertising, we’re able to advertise specific messages to specific audiences to achieve a much greater impact - which is where I come in. I put brands and businesses directly in front of their target audience with highly targeted paid advertising campaigns on platforms such as Google, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat in order to drive sales and leads.

About me:

I’m a super ambitious, motivated and dedicated business leader passionate about all things business and marketing. I get a kick out of problem solving, thinking outside the box, learning new things and creating value for businesses. I’m also an advocate for remote working, a healthier planet and a happy balance.

Whilst I have a knowledge and interest in all things marketing, I chose to specialise in PPC advertising because I see it as The Business End of Digital Marketing. So I founded Vagabond Digital to help businesses and brands put their products and services directly in front of their target audience. We use a combination of automation and brain power to successfully drive sales and leads into businesses of all sectors. We’re a little different in that we’re a remote business, which means we have neither office locations nor restrictions. This enables us to work with the most impressive talent around the globe, offer flexibility to our staff and improve communication channels - all the while delivering a premium service to our clients.

We offer flat rate fees, great value for money and a high level of expertise.

I’d love to hear from anyone interested in marketing, collaborating or growing their business. Drop me a message and we can arrange a virtual coffee chat - tj@vagabonddigital.co.uk

The books I recommend most often: 

Shoe Dog, Tools of Titans, Think and Grow Rich and for some fiction - East of Eden.

TJ Lee

I’m about to become a dad. And I’ll be honest - I’ve got no idea what happens to my head the day it happens.

Everyone keeps saying *“everything will change”*.

But they never say how.

Right now, I’m in this weird space between two lives:

→ Still working like a maniac.
→ Still chasing the next milestone.
→ Still focused on growing Vagabond.

But I know there’s something coming that will shake all of that. I just don’t know which way it will push me.

Will it give me perspective - make me slow down, enjoy life, realise none of this matters as much as I thought?

Or…

Will it light an even bigger fire, push me to build something bigger, stronger, so my kid never has to worry about anything?

Logistically, I’m already confused:

🕖 When do I work?
🏋🏼‍♂️ When do I train?
👶🏻 When do I switch off?

(Do founders even get to “switch off”?)

The only thing I *do* know:

I want to be present. I want to be a good dad.

And I still want to build something I’m proud of.

Figuring out how those two worlds collide…

That’s the part no one teaches you.

So, to the founders already in this phase - how did it change you?

Did you slow down?

Or did you double down?

I’m honestly curious.

Founder and Chief Vagabond at Vagabond Digital | Paid Media Expert | Growing the world’s best businesses inc. Allbeauty, Fragrance Direct and more

This has been one of the toughest years I’ve seen in agency life.

Not just for us - across the industry.

Budgets have tightened.
Decision-makers have slowed.
And more brands are pulling work in-house.

We felt it firsthand. Two of our biggest accounts moved their performance teams internally.

Great relationships. Strong results. Still gone.

And that’s the game nobody tells you about when you start an agency:

You can do a brilliant job… and still lose the client.

But here’s the truth I’ve made peace with:

Clients will come and go. Retention isn’t guaranteed.

But your resilience has to be.

Because while some doors close, new ones open - if you’re ready.

We’ve all lost clients before. We’ll lose them again.

But we’ll also win bigger ones.

That’s agency life.

Stay steady. Keep swinging.

Q4 is where it all turns.

As a founder, your job title changes every time your business does.

One year, you’re doing client work.
The next, you’re fixing finance issues.
Then suddenly - you’re the Head of Sales again.

Right now, that’s exactly where I am. After years of jumping between CEO tasks (partnerships, marketing, strategy)…

…I’ve gone all in on sales.

Why?

Because that’s what the business needs.

And here’s the biggest lesson I’ve learned from mentorship and experience:

Nobody will ever sell your business as well as you can. I even asked my board director recently whether I should hire a salesperson.

“Not yet. Clear everything *except sales off your plate.* Get a PA. Delegate ops. Let your team run delivery.”

“Your time is most valuable in front of prospects - not spreadsheets.”

He’s right.

A founder’s real superpower isn’t operations - it’s conviction.

You built the thing. You know the mission. You can sell the vision better than anyone.

So here’s where I’ve landed:

✅ Delegate admin
✅ Empower your senior team
✅ Step back from the ‘doing’

⚡ Double down on selling the business

Until you’ve hit serious scale - *you* are the best closer in your company.

The hardest part of running an agency? Not sales. Not clients. Hiring.

I’ve hired 30+ people, interviewed close to 100, and skimmed through thousands of CVs.

And still - it’s a gamble every time.

But over the years, I’ve boiled it down to four non-negotiables:

—

1️⃣ Work ethic

I don’t care how “talented” you are.

If you clock in mentally at 9:05 and check out at 4:55, it won’t work here. 

(Sorry, not sorry, if that’s not the right thing to say these days…)

—

2️⃣ Expertise (relative to level)

I don’t expect juniors to be experts. 

I do expect seniors to know their craft inside-out. Self-awareness matters.

—

3️⃣ Culture fit

No egos or passengers. 

You can be brilliant, but if you’re a nightmare to work with, you’re out.

—

4️⃣ Accountability

Mistakes aren’t the problem. Hiding them is. 

Own it, fix it, move forward.

—

Hiring isn’t about filling a seat.

It’s about betting on someone to move with you (not just work for you).

Founders: your criteria might differ, but if you’re not clear on what you value…

You’ll hire for speed, and pay for it later.

I studied scriptwriting. Delivered Chinese takeaways. Now I run a 30-person agency.

My career path wasn’t linear.

And that’s the point. 

Resilience isn’t about sticking to the plan, it’s about pushing forward *when the plan falls apart*.

Clients leave.
Cash gets tight.
Team dynamics change.

But you show up anyway.

The people who win are the ones who:

→ Keep moving
→ Stay focused
→ Block out the noise
→ Surround themselves with good people

Spielberg once said: Don’t blink.

That’s how I treat business.

Eyes forward. No panic. Keep building.

Don’t blink.

I’m not the best marketer at Vagabond.

And that’s exactly how it should be.

When I first started, clients bought into me.

My skills. My ideas. My ability to run ads and social. But if 5 years later, I was still the smartest marketer in the room?

We’d have a serious problem.

Because building an agency isn’t about clinging onto being “the best.” It’s about surrounding yourself with people who are better.

That means:
👉🏻 Creatives who think in ways I never could.
👉🏻 Paid media specialists who know the platforms inside out.
👉🏻 Social teams who are sharper, faster, and more up to date than I am.

My job now is not to be the best marketer. It’s to build the best team of marketers.

Scaling a business forces you to let go.

To stop trying to do it all.

To trade ego for growth.

If you want to grow, hire people better than you.

And get out of their way.

If you’re chasing euphoria every time you win in business… you’re setting yourself up to lose.

When I first started Vagabond, I used to get a huge buzz from every “win.”

A new client. A big campaign. A team hire.

But the problem is, if you get addicted to the highs… you’ll get crushed by the lows.

And business certainly has its lows.

Clients leave and cashflow gets tight. People quit. Results dry up.

If you’re defined by one side of the rollercoaster, you’ll get wrecked by the other.

That’s why I try to stay level.

I celebrate wins, of course. But I don’t let them define me.

And when the sh*t hits the fan, I don’t let that define me either.

Staying steady is how you stay resilient. It’s how you show up consistently.

It’s how you survive long enough to actually *build* something.

The highs and lows are just noise.

What matters is how you handle the middle.

Social content looks effortless. But behind every "casual" post is a machine most people never see.

Shot lists. 
Mood boards. 
Content calendars mapped weeks in advance. 
Last-minute pivots when something isn't working.
Coordination between creative teams, account managers, and clients. 
Multiple takes to get the "spontaneous" moment just right.
Countless revisions. 
More revisions. 

The brands that make it look easy have systems.

At Vagabond, we've built processes that handle the complexity so the final product feels natural.

Pre-production planning that accounts for every variable. Streamlined workflows that keep projects moving. Quality control that catches issues before they become problems.

The goal isn't to eliminate the work. It's to make the work invisible.

Because when social content truly connects, nobody should see the effort behind it.

The D2C playbook is broken.

For years, brands built entire businesses on cheap Facebook ads.

Those days are over.

CPMs have doubled on Meta and TikTok. Big brands flooded in, driving up competition and costs.
iOS 14 killed precise targeting. Lookalike audiences and retargeting became guesswork overnight.

Ad fatigue is real. Consumers scroll past, block ads, or just don't trust overly salesy content anymore.

This summer, we've worked with more D2C brands flipping the script entirely.

Instead of paid-first with organic as an afterthought, they're going organic-first with paid as support.

Authentic content that builds genuine connections. 
Community-led growth that creates actual brand loyalty.
User-generated content that doesn't feel like advertising. 

Of course, paid still works. But it's no longer the affordable growth lever it once was.

The brands getting ahead now treat organic social as essential infrastructure, not a nice extra.

They're building brand equity and long-term loyalty instead of chasing cheap clicks.

The D2C brands still betting everything on paid acquisition? 

Will get left behind.

Ghalib Hassam

Baghi

If you're a B2B founder who wants to get ahead of the competition, you must leverage your founder brand on LinkedIn. Here's why:

1. Thought leadership.

Being a thought leader has quickly become a necessity - it plays a massive role in decision-making for your target audience.

It comes down to influencing decisions and being the first name that comes to mind when clients face challenges.

Here's what you can talk about in terms of insights that are unique to you:

i) Strong opinions that aren't available anywhere else.
ii) Insights on your target audience's problems.
iii) Commentary on industry practices.

The goal is to become the go-to expert in your industry.

2. Pain point content.

Address your target audience's problems in your content.

You need to consistently share insights around their problems and share content that shows them how you'd solve these issues.

Here's what you can talk about:

i) What problems are they facing?
ii) Why do they face these problems?
iii) How does you solve these problems for them?

The source material of this content comes from your subject matter expertise and existing customer data (sales calls\discovery calls)

It's okay to challenge the status quo and shake things up.

Present bold ideas that disrupt conventional thinking and set you apart as an thought leader.

3. The high cost of not leveraging you founder brand:

Each day without a strong LinkedIn presence is a day you're overlooked by potential clients seeking expertise.

And in today's digital world, visibility equals credibility. If you're not present, why should clients trust you?

What people fail to realise is that each day you stall, the space gets more and more crowded.

Every industry leader you admire didn't get there by chance.

They took bold steps to stand out.

And the risk isn't in putting yourself out there - it's in staying hidden while others dominate the space that could have been yours.

Founder - LinkedIn Strategist for B2B Founders

The Founder Lore Podcast

In this podcast, we sit down with founders who have leveraged their founder brands on LinkedIn to not only grow their businesses but also share their experiences in real time.

Each episode dives into the human side of entrepreneurship - the challenges, the breakthroughs, and the lessons learned along the way.

We go beyond the surface-level success stories and explore what it really takes to grow, lead, and scale while staying authentic.

Founder & Host

Mentoria Digitals.

Supporting the agency with:

1. Operations.
2. Processes.
3. Client delivery.

Strategic Advisor

Talent & Truth

Content And Strategy Manager

Kurogo

1. Working with Content Writers and Senior Team to execute positioning strategies effectively through high-quality content.

2. Manage and coordinate the output of the Content Writers and Social Community Executive to ensure all work is aligned with our clients’ strategies and is delivered to a high standard and on-time.

3. Crafting positioning strategies that align with clients' end goals.

4. Creating and running reports with our clients on the performance of their personal brand, alongside Content Writers and Social Community Executives.

Account Manager

I build busy CEOs\Founders' personal brands and position them as an authority in their market.

I've worked with CEOs\Founders from the DACH, MENA, and the UK.

With a well-positioned personal brand, you can:
 
- Grow a community.
- Get inbound leads.
- Attract talent.

Here's what I do:

- Communicate with CEOs\Founders and their marketing teams.

- Come up with a strategy that is aligned with their Personal Branding goals as well as their business\company goals.

- Form a community of professionals (networking is key)

First, you create demand for you and your services.
Second, you capture that demand in the form of a growing network, more leads, and attracting talent to your company.

All inbound.

Personal Brand Manager.

notus

This internship\part-time job was my first step into the world of Marketing\Personal Branding.

I learned a number things, but mainly:

• Copywriting - Creative.
• Account management for clients.
• Content Strategy.

Personal Brand Manager

Bahcesehir University

Didn't have the best of experiences:

- Tried to change their old ways of marketing but the top-level execs weren't flexible.

- Eventually decided it was better for me to look elsewhere to get to where I wanted:

Becoming a Demand Gen marketer.

BAU Global Representative.

‣Marketing the university along with its campuses abroad in the BAU Global network.
‣Reporting directly to the head of international relations.

Marketing International Student Assistant/Masters Student Assistant

ZTE Corporation

Intern

Account Manager @ Kurogo | We create thought leaders through personal branding

I grow B2B founder brands on LinkedIn through content.

Most of my clients are struggling with:

1. Can’t justify the time spent on LinkedIn.
2. Don’t know what to write about.
3. Not sure what the end goal is.

And so, I take them through a process that grows their LinkedIn and opens them up to new business opportunities:

1. Define how you want to position yourself against competitors.
2. Map out the core topics to write about.
3. Define the end-goal for LinkedIn.
4. Create content that attracts your target-audience.
5. Measure progress monthly.

Using this process, I’ve helped my clients:

📌 FOUNDER 1: Grew from 8K → 21K followers within 10 months.
📌 FOUNDER 2: Landed 5+ new business opportunities through LinkedIn.
📌 FOUNDER 3: Grew from 3K → 10K within 8 months.

If you want to become a thought leader in your industry and generate new business opportunities,

Click ‘Book an appointment’ at the top of my profile to see how I can help you.

Results for a client. Not bad for an all-time 'low reach' era on LinkedIn.

Built purely on thought leadership and giving value to the audience.

i build your founder brand with you, not for you (2hrs/month) | linkedIn GTM strategist

taplio

The Battle

TJ Lee

Ghalib Hassam

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreTJ Lee's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreGhalib Hassam's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

TJ Lee

Ghalib Hassam

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}TJ Lee's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreGhalib Hassam's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreTJ Lee's LinkedIn Performance