As I always say, I love the "Building The Community" Series and having the opportunity to highlight the amazing people that work on the business side of Nashville and the unsung heroes who keep this city spinning. I also get so much joy out of promoting the individuals who bust their ass and don't ask for anything in return. They love what they do and want to help others.
Ryan Reid and OXN Marketing define what makes the world a better place in the business world. For those who are just discovering OXN Marketing, this is how Ryan explained his company - "OXN Marketing is a creative marketing agency. When we originally started, we focused on photography, videography, graphic design and everything under the creative umbrella. It got to a point where our clients wanted more and were asking us how to deploy posts, how to get more organic reach, how we get paid reach and how to scale using SEO and other stuff. At the time, it was all new to me. What I did was take time to research and develop an understanding of the marketing side of everything. The company switched from doing only the creative work to doing both creative and marketing. We realized it was essential to have both a strong creative team and a strong marketing team. That is what a lot of people don't understand. Some organizations will have really good creative ideas, but won't know how to deploy them, or it's the other way around where they don't have great content, but will have the marketing dollars on paid reach and won't see the results they want. OXN decided to do it all and our clients have been really happy with what we've been doing. We always want to do our best for our clients. What makes us different is that we really want to see our clients succeed versus simply a price tag."
In a digital world where everything revolves around social media and the internet, Ryan and his team work around the clock to make sure your company gets out into the world and gets the exposure it deserves. Whether you are a creative in the music industry or any other company around Nashville or the country, OXN Marketing is going to take care of you and treat you like family, all while making significant contributions to helping grow your business. I sat down with Ryan Reid and talked about switching his career path and finding his passion, moving OXN to Nashville and why building relationships and helping clients reach true success is more important than money.
Get To Know Ryan
"My name is Ryan, I was born and raised in Iowa. Growing up I was always involved in sports, never really was involved with the creative side of things like I am now. One of my good friends in high school used to mix music, so in high school I mixed and wrote music. It got to a point where he moved on to pursue his own music career, so I was left trying to figure out what I wanted to do in the future. Wouldn't say I gave up on music, but just wanted to pursue different things. I went to The University of Iowa where I got my degree and was going to be an elementary school teacher. Even though I had a passion for teaching, I was at the end of my college career and all my friends were out getting jobs and doing their own thing. I came to the point where I didn't see myself working a 9-5 kind of job so I decided to do something different. During my junior year of college I took a shot and started my own business and started OXN in 2020. I started my company and moved down to Nashville the same day I graduated. I walked for commencement, had my car packed and drove straight to Nashville. I knew I wanted to move to be around people who were like-minded and saw the world for what it was and the creative atmosphere. Long story short, since I graduated I've been in Nashville focused on growing the company and trying to scale it."
Q & A Ryan Reid
Q: How did you come up with the idea for OXN Marketing and how did this journey start for you?
A: "This all started back in Iowa. One of the big things that started it all, I was working a warehouse job loading semis. Before college I would work 3AM - 10AM. It got to the point where I knew I could utilize this time before school to push into a career that I could pursue after college. I was sick and tired of the work and my environment. I would work then afterwards do cold calls 3 to 4 hours a day. I was calling businesses and eventually built a portfolio and started putting the pieces together like a puzzle.I began to put a website together and tried to land more monthly retainer clients for OXN. From there, it really took off. We got to a point where I could make this into a career."
Q:What is your vision for OXN Marketing?
A: "It's simple. We definitely want to scale, but also want to grow with the right people; finding companies who want to succeed, but also make a difference. It's more than just marketing for us. It's building relationships and making Nashville and the rest of the world a better place. It is very important that we work with clients that have the same vision, values and mindset as us. We've had the privilege to work with many great clients, but we've also worked with some clients who were so money driven and hungry. To each their own, but at the end of the day, we want to work with people who want to make the world a better place. The 5 year goal is to keep scaling and get a space. But is also to become more involved in the community and get involved with organizations and companies that are giving back. In a perfect world, that's exactly who we'd be working with."
Q: Most memorable moments so far with OXN Marketing / What do you enjoy about your job?
A: "One of the most memorable moments with OXN was when I landed my first client. It was back in college and I cold DM'd this popcorn company in my little town. It wasn't a huge retainer, but it was the first win and gave me a lot of confidence to keep moving forward. Still to this day, there are a lot of ups and downs, but when you can find wins they can help you stay focused. A second highlight was being out in Utah working with a client who does 4x4, ATV adventures. I was able to bring my friends there and did a huge shoot. The concept was really cool, but also being able to have my friends there, who could enjoy the ride with me and see it was huge for me. It made me realize I didn't want to do this alone, I want to see my friends enjoy my journey with me. REalizing that was really encouraging for me and it felt like this is what God thinks I should be doing. I'm doing exactly what I'm supposed to.
I really love meeting new people and each day is different. I think everyday I get to do what I love - to shoot content, videos and take pictures. It is such a cool experience to be able to go out and do that."
Q: What advice do you have for anyone who's trying to become an entrepreneur and start their own podcast, business, service, etc.?
A: "I would say two things. 1 - You have to give it everything you’ve got, you have to make cold calls and put yourself out there. Nobody is going to get to where they want to be without taking risks.You have to be a risk taker. If you are starting your own brand or company you have to take risks and can't work it like a 9-5 job. You are going to be working 20 hours a day. It may suck sometimes and you're always going to be grinding. If you don't want to see that 5-10 year plan and don't want the day-to-day hell and back, I would say don't do it. You have to put everything into it and be ready for the ups and downs. 2 - You have to be okay with people not supporting you and hearing the word "no". You can't do it for people's support, you have to do it for what you want out of the future. Those two big things are very important."
If you are just discovering OXN Marketing, check them out at oxnmarketing.com and follow them on Instagram, Facebook and Tik Tok