In this episode, Rahul talks to the Founder and Director of The Forge, Simon Garnett, about his career journey from studying theology to ending up in the world of marketing insights.

What was the motivation behind getting a degree in Theology? Hear about Simon’s many different roles, his experience working in innovative spaces, going from client-side to agency-side, the story of creating his insight agency - The Forge, and listen to his advice on following an entrepreneurial path, all on the seventeenth episode of Data Stories: Leaders at Work.

Highlights

• “It’s okay that you are motivated by different things.”
• “Everything can be of value, but nothing is of primacy.”
• “No one approach can ever give you the whole answer.”
• “Let’s remember that oftentimes we don’t make sense. We are flawed. We are contradictory.”
• “Remember that we are multidimensional beings. What you need as an individual is not likely to be just a single thing. It’s really important that, as soon as possible, you recognise that and you feed that. If we become obsessive and one-dimensional - one-dimensional things fall over.”
• “People treat you the way you let them treat you.”
• “The business that will win will be those that match up a great machine with a great human.”
• “What matters is the people you go into business with. Whatever your idea is, however good it is, it will be wrong.”

About - Simon Garnett

Simon spent nearly a decade during his initial career working client-side, with brands such as Diageo, GSK, and Nestlé. The client-side career helped him realise that he loved the upfront part of marketing, the exploration of the opportunity, forging together of insight, and the developing of a strategy to take advantage of it. Hence, it was no surprise that he leaped over the fence to agency-side soon after, and has stayed since then for over 10 years now.

He founded The Forge in 2013, to help clients with sense-making, taking the abundance of data and information that exists and creating a clear, actionable strategy for brands and businesses.

Simon holds a BA in Theology from the University of Cambridge.

Recommended Listening:

Tim Harford’s Cautionary Tales Podcast

 Relevant Links

Website:              https://www.thisistheforge.com

LinkedIn:             https://www.linkedin.com/in/simongarnett

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