This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Drexel chapter.
Garrett Gillin
Age: 26
Hometown: Avon Grove
Class: MBA program at Drexel graduating in June
Garrett works in the Biada center where he founded his startup company 215marketing.
Why did you choose entrepreneurship? I am a super independent person and felt that if I am going to work hard I want it to be something I am passionate about. I am an all or nothing person and that’s one of the main reasons entrepreneurship appealed to me. I think working for yourself is more rewarding than the compliments your boss or anyone else might give you.
So, how was 215marketing born? I used to do freelance marketing consulting for my friends and their friends. They would take my advice and would be thrilled with the result. That’s really how the idea of this company popped up. 215marketing is a full service digital marketing firm. Marketing consulting, website development, client relations are just few of the things we do here. I think our strong network of entrepreneurs allowed us to get a couple of good clients. What makes us different from other marketers is that we often tell our clients what they don’t want to hear but integrity is an important value at our company. If something needs to be done for the next day we do it, as the client always comes first.
What is the biggest challenge? I would say cash flow is definitely the hardest part. We do a lot of extra work and sometimes they don’t want to pay you. We have about 12-15 contractors and at the end of the day we have to pay these guys but we are still waiting to get paid by our clients for our services. There are a lot of complications with that but we have gotten better in the past year.
What other activities are you involved in? I am the president of the Entrepreneurship club. Our main goal is to create an entrepreneurship culture at Drexel.
What are your other hobbies and interests? I like playing basketball, traveling, happy hours, eating out; I would recommend RAW sushi bar.