{"id":23780,"date":"2016-10-13T19:33:55","date_gmt":"2016-10-13T23:33:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/creator\/?p=23780"},"modified":"2020-04-03T16:08:32","modified_gmt":"2020-04-03T20:08:32","slug":"40-40-simon-douglass-vows-stop-working-somebody-else","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/community-stories\/member-spotlight\/40-40-simon-douglass-vows-stop-working-somebody-else","title":{"rendered":"40 over 40: Simon Douglass vows to &#8216;stop working for somebody else&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>When Simon Douglass was considering whether to start his own business, a former boss offered to front him the money. \u201cI realized that I already had enough money saved up,\u201d says Douglass. \u201cThat gave me the confidence I needed to strike out on my own.\u201d So in 2014, Douglass used his life savings to launch the London-based <a href=\"http:\/\/curated-digital.com\/\">Curated Digital<\/a>, a full-service digital marketing company. It immediately got attention in the industry, with Douglass being nominated for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/small-business-network\/2015\/jun\/11\/leader-of-the-year-2014-simon-douglass\">Small Business Leader of the Year<\/a> and the company on the shortlist for <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/small-business-network\/2015\/feb\/02\/showcase-startup-of-the-year-curated-digital\">Startup of the Year<\/a>. \u201cThat was amazing,\u201d says Douglass. \u201cIt was reassurance that we were doing something right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/06\/Simon-Douglass-2-800x571.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-23776\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p>Why did I start my own agency? I realized I could do things better by myself, instead of being told what to do.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>For seven years, Douglass was a global account manager working out of Google\u2019s London office. But he was frustrated by not being able to work directly with his clients. So after working for a couple of smaller companies\u2014and a stint as a stand-up comedian\u2014he decided to be his own boss. \u201cWhen I started the company,\u201d the 40-year-old entrepreneur says, \u201cmy only goal was to stop working for somebody else.\u201d Although he calls the shots, he enjoys the constant collaboration with his nine-person team. They love kicking back at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/locations\/london\/south-bank\">WeWork South Bank<\/a>. \u201cWe go there when we need a break from the office,\u201d he says. \u201cWe stop by for the free coffee, and if we\u2019re there long enough, the free beer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Photos: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.oscarmay.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Oscar May<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When Simon Douglass was considering whether to start his own business, a former boss offered to front him the money. \u201cI realized that I already had enough money saved up,\u201d says Douglass. \u201cThat gave me the confidence I needed to strike out on my own.\u201d So in 2014, Douglass used his life savings to launch [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":895,"featured_media":34870,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43903,43911],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-stories","category-member-spotlight"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.4 (Yoast SEO v25.3.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>40 over 40: Simon Douglass vows to &#039;stop working for somebody else&#039;<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u201cWhy did I start my own agency?&quot; asks Simon Douglass. &quot;I realized I could do things better by myself, instead of being told what to do.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/community-stories\/member-spotlight\/40-40-simon-douglass-vows-stop-working-somebody-else\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"40 over 40: Simon Douglass vows to &#039;stop working for somebody else&#039;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cWhy did I start my own agency?&quot; asks Simon Douglass. &quot;I realized I could do things better by myself, instead of being told what to do.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/community-stories\/member-spotlight\/40-40-simon-douglass-vows-stop-working-somebody-else\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ideas\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-10-13T23:33:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" 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