Sam Mahony is one of the original four members of APEXX bringing his exciting ideas and visions from day dot. He leads the Marketing Team and is responsible for the Marketing and Digital divisions of the company.
· What is your role, and talk to me about day-to-day life at APEXX?
I’m Sam, and I’m the Marketing Manager. I run all of the digital side of the business from a company facing perspective. This includes: Responsibility for the website, decks, proofs for sales and investors. I also lead all our digital campaigns on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Google ads etc. I run our PR team and content teams as well which covers off lots of the stuff on APEXX in the public domain.
On top of that I’m responsible for launching the APEXX events with our Merchants and Partners, which can vary from charity golf days, horse racing events, and rugby tournaments. This year has been quiet with events, due to the current climate, however, the last big event we hosted we took one of our Tech partners to Cheltenham Festival. We have a lot more in store for 2021.
· What exciting projects are you working on at present?
Our number one project we are working on at the moment is the exciting launch of our new website! It’s an extensive build on what we have at present, and it’s become more or less a rebrand as the project has unfolded.
We want to keep our channels interesting and diverse. It’s looking like we will be staying digital focused for the next 6-8 months. So my main focus is trying to make this happen and to deliver assets and content which are vibrant and interesting. We are looking increasingly into hosting webinars and podcasts. We already have a blog; however, we want to diversify the content and keep up with, or preferably ahead of, the trends. On top of this we are sharing a white paper over the next few weeks which is based on the concept of Payment Orchestration Layers: What they are, what features they offer, and why they are the future….so keep a lookout for this on our social channels!
· Are you working with agile processes? (in my experience not many marketing teams do), getting used to standups, sprints, retrospectives and more can be a bit tricky so can you elaborate on this?
Well, we’re one of the smaller teams in the business at present so we don’t necessarily require the standup model to be effective. As a department though we are constantly in contact with each other and challenging ourselves to be effective and creative.
· Are there any exciting tools/programmes APEXX Marketing use that could excite any new starters?
Everything we do is exciting in marketing! (LOL). Honestly for me marketing isn’t necessarily about flashy bits of software and pouring over analytics all the time. You need your vision and your objectives, and you need a crazy mix of things all working in concert to make those objectives a reality. I really think the thing that should excite people about joining us is taking on real work and meaningful project and responsibilities from day one.
· I’ve noticed that you have a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Politics, then a Diploma in Law from CUL. What made you transition into Marketing?
The way I got into APEXX was interesting. I am one of the first employees. The company was just set-up when I joined. I had just graduated my Law Degree and I was creating legal documents for them, and they offered me a job which was a mix of everything for the first 18 months.
I am self-taught when it comes to Marketing. There were so few of us at the beginning with so much to do, however, as we expanded and hired more people, we hired more specialised employees, and I naturally transitioned into a Marketing Lead role.
· Have APEXX put you through any training?
I haven’t received any formal Marketing training; however, it is on offer. You learn so much from the people you work with here. We’ve had external trainers come in to support us with things such as Google Ad’s, and as you work with them to create campaigns together it’s a complicated tool, but you learn as you do it, and seeing other people using it lets you pick it up quickly.
· What has been the biggest change over the years, from being one of the first employees on the ground to working for a fast-paced, high growth scale-up as APEXX is now?
There have been a lot of positive changes. When I started with APEXX there were four of us sitting around a desk in a Technology college in North London, and now we have an incredible team with people from all areas bringing so many different ideas to the table.
At the start, you could almost ‘make it up’ as you went along, however, as you grow and follow processes, then receive funding and expertise from your investors, you begin to put structures in place, and you begin seeing big results.
· What keeps you motivated and inspired?
How hard everyone works together here. You see the proof of where hard work gets you, and this is extremely motivating. Also, building something from the ground up, nothing is ever perfect. You revisit things that constantly need improvements which keeps the team focused. Everyone works bloody hard!
· What do you like best in life?
Cricket, The Simpsons and heavy metal bands such as ‘Tool’, ‘Opeth’, and ‘Pantera’ (rock emoji).
· Do you have a life motto or favourite quotes?
“The moving finger writes, and, having writ, moves on: nor all thy piety nor wit shall lure it back to cancel half a line, nor all thy tears wash out a word of it”. - Omar Khayyam
If a transition into Fintech or APEXX sounds interesting to you then why not check out our careers page here
Published by Katie Williams
