#WIB – Q&A With Livia Brown Owner & Founder Of what3things

1. Can you please tell us more about your business?

what3things offers OOH strategic advisory services to the media industry. We work with OOH media owners, media agencies, creative agencies and brands directly. Our services range from basic OOH training, to key account planning with media owner sales teams to identify areas for growth to OOH media strategy, implementation, production and campaign execution from briefing to flighting. Our approach is tailormade to suit our clients and all conversations start by asking, “what is your biggest business challenge and how can our services help to bridge the gap?”.

2. When, how and why did you start your business?

I started what3things, OOH strategic advisory services in March 2022. The decision to start my own OOH consulting business came about when I was retrenched in February 2022.

I knew that I had a specialised set of skills, having worked across every aspect of OOH media from being a Junior OOH Strategist up to the General Manager of the largest OOH specialist agency in South Africa, at the time.

I have been specifically focused on the OOH media channel for the past 9 years and I saw a gap in the market, where specialist skills are required on various sides of the media eco system; from media agencies, to creative agencies, clients and OOH media owners and, thus what3things was formed.

3. What is your role in the business?

I am the Owner and Founder of what3things and I am responsible for overseeing all of the business functions within the company. I am constantly engaging with key contacts within the OOH industry to keep up to date with the latest developments, both globally and locally and ensuring that all of my daily activities are positioned around raising my what3things profile in the industry and to put and keep my company top of mind when it comes to all things OOH related.

4. Where did you study and what did you study?

I studied a BA (Communication Science) through UNISA.

5. How did you finance your business?

I have been very intentional creating my business to be as streamlined and as flexible as possible, I want to be able to work from anywhere and as such have established a lot of online systems and processes to keep my running costs at a minimum and ensuring a flexible working environment. Due to the size and the consultancy basis of the services that what3things offer, my set up costs have been minimal to date and I have financed my business from my personal savings.

6. Describe your average workday, if such a thing exists.

When I first joined the wonderful world of OOH I was told that no two days would be the same, and 9 years on this is still true. I have always believed that in order to succeed you need to have a plan, attention to detail and be hard working. Every day I aim to read every email that I receive to be on top of all operations. This enables me to prioritise my tasks as I am aware of all of the details. Every day I either create or update a to do list to ensure that I am getting the best use of my time, and I create my to do lists in order of priority. I am constantly asking myself if this task is critical and how this task is influencing the bottom line of my business. I believe we all have the same amount of time, but it is in the management of our time where we all differ.

7. How do you balance your home life and your work life?

Over the years I have needed to learn to put strict boundaries in place in order to maintain the balance between work and life. I have to keep on reminding myself to play within my boundaries. I prioritise time management and as mentioned, I am always checking in on what role my tasks play towards the bottom line.

I have a strict time limit approach to afterhours and weekend work. If I decide to spend an hour working after hours, for example, I will time myself to ensure that that 1 hour of time does not take me away from my family and is utilised in the best way. I try my best to be focused when I am at work and also to be focused when I am with my family, as focused time is more valuable than being available but constantly distracted and focusing elsewhere. Being an entrepreneur it is harder to find and maintain the balance, but I find that regular assessment of where my time is spent, helps me to navigate the balance.

8. What drives you and inspires you?

I have always been ambitious and willing to do the work.

I am self-motivated and from when I first started my career, I have had to do the long hours and the slog work to learn and to develop my skills. During my first 2 years out of University, I changed jobs 8 times trying to find where my strengths lie, where my weaknesses could be developed and where I could learn new skills.

I was not deterred by the noise around me encouraging me to “stay at one company long term” and “just be grateful that you have a job”. I had the courage to keep trying until I found where my interests and passions were and where I could really grow and learn.

I am inspired by a passion to win. I want to win at whatever I take on and I am willing to give it my all in the pursuit of success. I believe in myself and have learnt to trust my instincts and not be afraid to leap into the unknown.

9. Where and when do you have your best ideas?

I usually have my best ideas when I am able to clear my mind and let it wonder. I have found that over the years when I am able to quiet my mind, I am able to get a lot of clarity and my creative side comes alive. These quiet moments can come in the middle of the night whilst trying to sleep, on a quiet morning walk with my husband and daughter, or from changing my environment and resetting, this could be an exotic holiday or a simple day exploring somewhere new.

10. Where and how do you market/advertise your business for sales leads?

Relationships. Relationships. Relationships.

The success I have managed to achieve within my career and for my consulting business, what3things, is mainly due to my reputation as an OOH industry expert and the strong relationships I have formed over the years. I have always believed in building new and nurturing existing relationships, and I have seen the value of this when I established what3things. I prioritise respect and straight talking when it comes to growing my relationships. I have spent years building my reputation as an expert, who can simplify OOH complexities for clients, who can be trusted, and a leader who brings the passion for OOH to every engagement.

Using the relationships I have established, I have also started an initiative that consists of a series of online discussion, hosted and created by me, that invite OOH experts to come together to discuss hot topics in OOH, please visit my website to see links to the past events, www.what3things.work.

I am also very active in my industry on LinkedIn and I am committed to keeping the industry updated on latest trends, technology and developments and also to share some of my expert tips and advice when it comes to OOH.

Most recently I have also been appointed as the Editor for a new platform dedicated to all things OOH and digital OOH and a source of industry knowledge and sharing for the African OOH industry. Visit www.dooh.co.za to subscribe to our newsletter.

11. What is next for your business?

what3things is growing, going into 2023 we are going to grow our client base, whilst maintaining strict standard and best practice across the business. Larger agencies are not always able to be as agile and as you scale your business it is not always as easy to maintain strict standards across the business.

We will continue to host industry initiatives that engage and excite the OOH industry and continue our commitment to knowledge sharing, collaborative work and pushing the boundaries.

12. What advice would you give to female entrepreneurs hoping to start their own business?

Dream big.

Your career path and achievements are limited only by how big your dreams are. Do not be afraid to carve out your own path and don’t be afraid to bump your head and change direction. Don’t be afraid to ask, some of the biggest doors that have opened in my career are from having the courage to ask and putting myself into uncomfortable positions, which is where I have grown the most. Do the hard work required and push yourself to your limits to achieve your ambitions and then, most importantly, back yourself.

Be diligent with self-assessment and self-evaluation and be quick to pivot when needed, do not let your ego lead you, talent first can never lead your astray.

Lastly, be prepared to up your hustle game. It is tough out there being an entrepreneur and it can be lonely at time, you need to keep yourself and business going forward and be prepare to bring 100% of yourself and 100% of the hustle to every day.

Livia Brown profile

Livia Brown is the Founder and Owner of what3things strategic OOH consulting services. She has extensive knowledge of the OOH industry having spent 9 years as a specialist in the industry and managing Posterscope, part of Dentsu, which was at the time the largest OOH specialist agency in South Africa. Livia has a wealth of experience and is well respected within the OOH industry as a leader and collaborator.

Contact information

Mobile: 083 372 1784

Email: livia@what3things.work

Website: www.what3things.work

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/livia-brown-67086346