On today’s show (which happens to be our first episode recorded in lockdown!), I speak with Jamie Love, the CEO & Founder of Monumental Marketing. As an openly gay entrepreneur, Jamie tells us about how he left his job in marketing & PR to start and scale his own company that was just named the UK’s Best Growth Marketing Agency of 2020.

He shares some of the lessons and principles he’s upheld while navigating different business spaces as a young and gay CEO… from developing connections early-on to challenging heteronormative expectations, Jamie’s career has been nothing short of inspiring over the last few years. Most impressively perhaps, he tells us about how he’s stayed true to his mission of being diversity-centric and authentically Jamie, even in the most pressing of times.

Later in the episode, we learn about how Jamie has helped take the Edinburgh Pride Festival from a couple of thousand attendees to now being a key fixture with tens of thousands of paraders each year. And if all that wasn’t enough, we learn about his most recent big life decision... getting a pup while in lockdown!

So, without further ado, here’s Jamie Love on Corporate Queeries. Stay active and stay queer!

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Before you go on your way, I wanted to take a moment to talk about what’s been happening over the last few weeks and months.

A few days after our last episode was released, one of the biggest explosions in history devastated Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. I’m sure most people will have seen the news about the blast on August 4th that was caused by almost 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate. It killed hundreds of people. It injured thousands. And it even displaced hundreds of thousands of people in a matter of seconds.

As someone who’s Lebanese myself, and having spent 8 of my childhood years in Beirut, it has been incredibly difficult to watch the city and country I love continue to go through more hardship and catastrophe. Especially now at an even higher, and unprecedented, level.

Its important to recognize that this catastrophe was by no means an accident... there has long been a corrupt system and group of people controlling the governing functions and purse strings of the country who knew of the inherent risk here and enabled the catastrophe to happen in the first place. Diving into these specifics would require an episode if not a full podcast to do it justice.

At this point, I want to take this time to ask you to pledge any support - no matter how small - that you are able to offer to the people in need there. There are a number of grassroot organizations that are working to rebuild the city and help those suffering. Here are a few that would benefit hugely from financial donations at this time: @havenforartists, @impactlebanon, @baytna_baytak.

Thanks again for your support and for listening!