Five things that made me – Kari Owers, founder of O Agency

90’s kid

I thought I had to be in London to work in creative industries but fell in love with the North East when I came here to study and decided to stay.  Moving to Newcastle in the 1990s was such a good time to be alive, the music and club scene was brilliant and I found my ‘tribe’ at art college. Nowadays, my network is made up mainly of Generation X creative entrepreneurs of this era, some are indigenous Geordies who maybe left the region and returned, and others are university stayers like me. It’s just a great place to do business.

Ever-changing world of comms

My forefathers were mostly newspaper journalists, writers and actors so storytelling is in the blood. Curiosity is the one thing that has fuelled my career and still does. From interviewing chief executives for press articles (and asking all the nosy questions) to learning how to use a new social media platform – I hate not knowing something. Having that desire to learn, try and ask questions has kept me relevant as our industry has evolved and I don’t see any point in the future when I’ll stop being curious.

The mid-career reboot

After nearly 20 years in the industry, I had worked in almost every sector for hundreds of companies when Dr. Martens picked up the phone – they were probably the client that taught me the most just when I thought I knew my craft.

I learned so much over several years working closely with their global marketing team, it was brilliant fun and opened my eyes to lots of new and exciting ways to market a heritage brand from creator campaigns to experiential events.

It reminds me that the next dream client is always just around the corner – and you never stop learning!

Know your numbers

I’ve been lucky enough to have many business mentors and even the ones that had huge businesses always said, “turnover is vanity, profit is sanity”.

I understood very quickly that figures like headcount and turnover don’t matter as much as making enough to be sustainable.

O will turn 20 years old in 2025 and gaining advice from mentors has given us the resilience to ride out recessions, pandemics and technological change.

Girl power

I wanted to end on my role models. I grew up seeing strong female role models like Anita Roddick and Vivienne Westwood breaking rules in their field. Their rebellious attitude inspired me to forge my own path. My favourite quote is “go ahead, underestimate me, that’ll be fun” – I don’t know who said it, but it always makes me smile.

LinkedIn: Kari Owers