The importance of connections with Michael Westafer, founder and CEO of Roger West Creative & Code

April 18, 2024

This week, we speak with Michael Westafer, founder and CEO of Roger West Creative & Code. Michael founded the company, a full-service marketing agency, in 2007. The company recently merged with Digital Brew, an Orlando video production company, and will be run under a holding company called Roger & James, with a combined 45 employees.

Together, we talk about how Michael founded and grew the business and some early challenges he overcame to scale and work with bigger clients. We also discuss Michael’s leadership style and how builds a culture of open communication at the company.

3 Takeaways

(03:25) It all starts with connections
(11:40) You can learn as much from bad leaders as you can from good ones
(12:35) It is hard to say “no” to projects

Timestamps

(00:00) Introducing Michael Westafer
(02:00) What led to the founding and growth of the firm?
(04:35) What were some key tipping points along the way?
(05:55) What do you look for when hiring employees and leaders?
(09:20) Tell us about EOS for your company
(11:00) Learning from other leaders
(12:30) What have you learned from running the company?
(14:15) Company-wide goal setting
(15:00) New announcement
(16:00) What can we look forward to in 2024?
(16:45) Rapid fire question

Join us every week as we interview business leaders to learn what makes them great, what they look for in growing leaders and much more.