Today we’d like to introduce you to Sigurdur Svansson.
Sigurdur, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I have always been fascinated by content creation, taking photos, and documenting ever since I can remember. If I had to guess, I would say I got it from my mom since she was the one always responsible for taking pictures. Due to my interest in photography, I was always asked to be responsible for taking photos at parties and events.
Once I started University, I already had experience with content creation, so in my first year, I was asked to be the official photographer for the Department of Business Administration, where I photographed all their events and shared them on their official website (at this time there was no Facebook). In my second year, I was elected to the student council in the Department of Business as a PR & Event Manager where I got the chance to plan all of the events, both internal and also so-called networking events where students had the chance to visit and meet some of the largest companies in Iceland.
As I planned and participated in all of these events, my network and connections grew immensely and allowed me the opportunity to pick up side projects for concerts and social media promotions. In my third year at University, I was well known for my talent and passion, so when a role opened up at Red Bull Iceland for a Student Manager position, I was recommended for it. This was a big opportunity for me to work with a leading international brand so, at that time, I decided to use the opportunity to learn from industry experts and use this experience to kick start my career in marketing. Over the course of the time I was working for Red Bull I was doing everything from social media, and content creation, to event management, and more. To gain more experience I also got the opportunity to take on an internship for 3 months at the Red Bull HQ in Fuschl, Austria where I got the chance to work on a wide range of international projects.
I held multiple roles within Red Bull throughout my time with them, but that was always more of a part-time job. Alongside my various jobs at Red Bull, I worked full-time at Iceland Telecom (Síminn). This was more of a corporate job in which I held positions in sales and customer service. I had started out as a representative along with my studies at the university, but at 24 years old I got promoted to Sales Manager and co-led a department of 35 employees. This really helped to gain an understanding of how to work with teams and be customer-centric. I stayed at Iceland Telecom for 8 years, where I held various positions that gave me the opportunity to understand how to work with teams, be customer-centric and also understand how marketing, sales, and service work to gather.
I stayed at Iceland Telecom for 8 years, and during that time I got the opportunity to get a deeper insight into how to work with teams, be customer-centric, marketing, sales, and service work among other invaluable experiences.
In July 2016, David Luther contacted me and asked if I was interested in founding SAHARA with him. One and a half months later we started working on our first projects and officially launched the business in September 2016. We had been friends for a while and he had seen my growth and potential in my current role and believed we could create something special with SAHARA. SAHARA started out as a social media agency focusing mainly on social media management. At that time, social media management and paid media were the main focus for many companies, but it was in a way a new concept for many Icelandic companies. So at first most of the conversations we had with potential clients were to explain what this new concept was, how it was working for other markets, and why they should start implementing social media and paid media in their marketing approach.
We started doing smart content creation like Facebook Live, behind-the-scenes footage from some of the largest concerts in Iceland and events, and social media takeovers. This set the foundation for SAHARA and the company began growing quickly. In 2018, SAHARA and Silent (a production company founded in 2009) merged to form a full-stack digital marketing agency under the name SAHARA, which has since successfully represented local and global clients and brands.
After the merger, the SAHARA team grew and earned many recognitions such as Great Place to Work May 2021-May 2022, Best Icelandic Brand 2020, Top Digital Marketing Companies in Europe 2020, as well as nominations for the Global Digital Excellence Awards 2020 and ended as 1 of the top 4, and got recognized as an excellent eCommerce agency for the year 2021 and as one of the Top 10 global Agencies in eCommerce.
Needless to say, SAHARA was ready to go international. With the occurrence of Covid-19 making remote work an option, it became clear that global expansion would be extremely value-adding to help us achieve our goals. Thus the seed for the Orlando office was planted. In 2022, that dream came true and I moved my family to Orlando to begin building the SAHARA global team.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has been way smoother than I expected. Setting up the Orlando office and gathering documentation to start a business in the US was time-consuming and at some points difficult. But once all final documents were approved and we got settled in the US, the process of finding talent and integrating that talent into the office has been easier than I expected, honestly it exceeded my expectations.
For SAHARA in general, we’ve had our ups and downs just like any business. Since the merger, we have been growing fast, so there are a lot of challenges that come with scaling up and hiring the right people for that growth. But also a lot of opportunities to learn and improve.
There are always challenges and always will be, but I don’t look at them badly, it’s part of growing the company. There are always lessons that we can use to our advantage in the future. It has happened at every stage of the company and it has helped us update our infrastructure, hiring process, and operations so we are ready for whatever comes our way (even a pandemic).
I like to say there’s never a dull moment when you’re running a digital marketing agency. One of the struggles, but also what keeps this business fun, is that there is never enough time to sit back and relax, everything keeps changing by the second.
Currently, we are focused on implementing new things and figuring out what is working to stay ahead of the game and make sure we stay known as the leading agency that understands and adapts to social media- and digital marketing strategies updates.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We are proud of SAHARA’s growth and the opportunities to work with some of the leading companies in Iceland and internationally. We have truly become an international company, and with our new Orlando branch, we will be able to continue to provide services globally and expand from there.
We are a powerful full-stack marketing agency specializing in everything digital, we are here to help businesses and companies that want to thrive. Whether it’s digital campaigns, web design, social media management, content creation, paid media, or other digital advertising needs. What sets us apart is how we work with our clients. Even though we have big goals to continue scaling, we never lose sight of our customer service roots. We pride ourselves in the systems we have implemented to stay ahead of the game while maintaining close relationships with our clients.
Brand-wise, I am most proud of our team and the work we do, it’s what’s led us to the nominations and recognitions we have received as a company. I am also proud of the steps SAHARA has taken to make sure our team continues to love working with us. That includes pledging to take part in 4 of the 17 United Nations sustainable goals. The UN has defined 17 sustainable goals through which countries of the world have pledged to eradicate poverty, find sustainable and inclusive development solutions, ensure everyone’s human rights, and generally make sure that no one is left behind by 2030. SAHARA proudly supports and strongly believes in the following: quality education, good health and well-being, gender equality, and climate action.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
I would advise people to step outside of their comfort zone. Networking and getting to know new people can sometimes be overwhelming, but you need to have the courage to take the step. It does not always mean that you have to have some value to share, but actually, pay attention and be interested in what others have to say.
What is the worst that could happen? We attend to overthink everything!
I always tried to use the opportunities to promote myself alongside my full-time jobs, taking on extra responsibilities, writing articles in the newspaper, sharing interesting thoughts on LinkedIn, and speaking at events or conferences to promote me, personally.
Through these experiences, I have worked on developing my own brand which has led to some interesting conversations and networking opportunities that I still value up to this day.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.saharaagency.net/
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/saharasocialmedia
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/saharasocialmedia
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCffcPZY7RAtlT96QTfPR87A
