Jack is our Commercial Services and Partnerships Director here at Webgains. He has worked across a number of different brands including MyProtein, boohooMan and Kitbag before joining us at Webgains in 2019. Jack established our Manchester office in July last year and recently overseen the addition of American Golf, Douchebags and our exclusive partnership with Social Chain.

 

Hi Jack! Welcome to our Meet the Team interview, our first question is how do you like to start your working day? 

I tend to start with a coffee and a smoothie, I don’t eat till about 11am so a nice protein smoothie whilst I go through my morning emails!

Coffee is definitely our go to here at Webgains! So, Jack can you tell us what do you do at Webgains and in what circumstances would I come to you for something?

I head up our Manchester office as Client Services and Partnerships Director. It’s a pretty varied role across business development and client success essentially, ensuring that all new and existing clients are looked after in the way they should be by an affiliate network. You’d usually come to me with a client enquiry within the Manchester portfolio or perhaps as a new advertiser looking to join Webgains.

Sound’s good, on to our next question, who has influenced you the most when it comes to how you approach your work? 

Great question! I’d say I’ve had a few influences that have played a role in how I approach my work, however I’d say my parents have had the greatest. My Dad worked in retail his whole career and would pretty  much work every minute he could to make sure the stores he managed became a success, whilst my mum is a nursing assistant and would always ensure any work that I did in school went that extra mile! I’ve always had a pretty strong work ethic from the age of 14 when I started a paper round, to working two jobs during Uni at a bar and Sainsburys through to now!

What’s the coolest thing you’re working on right now? 

I tend to bang on about it but the Social Chain partnership is really bearing fruits at the moment, working with some ex colleagues there is great fun and seeing the results come from a partnership that I drove and kicked  off is really cool.

It is definitely a cool partnership! So, Jack, what’s a mistake you made early on in your career, and what did you learn from it? 

I guess this isn’t so much a mistake per say but I’ve learned over the years to have faith in my ability but also keep driving if there’s something I believe is worth driving. Another very important lesson that I got taught by a friend of mine indirectly was to control the controllable. It sounds really simple but especially with everything going on at the moment with Covid-19 there’s a lot we cannot control that isn’t good for mental health – focusing on tasks or actions that you can personally control is really valuable advice.

Such great advice! As you’ve now been here for nearly a year, what has been your experience at working at Webgains so far? 

It’s truly been a blast so far! We opened up a Manchester office and had a launch party, I visited Munich for Oktoberfest, spent time with the Bristol and London Office, attended Dmexco and signed up some fantastic new advertisers in the process!

Sounds like a great experience so far! With all the travelling and projects, you’ve been working on, what keeps you energized at work? 

Can I say coffee? No, but seriously, the team structure and support truly keeps me energized, especially in the current climate. Working across Teams with the sales guys, my Manchester Team and the wider Webgains office team is fantastic and is such a great way to keep pushing on to break even more records!

Definitely! And so, from your experience, what’s one thing that surprised you about working at Webgains? 

Can I answer this with one thing that didn’t surprise me? I moved to Webgains after experiencing the best Account  Management I’ve ever had in my affiliate career, and now I work this side of the table I can honestly say this is still the case – the lengths people go to in order to best service their accounts is amazing and it shows  in the results!

Finally, Jack, what’s your secret talent that no one knows about? 

I’ve been waiting for a moment like this to share this true fact, but following a very eventful morning one day… I am able to birth puppies… enough said!

Wow! That’s amazing! 

Thanks Jack for taking the time to talk with us