Today we’d like to introduce you to John Lods.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I started Arm Candy when I was 26. Being an entrepreneur wasn’t something I originally had in the cards, but when assessing my options at the time, it seemed to be the logical path to venture down. Really, the number one advantage I had on my side was the gift of ignorance, as I had no idea how challenging it would be to get a business off the ground with nothing but my college laptop and a few client opportunities.
Today, Arm Candy is 7 years old, employs 50+ people, and is consistently recognized as a Fastest Growing Agency and Best Place to Work. And I really do believe, granted I may be a little biased, that the services we deliver are truly 1/1 in the industry. Our people are incredibly brilliant and inspiring in so many ways. And we’re on a direct path to being the highest quality independent media agency in the U.S., one of the two reasons Arm Candy was started in the first place.
Looking back from January 2019, when Arm Candy was founded, to today, it’s amazing the series of events and things that needed to go right to get to where we are. As I sit here watching March Madness, it feels somewhat relatable to a double digit seed reaching the Final Four. And much like that Cinderella seed making a run, in addition to a little bit of luck, it takes the right coaches, staff, teammates, team chemistry, and people who believe in you, mixed with incredible execution, to get it done. Most of all, the support system at home, from my then girlfriend, now wife and mother of my daughter, who has been heavily involved from day one, is a life hack.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Smooth? Mhm, I wouldn’t say that by any means. Relative to what you’d imagine starting a business from scratch in your early 20s would be like? Yes, I think so!
Arm Candy was founded while the government was shut down in 2019, so getting a Tax ID so we could open our bank accounts was our first hurdle. Our largest client at the time operated on NET 180 day terms, so having no resources to hire anyone for 6 months wasn’t the easiest dynamic to manage while we continued to onboard more and more clients. But there are worse challenges to navigate than having too much work and no one to help you with it when getting a business off the ground. I made my first hire when checks finally cashed, and we were off to the races from there!
Learning accounting, financial software, navigating office space decisions, recruiting, standing up health insurance, 401K and other benefits, and general business operations, what I referred to as my weekend work, were tedious but oddly invigorating. The day to day and weekday activities of the Arm Candy business, winning advertisers, onboarding them, and providing top tier service, came more naturally.
And surely enough, Arm Candy continued to win and scale. And the challenges we faced continued to change and evolve too, one of which no one really could expect to happen: the pandemic.
Overnight, our largest advertisers, nationally known brands, stopped investing in advertising. And we were hit with our first “crisis.” But what started as a nightmare scenario turned into an opportunity, as we were able to win and onboard new clients virtually. In that time span, we pitched clients virtually, serviced them virtually, and tripled our clients, massively diversifying our client portfolio. Revenue was hurt short term, as we were winning less sizable clients, but long term building blocks and sustainability were locked and loaded, and from there we had a launching pad built for growth!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
What are you most proud of?
I’m really proud of how we got to where we are today, more so than where we are; the decisions that we’ve made along the way.
Investing in our people. Creating an organization and culture that always makes decisions in the best interest of our clients. Building Arm Candy the right way for the right reasons.
Fully covering health insurance premiums for our team members and their families. Offering 401K with match. Helping support an environment where our people prioritize their families and friends, well before Arm Candy. Encouraging our team members to take extra time off with mandatory PTO. 3-year and 5-year anniversary paid trips to encourage our people to get out and explore the world, or find your balance, as we call it at AC.
Growth for us is fueled by our desire to give our people – more. And to continue to deliver higher quality services, for our clients.
I’m very fortunate to be surrounded by an incredible team who share this vision and make decisions firmly rooted in these beliefs as we continue to win and grow.
How do you think about happiness?
My family. Traveling. Going to see Dave Matthew’s (please don’t judge – but I understand if you do!). Playing golf. And Purdue sports from time to time.
Being excited to see your family, all day, every day, is a game changer! It’s fun to have something to look forward to, allll the time! I’ve made some good decisions and I’ve made some bad decisions, but I really lucked out with the person I chose to spend my life with. That’s the one decision I’d really recommend getting right!
We both come from large families, which means yes, there’s TONS of chaos! Crazy family events, full of ups and downs but it’s all a part of the roller coaster we all find ourselves on together!