Company: HVH Media & Marketing
Owners: Hayden Van Hulzen
Year Started: 2013
Employees: 1 – 10
An Agency Story brings to light the dynamic journeys of agency owners, diving into the trials, triumphs, and the drive it takes to build something extraordinary. In this episode, we meet Hayden Van Hulzen, founder of HVH Media and Marketing, whose entrepreneurial journey is as riveting as it is inspiring.
From a tumultuous childhood and a pre-med college path to finding her passion for marketing, Hayden’s story is one of resilience and reinvention. She recounts how a single elective course in advertising opened her eyes to a world of creativity and branding, igniting a spark that led her to shift careers. Along the way, Hayden climbed the ranks in marketing, even working with some major national and international brands in the process. A pivotal and tragic series of events, including the loss of her boss and friend in an airplane crash, became a defining moment that propelled her to establish her own agency.
Throughout the episode, Hayden shares the unique challenges and strategies she employed to launch HVH Media and Marketing. From building an e-commerce-focused strategy during the COVID-19 pandemic to navigating unconventional projects like marketing for a billion-dollar pleasure brand, Hayden illustrates how adaptability and authenticity have been at the heart of her success.
Hayden’s advice to agency owners is to embrace imperfection and focus on authenticity. She emphasizes the importance of building genuine relationships and creating a loyal customer base over casting a wide but shallow net. Her personal journey underscores this, as she built not only a thriving agency but also a community that has supported her from the ground up.
Tune in to hear Hayden’s candid and empowering story, packed with actionable insights, heartfelt moments, and a testament to the transformative power of believing in yourself and your vision. This episode will leave you inspired to embrace your flaws, simplify your approach, and connect with your audience authentically. Don’t miss it!
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Show Transcript
Welcome to An Agency Story podcast where we share real stories of marketing agency owners from around the world. From the excitement of starting up the first big sale, passion, doubt, fear, freedom, and the emotional rollercoaster of growth, hear it all on An Agency Story podcast. An Agency Story podcast is hosted by Russel Dubree, successful agency owner with an eight figure exit turned business coach. Enjoy the next agency story.
Russel:
Welcome to An Agency Story podcast, I’m your host Russel. They engaging and innovative founder of HVH Media and Marketing based in Scottsdale, Arizona. Hayden shares her journey from a pre-med student to a top marketing strategist, revealing how a pivotal elective class changed her life and set her on the path to building her own agency. Discover how Hayden’s fearless approach to marketing, working with industries as diverse as religious television and billion-dollar pleasure brands has helped her agency thrive while embracing authenticity. Hayden also opens up about tragedy and difficult life events that spurred or an entrepreneurial leap. Enjoy the story. Welcome to the show today, everyone. I have Hayden Van Hulzen with HVH Marketing Media with us here today. Thank you so much for being on the show today, Hayden.
Hayden:
Thank you so much for having me. I’m really looking forward to this.
Russel:
Likewise. If you don’t mind, start us off. What does HVH do and who do you do it for?
Hayden:
Absolutely. HVH Media Marketing is a full service marketing agency. We hone in on social media though, because that’s really our bread and butter. We do a little bit of everything, you know, as far as influencer marketing goes to help support that. Digital marketing. We even do some branding and content development to really round out your strategy. We work with anyone we believe in. I didn’t want to silo us into one specific niche area in our industry. I wanted to be able to talk to a bunch of different people and go, yes, I believe in your vision and here is the strategy that we would tailor towards your brand to help you be successful. When I say we’ve worked from everywhere from sex toys all the way to religious television networks, I’m not kidding. We really have done it all, and I’ve worked with a lot of really incredible people. Being able to do all of this on a daily basis and really love it is something that I feel very blessed to be able to say that I do.
Russel:
That was quite the diversity of industries that you shared there. Variety is the spice of life. I want to a lot more things about the different clients you serve and how you serve them. But before we get to that, we’ll go back in time a little bit. I know you had an extensive career in marketing, but even before that, I don’t know, go back to elementary school, however far back you want to go. What did young Hayden want to do with her life?
Hayden:
Young Hayden grew up in a smaller town and very sheltered. I’ve written about this so I have no problem sharing it now, I had a really abusive mother a really strange upbringing. Divorced parents. They were divorced when I was, like, one, two, like very, very early. I don’t even have any memories of them together. Because of that, I was always very driven because I didn’t really have an option not to be. There wasn’t a lot of different avenues painted for me then, right? Because I had this very rigid upbringing and a mother who was very my value was based on my merit and my achievements. It was like, you’re either going to be a doctor or you’re going to be a lawyer. Which is funny because how the hell did I end up here, right? I remember like, that was what I was groomed for. I actually began in college as pre-med. Now I’m a marketing agency owner, but it was really funny because when I made the shift, I was taking an elective class that was in PR advertising and branding. I never even realized and I’d never been told as a child, like, someone creates the label on this product and makes millions of dollars doing it and someone decides, like, what this jingle is going to be in the background of this advertisement. I was like, oh, I could be great at that. I switched to a PR and advertising marketing background for communications based, media based. I remember when I made that switch, my mom, who we were already on the outs with speaking to each other, she was like, I was the greatest disappointment of all time. What’s so fun about it now is obviously, like, I have a very successful marketing agency and I honestly make way more than a lawyer or a doctor. It makes me very excited to be able to go, like, success really is the best revenge. I wasn’t following a path because my, worth was being defined by being on that path. This was something that I really loved and was passionate about. We’re talking about going back and coming forward. That’s really how I got to this point. After I made that transition, I just, I did a lot of scrappy things. Some of my first jobs, even while I was in college I wiggled my way into marketing roles. Even though I was working, like was working actually at a puppy store, if you can believe it. They had, these designer puppies and things like that, these little tiny teacup dogs. I talked enough about it and had built enough of my brand for myself that I convinced the owner, I’m like, give me a go. Let me do our social media. We started utilizing MySpace and then, implementing Facebook, and Instagram was just starting. We started using those things to help drive more traffic. While I was in my college career, that was like one of my first stepping stones. When I came out, I worked, a lot of different internships under great people, but I worked my way into different roles that were higher level. I talked my way into some positions just because I really, I did things different. I didn’t ever want to follow just this, rigid mentality of things can only be done one way. I wanted to take the things that I already knew and learned in my degree, and I wanted to deploy them in a way that was strategic and savvy and piggybacked on the fact that so much about any brand building, any marketing, it’s all about building relationships. If you have good relationships, they are doors and avenues to so many other things. The power of collaboration, through influence and activity is so valuable and it’s been around, right? I think people forget that there’s always been different phases of influence. I capitalized on those.
Russel:
Doctor turned marketer. Taking the high achievement from saving lives to maybe saving lives just from a different perspective. I’m just curious how that path and some of your success in your marketing career actually led up to starting your own agency?
Hayden:
After I got myself to a place where I had worked my way up and I had started to be able to prove myself through my marketing, I had a lot of really crazy things that happened to get me to starting my agency. I feel like all good entrepreneurs have these stories, right? These defining moments. That’s what happened for me. About seven or eight years ago now, I was in a position where I was working as a director of marketing for the company that I had kind of been referencing previously, he was an automotive trainer. I built him in using social media and marketing to being one of the top trainers in the world, second to Grant Cardone at the time. I had been going through a tough time in my personal life. I’d already referenced a little bit about my mother. She was on the outs with me. I was on the verge of divorce. I had this day where I sent my marketing assistant off with my company owner who had been working for four years. I loved my career. They both died in a airplane crash. One of the weirdest phone calls I’ve ever gotten. A lot of survivor’s guilt, feeling like maybe I should have been in there it was an event that I had planned. I was a very different person at that time. I had never known entrepreneurship. I knew careers. I had a lot of the stress of feeling that attachment to my career. Not having my career now and knowing that this person was gone and that I’d lost my friend and a place that I thought it was going to just be working for probably for the rest of my life at that time and losing friendships and then going through my divorce. All of these things at once where I just, I was left with nothing. I reached this point of really, like, complete and utter despair. I went, like, what do I do now? Who am I, how do I move forward? It was at a time where I just, I didn’t have anybody to really turn to. I gave myself some space and time to, to feel sorry for myself because I feel like you have to. Then I went, no, no, no, no, no, I can do this. I’m going to figure this out. I got back out there. I used the thing that I know so well. My social media for myself. I started branding myself. I talked my way into being a director of marketing CMO level at a cosmetics company that was looking to be acquired by L’Oreal at the time. I talked myself into this role and was like, I’m going to come in here and I’m going to help build this brand. I’m going to really do so in a way that, like, when you pitch this and we sell it off, it’s going to be worth so much more. I came in and I got access to all the biggest influencers because I put myself in those rooms and I was scrappy and I worked hard. And it turned into a billion campaign views and really strategic spends. I actually got us a free campaign with Kim Kardashian, where she was getting makeup done. By the time we actually sold to L’Oreal and it was like over a billion dollars, it was definitely my, my time to exit. Here we are, this is going to happen. My role is obviously going to start to fade out. What are my next steps going to be? I actually talked to the CEO of the company at the time. He was always like, I feel like you’re going to be your own boss one day. Even though he loved me working there, he was always like, you’ve got this in you. I listen to how your thoughts work. I see how you put yourself in these rooms. This is definitely something that’s going to happen for you. I had some really great mentors, then, too. People in high level positions that I really respected and were like, you can do this. You gotta make this leap. I remember having the conversation with my dad and I was like, dad, I’m going to quit my great job that pays super well and has all these options. I’m going to just start my own company. He was like, don’t do it. Eventually it got to a point where I was like, let’s go. I launched and it was perfect timing. Launched my company, started HVH Media Marketing. I hit the ground running. It was like, okay, these clients are here. People are asking for me. There’s this demand for this. I’m slowly probably going to be transitioning out of this anyway. Let’s do this. I did. HVH Media Marketing was born cause that’s what it was.
Russel:
One, I mean, you know, it is, it’s always hard to hear those stories, right? You shared some of that hardship, but it’s always also great to see the comeback version of, what obviously you’ve turned into and manifested and capitalized on a very great career and started a business, no easy feat unto itself. I can totally see just knowing you and the conversations we’ve had that marketing and selling and getting the name out there, probably a la getting clients is not a challenge for you. But I am curious, what was challenging for you in the early days of the business?
Hayden:
Timing wise, if you want to talk about, I launched in 2019, right towards the end. The big challenge was COVID. Surprisingly, because I felt it coming, when I caught wind of COVID, and I’m sure you remember, right when the COVID era happened, a lot of people didn’t necessarily know how serious to take it, right? We hear about things all the time, bird flu, swine flu, monkey pox. We never know how hard it’s going to hit us. COVID was something that a lot of us, hadn’t really experienced in our lifetime, something that severe and that drastic. When that started coming, I started preparing some of my clients. I was like, listen, like, we’re not set up well for e-commerce. I was like, I feel like if we’re not built out on e-commerce and anything happens, we get put in a position where, like, we completely have to shut down and we’re likely going to go out of business. The clients who believed me and listened, they pivoted. We started implementing online systems. We built out these e-commerce platforms and it kept us afloat. Actually, it made us some money during COVID because everybody was online. Amazon made a lot of money because everyone was still needing stuff and we were ordering it. The clients that listened, they did really well. Some, they unfortunately closed down because it was a necessity, but it kept me afloat during COVID too, and actually so much so that I had clients coming on during that time. My COVID experience was busy. I was in the house and trying to handle, homeschooling with my son, but I was getting clients and taking client calls so much so that I actually ended up partnering with a firm out in California that was focused on PR so that I could actually outsource that. Then we started a second company which I’ve since absorbed, which was called 21 North. I used that so that I could put all of my PR into there because it was hard to hire at that time. What I ended up doing is like, making use of exactly what we currently had and then really doing a great job for the clients that we had. I was able to get through and weather out the storm of COVID that was really hard on a lot of other people, but keep HVH afloat and then actually build it so that I was able to add on 21 North at the time.
Russel:
You made it sound like what I know is an extreme amount of work, effort, not to mention what was going on in the world at the time adding to distress and homeschooling a kid. No shortage of things to tackle in that sense. I guess another example where you’ve turned lemons into lemonade. I don’t know what short amount of time or a long amount of time is in the agency space anymore. Probably depends on the day where you say, five years doesn’t seem so long, but then five years actually is a long time, especially when we think back to that pandemic. When you just look back on your journey so far, what, what do you think is, like, one of your most rewarding moments? What stands out in that sense?
Hayden:
The most rewarding moments for me are honestly give back moments. Seven years ago, when I was going through the divorce, my boss died in a plane crash, like, I lost my job. By the way, my divorce was expensive for me, not him, so I lost everything. I had nothing. I have never, ever shied away from telling people that, like, seven, eight years ago, like, I was broke. I was in a lot of debt. I had put a lot of money into places that weren’t coming to fruition. I was trying to build this new life for myself, which costs a lot of money. I was having to really struggle through just making things happen for myself. When I look at where I’ve gotten now and the success that I’ve achieved, every time that I got to a point where I was at a new level of stable or a new high for myself, I gave back. Each year I really focus on, like, that philanthropy of who I’m giving to. It means a lot to me and I’ll get emotional. This is like one of those things that, like, oh, I’ll always get a little bit teary about, but each year I pick something different that, either one of my followers it means a lot to, or somebody who supported me over the years. I really like that I never, ever forget how it felt to be that person and to always make sure that as I succeed, that I make sure I put a hand back for other people.
Russel:
This is why I do what I do. These are the types of stories I love. It’s why I believe in the power of small business is just that we need more success in folks like you, because of that very reason that we remember what it’s like to struggle, to have to overcome something. This is by far, the group of people that are more likely to contribute and give back to others. That’s amazing. I don’t know from maybe when you were getting, you just sounded like that, you know, there’s just you know, maybe a lot going on if nothing else. How has your vision for, if we go back to how you started the company to where you’re at today, evolved for the company?
Hayden:
Obviously since then I’ve absorbed and I bought out my other agency and so I’ve made HVH bigger. I’ve also fine tuned some pieces. Something that I think is always important while on your kind of growth, I don’t always think growth has to be this exponential trajectory. I’ve actually taken some years where I’ve gone I want to fix things this year. I feel like we’ve been pushing forward and we have no shortage of leads, but like, do I love all the people internally? Do they still fit this vision that we’re trying to build? Are we all happy? Do we like the people we’re working with? I know I’ve touched on this with you before and I’ve actually just dealt with it recently, but I am no stranger to clients. Not because of any other reason than we aren’t enjoying the work we’re doing. I feel like the morale internally is more important to me than the monetary side. Part of the reason, like, my team members stay with me is because I stick up for them and I care about how much they love the things they’re doing and take a lot of pride in the fact that we are in a position where we’re stable enough and we have enough leads coming in that it is also a privilege to be working with us. I never ever want, that prostitute complex, right? You’re paying me so you think that we just have to do whatever you want. I love that we’ve been able to build the agency into that. Although we’re continuously growing and I know that we’re going to continue to move on that trajectory, I do take a lot of pride in the fact that we’ve reached a point where I don’t feel the pressures to grow exponentially. I like to grow more mindfully. I see our, see us growing over the next probably three to five years where we’re making sure we’re growing in a way that all of the people internally are taken care of, everybody’s happy. They’ve been a part of this journey of lifting us up and moving in that direction and I want to make sure they’re, they’re as important as the people that we’re bringing on to make sure we’re supporting that.
Russel:
It makes me think of this idea and I think it’s important to think of your business that it pretty much feel like all life processes work this way, that we can’t be a hundred miles an hour, go, go, go all the time. If we want to do quality and if we want to have something that’s got strong roots, if you will. The cycle of innovate, grow and stabilize and be mindful of which one we should be doing it at any given time. But I really appreciate the intentionality and thoughtfulness to which you put to that. How are you looking at the future? What do they say? The BHAG? What does the vision for the future of the business actually look like?
Hayden:
Currently with the people that I have internally and also people I’ve transitioned out I’ve had the company long enough where I’ve had employees be with me for about five years. After all of that mentorship and training and working with me, it was time for them to go on and maybe start their own things and I’m supportive of that. I never ever want my employees to feel like this is, like, what they have to live and die by. I respect that all of them have their own aspirations and dreams and I want this to be either a stepping stone or a safe haven. That’s what I love about HVH is I think I can provide that for very many years to come. I don’t plan for it to always be, like, my only thing. I have other things that I’m working on too, from a business standpoint, but it’s always been my baby. I spent a lot of time in it. I think as we continue to grow, I’m just going to continue to make more room for great people with great ideas to have a position that they love, that makes them feel inspired and then makes them feel just excited about the work we’re doing. I have some people internally that when we brought them on, just seeing things like designing a menu that goes out to a very large restaurant and then you can walk into them in any part of the world and they’d be like, I designed this. It’s exciting to be able to be a part of little things like that. That will be always my goal. I’ve been approached to be purchased on many occasions. I know I talked to you about this and I, I’m not quite there yet where I want to sell HVH. I just think I’m still going to keep growing it and then using it as an avenue to give back and then also support some of the other ventures that I’m hoping to build for myself.
Russel:
Sounds like a great plan to me. No one should be able to question any of the things you shared there. I’m just curious, whether you look back on your own success, something you’ve done really well, it’s worked really well for you. What’s a pro tip or two you have out there for other agency owners?
Hayden:
You know what? I love this. This is one of my favorite things. I’ve actually been thinking about this lately a lot because I get this question a lot from clients, right? What can we do in the meantime? Where can we start? It’s honestly, you can stop over complicating things. I think a lot of times we tell ourselves things have to be a certain way in order to come off how we intend to come off. But when you really dumb things down for yourself and you look at some of your favorite brands or your favorite companies, a lot of times they’re doing things that are very human and human is flawed. I think flawed has that negative connotation, but flawed doesn’t have to mean broken. Flawed can mean real. It means that it has these little flecks that give it its own little nuances that make it interesting, exciting, relatable. When you’re trying so hard to be for everyone and to come off a certain way, you lose authenticity, and we’re in an age where authenticity and those little nuances, those flaws, they’re actually what build loyal customer bases. It is so much more valuable to have a loyal diehard customer than it is to have a bunch of like you customers. They’re harder to keep. Retention is so much more important and that value is just not there the same way. You’re going to have to spend so many more dollars and work so much harder to keep converting them, whereas you can see so much more profit and support and growth by having a couple of really good loyal customers. This is something that I think so many people miss, right? They’re always thinking of the bigger picture and I’m like, let’s simplify. Let’s come back to our roots. Who are we? Let’s define that and let’s put more of that out there. And that? That’s scary. That’s the hard part about that tip. That other piece is that it’s scary. It’s scary to put our real selves out there because putting your real self out there means that you’re okay with not being liked by some. But remember, not being liked by some is important because your product, your service isn’t for all. You need to let those people go and then you need to really hone in on finding those people that matter because they’re going to be what drives your brand forward and creates an indelible brand that will survive many years to come and stay profitable.
Russel:
I was just taking notes there, just sum that up. What I think was really great advice, embrace being flawed. I felt like that’s really inspirational. The world is complicated enough. We’ve got to do a lot, which is actually harder work to simplify, less is more. This idea of being authentic. I talk a lot about folks when they are going through this process of defining their brand or who they want to be, it’s not about who you exclude. It’s who you include, I feel like is kind of what you’re saying there. Wonderful advice. When you think of that, how do you rate yourself on how well you’ve taken that advice that you’ve just given?
Hayden:
Oh, I am the queen of embracing my flaws. My whole entire brand and part of the reason I have such an awesome community. When we talk about the people who follow me on my, and listen, I think I talked to you about this, but, like, I have a little bit of a falling, I have like 250, 000 people who follow me on TikTok, I’ve got a good, like 40, 000 or so on Instagram. Part of the reason I have these communities is because, one, I practice what I preach, and if I honestly can’t market myself, why should you trust me to market you? And I do so in a way that is overly authentic. I really dug deep into embracing who I was, and so some of the people who have been following me have known me longer than my husband, like they have been following me since I was back in those days where they knew I was sitting in my empty closet trying to figure out how I was going to afford my rent that month. They see me today and this is also why they’re so invested in who I am and what I’m building for myself. When I say that I’m going to do something for your brand, I’m doing it already for myself. I’ve put it to practice too and I can say that it is successful..
Russel:
Another great tip there. I talk to a lot of agencies about just this idea of how important it is to do what you do for others, for yourself, for those very reasons of you learn, you you validate, you can talk to clients from experience, you can test so many things out there. It just goes back to your core advice of being authentic and embracing yourself. Wonderful. Probably would love to keep talking for a lot more time, but I know, we’re on a holiday weekend that we both agreed to. We’re going to take it easy, but at least we can get to taking it easy sooner than later. Last big question for you, Hayden, are entrepreneurs born or are they made?
Hayden:
This one’s a hard one for me because I will tell you that I have days where I go back and forth. I would argue, I think entrepreneurs are born and I think they’re also made. Part of this is because entrepreneurship is sometimes just innately in us, but that doesn’t mean it completely excludes people who want to be a part of it. There are some of us who are born with a calling to it, right? There’s people who just completely skip high school and college and then they end up millionaires, billionaires. Those are people who are born into it. I was not born into entrepreneurship. I was born into an indoctrinated employee mindset. Although I’ve met a lot of the born entrepreneurs, I think I would fall into the made. It came from different experiences that shaped me. Different things in my life, hardships that happened that forced me to realize the power and potential that is in relying on yourself and betting on yourself and embracing the fact that if you go all in with a good and open heart, into something that you love, and you know that you can find a way to monetize it, you will find success and entrepreneurship can be built around that. I feel like people who have those free spirits to want to make something happen for themselves and have enough faith, I think that those people can be made into entrepreneurs as well.
Russel:
It would be hard for me and I’d be hesitant to say I want to claim that there’s the best answer to that question I’ve heard, but I’m going to, I’m going to put that a top five easy, in so many ways, and how you spoke to that. Certainly I’d say most people go a mix, but that was just a very eloquent way to speak to how entrepreneurs are born and couldn’t agree more. Wonderful. If people want to hear more about your amazing thoughts, tips, or otherwise, and know more about you and or HVH Marketing, where can they go?
Hayden:
They can always find us on social media. HVH Marketing on Instagram was a great place to find us. We’re also on Facebook. HVHMarketing.com is our website and then you can find me, I’m Hayden Merryn, but the E’s are threes and it’s a complicated reason why. You can find me there.
Russel:
if you get lost, folks, look up her name. I’m sure you can Google it pretty quick. A unique name and, as you said, very popular. I’m sure it won’t be too hard to find. Thank you so much, Hayden, for taking the time to share your hardships, your successes and your goals and just wonderful advice and vision you have for within the agency space in your business. Really appreciate you taking the time to share that today.
Hayden:
Thank you so much for having me. I really enjoyed it.
We hope you’ve enjoyed this episode of An Agency Story podcast where we share real stories of marketing agency owners from around the world. Are you interested in being a guest on the show? Send an email to podcast@performancefaction.com. An Agency Story is brought to you by Performance Faction. Performance Faction offers services to help agency owners grow their business to 5 million dollars and more in revenue. To learn more, visit performancefaction.com.
Hayden:
Anytime that we would receive products for PR, cause we were the sole PR company for a very large sex toy brand, billion dollar sex toy brand. As products were received, obviously internally as an agency owner, I have to be very, very cautious about how this gets handled with people. It was always offered to them, like, listen, when these come in, they would like us to try them and speak to them. That’s a hard thing to navigate, right? Like, okay, hello, as your boss, I’m going to send you home with these, you don’t have to share it as a group, but I’d like you to draft up your review of this, if you feel comfortable. Because the brand really did, they were working with an all female-owned agency because this was a female sex toy company that was all geared towards women’s pleasure. Part of me being brought on for this and why I thought I would be a good fit is because they knew I could find people that would either participate or speak to it. But it was really funny having those calls with the team where I was having to deliberate on our experiences in a professional way. I remember sitting on these calls and trying to be so serious while talking to this big, giant dollar brand. Getting off later and I’m like, this is hysterical. How did I get myself here? It was a great account too. It was so much fun. We really did a great job for them. We had them all over the place. It was great. Trying to talk about butt plugs professionally to a boardroom full of a billion dollars sex toy company while thinking about it from a marketing perspective, definitely, definitely was a fun experience and a funny one.
Russel:
I can’t imagine. I don’t think I envy having to be in that role, but maybe just a note, right? Cause we think about this all the time, how important it is as marketers to try out our clients’ products experience whatever it is they do. Makes you think twice about what products would you or would you not want to experience, out there.
Hayden:
I was a good sport.
