Brody proves digital natural
THIS YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR USED TO THINK YOU COULDN’T START A BUSINESS UNTIL YOU WERE INTO YOUR 40S. NOW AN ACCOMPLISHED DIGITAL EXPERT AT 23, HE KNOWS THAT JUST ISN’T TRUE,
TALK to Brody Oxenham about digital marketing, websites, building online audiences and creating content and most wouldn’t have any idea the switched-on young man before them has only just tipped over two decades on the planet.
After moving to Cairns when he was three – Mr Oxenham’s mum retrained as a teacher in Brisbane and started afresh in the tropics – the Cairns Airport digital marketing specialist is someone to keep tabs on in the future.
At 23, Mr Oxenham helps business owners with tech, online and digital issues and was hired as part of the Federal Government Young Entrepreneurs Project (Y (E) P), designed to train Far Northerners to create their own jobs, when it started almost two years ago.
“How I got started in all this was I started a marketing degree at JCU but I really wanted to learn how to build my own online business and build a website and that sort of thing,” Mr Oxenham said.
“I started playing around and learning, making sites, just on random topics and I found it really enjoyable.
“I was creating content, building up audiences and communities online, trying to drive traffic to online stories and make sales.
“I had been doing that for about a year or so and the job with Y (E) P came up which gave me a lot of opportunities to start helping business owners and then gave me the experience and skills to start my own business.”
Through Manexo Media, which Mr Oxenham started during the final semester of university, he focuses on spreading the vision of “companies through creative, authentic stories”.
With experiences such as the Young Starters Weekend innovation bootcamp and an overseas jaunt to the US as part of Advance Queensland’s Start-up Catalyst Community
Leaders Mission, Mr Oxenham is more qualified than most to educate others on the topic.
“When I was in school I did business, but I thought you couldn’t start a business until you were in your 40s after you’d had heaps of experience. But that’s not true,” he said.
“I think digital marketing can seem quite overwhelming to people – there are so many things related to it, like social media, SEO, building websites. And it is always evolving so fast, and a lot of business owners think they don’t have the time to learn what they need or
AT 23, BRODY OXENHAM HELPS BUSINESS OWNERS WITH TECH,
ONLINE AND DIGITAL ISSUES AND WAS HIRED AS PART OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT Y (E) P PROGRAM
I’D REALLY LOVE TO GROW MY BUSINESS. IT’S JUST ME DOING MOST OF THE WORK AT THE MOMENT. BRODY OXENHAM
they’re too far behind to catch up.
“I would say to those struggling with the concepts, ‘don’t be afraid to just start learning and taking small steps to start applying it’. Whether that means something as simple as posting on social media or making their first website.
“I’d really love to grow my business. It’s just me doing most of the work at the moment. I do outsource a bit and get a bit of help from my girlfriend (Ebony Smith) but I’d like to be able to grow it to the stage of a more dedicated team of employees, but stay small and local.”
Unlike plenty of other young people who grow up in Cairns, Mr Oxenham is keen to stick around.
“I think Cairns is a good starting point for a lot of business owners. If they need help and support, there’s plenty around, such as Y (E) P, community and business groups.
“There’s really a lot of groups offering help depending on who you are and who you connect with.
“Because Cairns is quite small, it is easier to build personable connections with business owners and everyone knows each other so that makes things a lot easier.
“I do know quite a lot of agency owners who are 10 years ahead of me and it’s inspiring looking at where they are.
“I really look up to Angelo Saliba from Bang Media, Nikki
Jurd from Precedence and also John Baker from BSL Savvy.”
A 2019 Cairns Young Chamber Emerging Leaders Program participant, Mr Oxenham said people sometimes commented on his youth, but he didn’t feel “that young”.
“I am quite young I suppose, but there’s already so many young people doing amazing things here,” he said.
“Age isn’t such a big factor as it used to be.
“Even kids as young as 12 can start a business now, and even if you’re 50 and want to start a business, age is no barrier.”