‘I could hustle and work hard. It was my superpower’
Darren Morris is the CEO of Lucky Hustle
What does Lucky Hustle do?
We started Lucky Hustle because we were sick and tired of the conventional cookiecutter approach that is pervasive in the advertising world. Agencies faking enthusiasm while hating their clients behind the scenes, and clients paying exorbitant fees but remaining unhappy with the results.
We’re a team of industry folk from both sides of the fence. We reject the traditional norms: wasting hours in unproductive meetings; endless back-and-forths over a social media post; the same generic idea structure and a self-serving focus on winning agency awards (and charging you by the hour for it) rather than delivering on sales.
So we quit our jobs and, collectively, tried to do things differently. We vowed to abandon the ‘yes ma’am, yes sir’ paper-push world; instead, we leverage our expertise and passion.
What are your main tasks at work each day?
I spend most of my time assessing current campaigns, and debating with our team on campaign performance and what tweaks we can make to push them even further while trying to determine how we’re going to manage the influx of new project requests.
What do you think makes you good at what you do?
Pure hard work. Loads of hard work. Day after day. Year after year. Relentlessly.
My mind doesn’t stop. I’m truly obsessed.
I cannot, for one day, stop trying to problemsolve and deliver results for the business and our clients. There’s a rush that you get when you crack it. The feeling of overcoming challenges and achieving success is unmatched.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
Building solid new relationships with clients who are slightly sceptical initially. Convincing very high-powered corporates to trust my team’s approach to their problem, and watching their faces when they tell us that we nailed it.
Relationships are not built through lunches, superficial laughs, gifts and alcohol. We build lifelong relationships by delivering results. It’s incredibly rewarding.
What did you want to be when you were a child?
Growing up in extremely challenging circumstances, I was determined to change my family’s destiny. All I had for as long as I can remember was a work ethic, imagination and an entrepreneurial spirit.
I had my first job at age 14 in a bicycle store, and on weekends I taught older folks how to use Skype and their computers for a small fee. Then, at school, I would find gaps and start hustling on the side, from selling sugar cane to standing in the school tuck shop line for a few bucks.
What I knew since childhood was that I could hustle and work hard. It was my superpower, and I knew that if I fostered my creativity through this, things would work out for me.
What advice do you have for young people at the start of their careers?
Work your arse off. And be patient. Stop chasing pay increases and titles when you first start out. Focus on becoming the best at
your craft. Don’t worry about making millions in your 20s or early 30s. Just work as hard as you can and become the best at it. Not second or third, but number one at what you do.