Missouri State alumni, Jeff and Larry Paulette, always had a knack for business. An interest that was inspired by their grandfather at a young age followed them to college when they chose to major in marketing. After graduation, the twins spent 12 years gaining work experience and understanding the industry before they and a friend banded together to create Campaignium, a digital marketing agency.

Jeff and Larry knew that in their future, whether together or separate, they wanted to build something from scratch. Both fell in love with advertising and while they didn’t plan to have the same major, they gravitated toward business and their family background set them up for it. Before doing so though, they wanted to first work in marketing to build a network and understand the craft and industry. That time allowed them to find out more about themselves, develop skills and decide what exactly they wanted to do.

Even before their schooling and professional experience, the two were taught business lessons by their grandfather. As a world-class salesman with 40-50 years under his belt, he had a lot of wisdom to share. Jeff and Larry grew up in Texas and each summer would visit their grandpa in Missouri to help out on the farm. Every night, he would sit them down and talk about how to structure deals, what business is like and how to sell to and service customers.

“He was instrumental in our life. We saw the success he had and we knew we wanted to go into business because of him. I’ll always cherish those nights we had with him sitting at that dinner table just listening to him talk about his experiences. That’s one of the reasons why we actually are here today,” Jeff said.

That’s part of the reason the two stayed in the area after graduation. Jeff spent his post-grad years in the marketing department at Baird, Kurtz and Dobson (BKD) while Larry worked in ad sales at Mediacom. After 12 years, the brothers and their friend David Church started kicking around the idea of doing something on their own. “We quickly realized that individually our skills sets helped lend to building a business. David has a strong IT and web development background, Jeff has a strong SEO and online advertising background and I have a strong sales and customer service background,” Larry said. The three came up with Campaignium, an appropriate blend of each skill set.

Before long, their business began to grow. With steady growth and a thriving industry, the brothers are predicting continuous expansion for the foreseeable future. “The cool thing about digital marketing is that technology is changing at a very rapid pace and a lot of our clients task us to stay very well informed of those changes. We’re as much an agent of change as we are a digital advertising agency or a research agency. We’re here to make sure we’re staying on top of current trends,” Larry said.

Steady growth also means expanding internally with new employees. Campaignium currently employs approximately 20 people and have even opened a second office in Denver. The twins place a lot of importance on hiring the right people. They look for smart and motivated problem solvers who are willing to dedicate themselves to their craft. “There’s a natural intuition and ability with a problem solver that they’re always researching. They’re always looking for the latest and greatest, looking for what’s the next thing that we could be doing for our clients. We look for that quality,” Jeff said.

Before becoming business owners, Jeff and Larry didn’t realize how critical it is to hire the right people. “I guess I didn’t expect that. I knew hiring was going to be a big part of it but I didn’t fully grasp that until we’re two years in, have this amazing team and don’t want to mess that up,” Jeff said. As a small company, just one person can change the entire dynamic of the office. Hiring someone who fits in with the culture may be more important than someone who has the right skills.

Jeff and Larry think some people are hesitant to apply at a digital agency because of the skills required but they have no problem teaching them the ropes if they fit in otherwise. As entrepreneurs, they know that it’s okay, and necessary, to be a life-long learner. With constant changes and improvements to technology, the two are more than ready to expand their wheelhouse to better match a client’s needs. Staying on top of these trends is very time consuming. Larry said, “We’re still working 60-70 hours a week. It’s good though. It’s such a good stress; it’s just really fun.” And they don’t plan on stopping anytime soon. For more, visit campaignium.com.