Nick Handley is head of paid media performance at digital marketing agency Impression.
Founded in late 2012, the agency has offices across Nottingham, London and New York and last year, opened an additional office in Manchester to increase the agency’s Northern presence.
Handley was one of the first three key hires based in Manchester, formerly director of performance at Rise at Seven.
Whether it’s lucky breaks or best failures, Handley shares all the lessons he’s learnt…
Which single daily habit or practice could you not do without?
I’m a bit of a coffee nerd and my morning coffee routine has become a habit. I wake up, grind up my pretentious single-origin coffee beans, prep my machine and check in with family, friends, and look at what needs to be completed that day both work and personal-wise. It’s like a little ritual each morning I struggle without.
What’s been your luckiest break?
Honestly, I think being hired by my first bosses, Max Hopkinson and Will Pidgeon.
I was a grad who missed out on funding for further studies and they took a punt to hire me with no background in digital whatsoever. I credit a lot of my foundational skills in strategy and paid media to both of them.
I still catch up with Will monthly and he’s still cheering me on which I really appreciate.
What’s your best failure?
Quitting a job I absolutely loved.
Hear me out here, I left a job I loved which I saw as a failure but I was burnt out beyond belief and it all got too much.
I was 25, running essentially half a business but couldn’t continue. It was the best failure I’ve had as it allowed me to take a different view of work and not burn myself on my career.
What is the best investment you’ve ever made, either financial or time?
Outside of coffee and hiking, I’m an absolute music fanatic and listen to music pretty much 24/7 when I’m not in meetings. So, I’d say my Sennheiser Momentum 4 headphones, they allow me to block out the world when I’m working and have complete focus.
Plus they sound amazing which is crucial as I listen to one new album I’ve never heard each day.
Which podcast or book would you recommend others to read and why?
The Comfort Crisis by Micheal Easter is hands down a must-read for me.
Whilst I’m not one for ‘extreme personal growth’ books (looking at you David Goggins), The Comfort Crisis really helped spark me to push myself a little further gain.
It’s essentially a book on how modern comforts are lowering our resilience, and how pushing out of our comfort zones can lead to mental and physical wellbeing.
What one piece of advice would you give your 21-year-old self?
Stop stressing about the small things and stop reaching for perfection. I spent a lot of my early 20s getting worked up about status, money and career progression. I turned 30 this year and I’m much happier focusing on doing stellar work and letting the other bits fall into place.
I know it might come across as disingenuous given I have less stark life challenges now I’m a little more established but I’d be telling myself to enjoy my early 20s and pour less time into work.
Who or what has had the single biggest influence on your working life?
This is hard to answer as there’s been a lot of huge influences on my working life.
It might be a cop-out answer, but Mike, my stepdad has been such an influential and supportive person in my career.
He runs his own consultancy and taught me a lot about business very early on. Seeing his success in balancing a fulfilling life while running a high-performance business really left its mark on me.
Tell us something about you that would surprise people.
People I work with generally don’t know how community-led I am. Outside of work, I run a hiking group of around 40 people to get people into hiking and spending more time outdoors. If anyone wants to join feel free to hit me up!
Shameless plug, I’m launching a podcast later this year around mental health and marketing too!
If there was one thing you could change about your career, what would it be and why?
I don’t think I’d change much about my career, I feel all the experiences, good and bad, have shaped my understanding or allowed me to grow in ways I didn’t realise at the time, albeit it was challenging at the time.
If I was going to change anything, it would have to be to invest more time in learning code to a better level as I really do feel digital marketing is becoming a very diverse mix of tech adoption alongside creative adoption, learning code would massively help with the former point.
What does success look like to you?
Success is measured by fulfillment for me. Am I fulfilled by my job, hobbies and social life? I take a look each year to measure my success in fulfillment and retroactively analyse what I want to do more of and what needs to be reevaluated to reach higher levels of fulfillment.
