Greg Wilson is a Director at public relations agency Limitless.
Headquartered in Lancashire, the agency operates across the UK and Europe with a team of more than 60.
Limitless works with clients including bakery product specialist BAKO Group, Preston City Council, Sundown Solutions, Winter Gardens Blackpool and Sales Geek.
With a career working in PR since 1997, Greg shared the lessons he has learnt.
Which single daily habit or practice could you not do without?
I’m a big believer in the power of good habits, so I’m kind of habit mad. The one thing I couldn’t live without though is Microsoft Tasks. Bear with me. I saw a meme recently about how heartbreaking it is when colleagues, spouses and children seem not to share your enthusiasm about the Excel spreadsheet you just created. That’s me with Tasks. If you ever meet me, ask me about it, and I’ll back you into a corner convincing you how its proper use can turn you into a workload wonder. You’ll be a little scared, but your life will be transformed.
What’s been your luckiest break?
I think my biggest break was choosing to leave PAYE and start a business at the height of the 2008 recession. Starting your self-employed life in such a harsh environment means everything feels like a breeze afterwards. Alright, not quite. But there’s a lot to be said for overcoming adversity early on. So if you just started your own business in Covid, mid war in Europe or the cost-of-living crisis, three cheers to you.
What’s your best failure?
I don’t really see many things as failures. Some things just fall through. But there’s always something else that comes along. Often better things that wouldn’t have happened if the first thing did. The key is to keep moving forward. To quote a famous wartime PM, “If you’re going through hell… keep going.”
What is the best investment you’ve ever made, either financial or time?
Struggling with this one. As a business we run a very lean model. All our people work from home, so clients are paying for expertise, not overheads. So I guess it’s an investment in time, not money. Probably taking the time to get the right people involved in the business. PR is a people business, so getting the right people is worth all the money in the world.
Which book would you recommend others to read and why?
I read Atomic Habits recently, recommended in these vary pages, which was great. Though as a habit fan already, it felt more like affirmation than revelation. So I’m going to say the E-Myth: Revisited. Nothing to do with ecommerce or 1990s rave scene nostalgia. It’s all about how to run a business that runs itself, not you.
What one piece of advice would you give your 21-year-old self?
I’m sure I was still a student at 21. So “get up” probably.
Who or what has had the single biggest influence on your working life?
One of my first bosses was actually very good at offering good advice second hand. So he saved me a fortune by providing executive summaries of some excellent business books as though they were original thought. But in fairness I was lucky that some of my earlier jobs were in very good, positive working cultures, which I only appreciated when I later tried working for a couple of other people afterwards, before launching my first business that was a pre-cursor to Limitless.
Tell us something about you that would surprise people.
You can still buy my album on iTunes. There’s a long story behind that. So if you ever see me out, ask me about it. It’ll be better than talking shop.
How will the COVID crisis change work for the better?
For us, it already has. The uptake of video calls has increased our work-rate massively. It’s still good to meet face-to-face when you can. But being able to avoid the travel time of the past for every… single… meeting… means we all just have a lot more time to get things done.
What does success look like to you?
Success for me is enjoying work and life and providing our people the same, being fairly paid for work they enjoy and excel at, while making a transformative difference to the lives and fortunes of our clients. Everyone’s a winner.
