What if your entire go-to-market strategy had to change overnight?
In this episode, you’ll hear how Ryan Davis, co-founder of People First, pivoted from political influencer marketing to public health campaigns at the height of the pandemic—and used that momentum to scale a thriving agency.
Ryan breaks down how they won high-budget clients, built strong referral pipelines through white-label partnerships, and used newsletters and case studies to close million-dollar deals—without chasing every shiny object.
If you’ve been trying to figure out how to pivot, position, or power up your agency or service-based business, you don’t want to miss this conversation.
Keypoints & Chapter Markers
00:00 – Launching a business… right before the world shut down
04:00 – Finding a “blue ocean” in an overlooked niche
08:13 – Turning case studies into real campaigns
14:35 – The long sales cycle and building trust through newsletters
20:04 – How AI is changing the agency model (and hiring)
Want to connect with Ryan?
People First: https://peoplefirst.cc/
Influencer Impact: https://people1st.substack.com/
The Month In Digital: https://monthindigital.substack.com/
RESOURCES BELOW!
Download The Free Outbound Sales Playbook:
Join The Takeover Community:
About The Hosts:
About PEMA.io:
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.