Mississippi Will: celebrating 15 years at the helm of Hunt Marketing
Will Hunt (MA Economics with Management & International Relations 2004) has always been ambitious. Here, he describes the influence of his St Andrews years on his marketing career as Hunt Marketing is named by Adweek as one of the fastest-growing agencies in the world.
On 11 September 2001 I landed at Glasgow International Airport. Little did I know that airplanes had crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon during my flight from Amsterdam. In that brief leg of my journey from the US to Scotland, the world changed forever.
Looking back on that day, I wasn’t even meant to be on that flight. I was supposed to travel from Memphis, TN, to Newark, NJ, and then to Glasgow. However, the weather prevented me from flying to Newark and I decided at the last minute to board a plane to The Netherlands. If I hadn’t boarded that plane, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to go to St Andrews that fall. That decision ultimately changed the trajectory of my life.
Seizing opportunities
Life is all about choices. Should I seize this opportunity? Should I let this one go? My parents named me after William the Conqueror. It turned out to be an appropriate choice since, like him, I am always ready to embrace opportunity and take calculated risks in pursuit of a goal (although they couldn’t have known this at the time!).
St Andrews opened up a whole new world for me. During my time here, I was given the nickname “Mississippi Will” after my home state (a nickname which I fully embraced throughout my studies). I found community in the Global Investment Group during my second year and led as chief operations officer and chief financial officer in my final year. I was also editor of the St Andrews Global Investment Group Overview.
While extracurricular life at the University was lively and enriching, I did also make time for academics and earned an MA (Hons) in Economics with International Relations and Management.
A head for business
My time at St Andrews led me to discover one of my main passions in life: business. The Investment Group, the University and the global business leaders I was able to interact with inspired me to pursue a life growing great business brands.
After graduation, I went in search of the big city life and relocated to Washington, D.C. to begin a clerkship at a leading lobbying firm. The clerkship and my Mississippi connection led me to a business development and lobbying firm that specialised in IT and telecommunications and represented giants such as Google, Cisco and Hewlett-Packard.
Overcoming obstacles
At that point, I was an entry-level member of a small team (albeit with the grand title of vice president), but I was given the opportunity to be involved in important work. During this time, I suffered from a speech impediment. Upon meeting someone new (and sometimes during conversation), I had a hard time even saying my name. This challenge triggered an even deeper drive from within and ambition for growth.
I had set my mind on the goal of starting my own firm after five years in D.C. A little over four and a half years in, I was presented with an opportunity to do so.
That was 15 years ago and what has become Hunt Marketing was created. Hunt started out as a business development and lobbying firm dedicated to helping partners navigate the United States government market. The firm’s first partner happened to be the university in my hometown – the University of Mississippi – known affectionately as ‘Ole Miss’. The Hunt team still works with its athletics programme today.
Return to Oxford, MS
In 2010, my wife, Beth, and I decided to move back to Oxford, MS. We met in D.C. after Beth spent a year in Paris teaching English, but she attended the University of Mississippi and had a special place in her heart for Oxford. Having previously said I would never go back to small town life, we both felt Oxford was the right place to raise a family. Life is funny like that. We now have two children: William, age 12, and Annabelle, age 10.
Oxford as a base initially proved challenging for the business. In response, we had to shift direction in order to grow. That said, the core motivation of serving others has remained consistent.
A life-changing accident
During that period of growth Beth (who became my business partner) and I faced many challenges. One of the most serious was when Beth was hit by a car while walking through a parking lot. That life-threatening incident changed the course of their lives.
At the time, it was just the two of us plus an intern who were running the business. Important decisions had to be made quickly in the Trauma ICU the night of the accident. Of course, the most urgent were about Beth’s health, but we also had to consider whether to give up our entrepreneurial ambitions or to move forward and grow as a team. Together, we chose growth.
After more than 30 surgeries and over four months in hospitals, Beth was able to keep her leg and, against all odds, even retained the ability to walk.
Rewarded for resilience
Through thick and thin, Hunt has remained resilient and is now an award-winning marketing firm, recognized by Adweek as one of the fastest growing agencies in the world. Like great brands before us, we are making a global impact from a relatively small city in the USA through the core elements of common purpose (we build great brands); vision (we attract great leaders) and values (we work as a team).
Anniversary celebrations
The Hunt team is celebrating its 15th anniversary in March 2024 and will continue to embrace a growth mindset into the future. The firm serves as the strategic marketing partner for franchise groups and as an operating partner of impactful brands across America including Chick-fil-A, Fiat Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, John Deere, Nissan, Sonic Drive-In and Toyota. We are also proud to serve fantastic regional brands in banking, construction, food service and healthcare.
More information about Hunt is available here, or you can contact Will at [email protected].