SPOTLIGHT Ekaterina founded InspoHub, a creative agency specialising in video production and live broadcasting, a little over five years ago. She is trusted by an impressive client list that includes Aston Martin and England Rugby. This year she won the Young Professional Of The Year at the Dynamic Awards among stiff competition. Dynamic has long been impressed by her obvious grit and tenacity and decided to dig a little deeper into her story…
Ekaterina Blake Ekaterina is a Russian-Finnish entrepreneur catapulting a fast-growing UK creative agency into the realms of perceived impossibility. She is an example of how grit and determination in the face of adversity can, over time, flourish into a rewarding and profitable business venture. Ekaterina moved from Russia to Finland at the age of 18 to complete a bachelors in International Business. Having finished her degree with First Class Honours, she began working in the marketing field, and, after four years, gained a senior management role at a fast-scaling fintech start-up. A little over a year later, she was illegally dismissed. This was a turning point. Having won the court case against the company, InspoHub’s foundations began to be laid. Here, Ekaterina faced a new challenge. Would she start a new role at a similar company and potentially face similar adversities? Would she join an established business at a lower-rank role, or start a new venture that did things differently? Ultimately, she decided to take a leap of faith, channelling her wide skillset in business, marketing and people management into a business of her own. She set up a company that would operate on the foundations of youth, equality
and opportunity that did right by its employees and clients. In November 2017, InspoHub was formed. Initially, InspoHub struggled to gain momentum in what started out as an influencer marketing agency for small businesses. It became clear that many newly founded businesses weren’t utilising traditional marketing, let alone influencer campaigns. Ekaterina’s focus switched, and all efforts turned to offering broader marketing services. In 2018, Ekaterina moved to London and InspoHub followed. Finding local UK-based clients wasn’t easy, but with keen networking and various outreach strategies, by the end of 2018 InspoHub was profitable and had its first employee. 2019 was a year of growth. Growing the team, the client base and retainer contracts zr. New employees entered the frame and, shortly before the pandemic, Ekaterina and her husband Ben relocated to Brighton. As with all businesses, the pandemic brought a wave of complications. Clients tightened their purse strings, with marketing being seen by many as the first expendable service. Despite this, Ekaterina kept hold of every client, adapting InspoHub’s offering to ensure clients continued to thrive. It soon became clear that marketing services weren’t
Ekaterina’s devotion to creating a business built on the wellbeing of its employees and clients is evident
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www.platinummediagroup.co.uk | JANUARY 2023