“I grew up in a place you would call very rough… where drugs and fights were part of day-to-day life.”  
When he came to the UK, Serhat Ekinci was working in a coffee shop, unable to pay rent. Now he’s the Managing Director of Unite at OMG, which last year spent £15M on minority-owned businesses.
“We went from a low six-digit to seven-digit numbers… when I first joined I never thought this was going to make a million; we made it. The team grew… we built the most efficient team. We went from having two clients to fifty clients.”  

This is.... How I Became Managing Director of OMG UNITE | Serhat Ekinci  

With your hosts... Ashley Samuels-McKenzie and Charles Parkinson  

Topics discussed: 
- Growing up in Istanbul 
- Working as a mechanic at nine years old 
- Mental health, both your own and supporting family members 
- Being an immigrant in the UK and the challenges which come with that 
- Learning from frustrating work experiences  
- Changing careers to find fulfilment 
- How to deal with feelings of failure 
- Becoming a managing director by following your passions 
- The mental strain felt addressing racism after the murder of George Floyd 
- The positive impacts of a strong work-life balance 
- The challenges that come with WFH as a parent 
- The importance of family and friends as a support network

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Links:
Serhat Ekinci LinkedIn
OMG UNITE Website
OMG UNITE Instagram

Episode Sponsor:
Gray Matters - A straight-talking business development consultancy that empowers agencies to position, market and sell themselves for new business success

Unity & Motion - A London based production company specialising in commercials and branded content

Email: info@weunify.co.uk

This is a UNIFY Podcast. Produced by Unity & Motion

Credits:
Director: Charles Parkinson
Poet & VO Artist: Ashley Samuels-McKenzie
Sound Recordist: Paolo Neri
Editor: Paolo Neri