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/

CONNECT WITH US!

Download The Free Outbound Sales Playbook:

Master cold outreach, close more deals & drive revenue to your business using The Outbound Sales Playbook. Battle-tested on over 1,000+ businesses and proven with over 100M data-points, this Free E-book will give you the tools you need for predictability and scalability in your marketing and sales efforts. Disclaimer: Only download if you want more customers!

Join The Takeover Community:

• Sign up for The Takeover newsletter and get the latest marketing tips, sales strategies, and business insights delivered straight to your inbox. Join a community of entrepreneurs & high-performers dominating all areas of Sales & Marketing. Sign up for the newsletter.

About The Hosts:

• Tim & Cindy Dodd are the Co-founders of PEMA.io, based out of Miami, FL. Connect with Tim and Cindy on LinkedIn and Instagram:
  • Tim’s LinkedIn, Tim’s Instagram
  • Cindy’s LinkedIn, Cindy’s Instagram

About PEMA.io:

PEMA.io is an Inc. 5000 Outbound Agency specializing in helping Marketing Agencie...