Built My Own Agency by 22
Without a Fancy Degree or a Trust Fund!
I work while they sleep. So, i can live how they dream
But studying the basics of marketing lit a fire in me. I realized marketing wasn’t just selling things, it was understanding people
I wanted to be an engineer, a plan that made sense until life decided otherwise Financial difficulties meant I had to start working at 17
If you’re expecting a story that involves an MBA from an Ivy League college, a startup funded by Daddy’s credit card, and a LinkedIn post about “manifesting success” - sorry to disappoint. This is The No BS Marketer, and I’m here to tell you the real story. At 22, I run my own marketing agency. No, I don’t have a double degree. No, I didn’t inherit a business. And no, I definitely didn’t “manifest” this
life by journaling in a coffee shop. It’s been a mix of smart work, relentless curiosity, and a healthy amount of figuring things out as I go. Let’s rewind.
From Engineering Dreams to Reality Checks
I went to an international school and, like many Sri Lankan kids, followed the “safe” path; science. I loved understanding how things worked. I wanted to be an engineer, a plan that made sense until life decided otherwise. Financial difficulties meant I had to start working at 17. Now, at 17, you have two options:
You can blame the world, or
You can build a plan.
I chose the second. And that plan involved stepping into a world I had zero clue about: marketing.
Falling in Love with Marketing (Before It Was Cool)
I enrolled in the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) program. Fun fact: I still haven’t completed the whole qualification. (Yes, that’s right. This is your sign that degrees are tools; not magic spells). But studying the basics of marketing lit a fire in me. I realized marketing wasn’t just selling things, it was understanding people. It was science, psychology, and creativity mashed into one beautiful mess.
My first job? A social media marketer.
My tasks? Scheduling posts, posting content, and praying the Wi-Fi wouldn’t cut off. This was before the era of ChatGPT or Canva Pro templates.
If you wanted to stand out, you had to use your brain, not just your software subscription. I learned creativity the old-fashioned way: by thinking.
Mastering the Fundamentals: One Job at a Time
Marketing is a giant ocean. Posting memes isn’t enough. If I wanted to own a marketing agency someday, I had to swim across different waters.
First stop: Agency life
Here, I learned how to pitch to clients, create killer campaign decks, run Meta ads, and, most importantly, how to manage people (a.k.a. keeping calm when clients changed the brief after approval).
Next: B2B Marketing
I joined a tech organization, where I learned how to sell to other businesses. Email marketing, corporate communications, understanding what keeps CEOs awake at night, these lessons taught me that marketing to businesses isn’t about flashy videos. It’s about solving real problems.
Then: Brand-side experience
I finally managed a brand account; where I was the client. Now, I understood what it felt like to be on the receiving end of agency pitches. I saw what brands really wanted, not what agencies thought they wanted.
Across these experiences, I wasn’t just learning how to “do marketing.” I was learning how to think like a marketer, a business owner, and a human being all at once.
Building a Personal Brand: By Just Being Myself
While all this was happening, I wasn’t hiding behind a corporate desk either. I built my own social media presence, not as another “influencer” posting aesthetic sunsets, but as me. Funny, unfiltered, sometimes sarcastic, sometimes serious. I wanted to earn from my content, sure. But I also wanted to do it differently. No cookie-cutter product placements. I found fun ways to integrate brands into my content, ways that made people laugh, think, and buy without feeling sold to.
Quitting the 9-5 and Betting on Myself
After nearly four years of soaking up every possible skill, from writing captions to closing corporate deals, I made the jump. I quit my full-time job and started my own agency: Organic.
Organic wasn’t built overnight.
It was built through years of:
Showing up.
Failing at pitches.
Winning some, losing some.
Learning on the go.
Today, Organic operates on a different model:
Only 10 client slots at a time.
Focus on genuine, ethical, organic growth (no shady bots, no fake numbers).
A commitment to doing marketing the right way.
And guess what? We filled all ten slots before even properly launching our full-service expansions. At 22, I’m not saying I’ve ‘made it.’ This is just the beginning.
Lessons for Anyone Dreaming Bigger
I’m not here to preach hustle culture, nor am I here to say it’s easy. But I am here to tell you this:
Your background doesn’t define your future. No degree? No problem; learn the skills.
Hard work is good. Smart work is better. Understand what you’re working towards and why.
Master the basics. Before you dream of building a skyscraper, learn how to lay bricks.
Take the long route. There are no shortcuts that don’t come back to bite you.
Stay human. Whether you’re marketing to one person or one million, people crave realness.
Final Words from a “No BS” Marketer
I’m 22. I’ve worked corporate jobs, sat through boring meetings, pitched to rooms that didn’t believe in me, had clients ghost me after saying “amazing pitch, we’ll get back to you” (they never did), and dealt with the usual “you’re too young to run a business” nonsense. And I’m still here. Growing. Learning. Laughing. If you’re young and dreaming of more, please hear this: It can be done.
You’ll have to work your butt off, yes.
You’ll have days where you question everything, yes.
But if you stick it out, if you focus on real skills and real value, you’ll get there.
The world needs more marketers who know what they’re doing. The world needs more No BS. And if I could do it, with no fancy degrees no secret connections, just grit and brainpower, so can you. Catch you in the next column. Stay real.
