Moving Minds | Minnesota to South Florida

• What was the number one thing that caught your attention about South Florida?

We’ve been coming to Palm Beach County for years for vacation, and then it occurred to us, why in the world is our marketing + tech agency headquartered somewhere else?

And then, when we started exploring the area we realized that Palm Beach County and South Florida is home to one of the fastest-growing technology and venture start-up communities in the country.

• Why did you choose South Florida over areas like New York City, Austin, The Bay Area, etc.? 

I am from San Francisco. I went to college at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. And I’ve had opportunities to move back home over the years, but South Florida and Palm Beach County offer a wonderful combination of low taxes and cost of living, but also provide a wonderful lifestyle for individuals and families. You have access to a wealth of cultural activities and amenities, including world-class dining, entertainment and beaches, but in a more livable, intimate setting. In West Palm Beach, we can get to the airport, sports events, museums, shopping in literally 5 to 10 minutes whereas before, we had to travel an hour and fifteen minutes to access the same amenities. It’s a no brainer.

The other primary reason for Moving Minds to relocate was the access to a larger, more qualified talent pool of technology, marketing, and creative personnel that we need to grow our agency and meet our client’s increasing demand for integrated, multi-channel marketing and growth capabilities.

• Who were some of the organizations you partnered with who made the move happen?

One of the first organizations we reached out to was Palm Beach Tech. Palm Beach Tech’s existence validated our thinking that Palm Beach County had a vibrant community of technology companies and personnel that we wanted to be a part of. There is a vibe and sense of growth and momentum that Palm Beach County has that was intangible, but definitely could be felt.

The other organization that has been instrumental in our relocation was the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County. Both pre-relocation and post-relocation, their team and support we have received have been tremendous. They have been very active partners in helping us integrate with the business community, facilitating introductions to other companies through their membership program.

• What has it been like so far for you? (personally, the culture here, etc.)

We have been blown away by the reception we have had and the support we have received from Palm Beach Tech, The Business Development Board, the Chamber of Commerce of the Palm Beaches, Discover the Palm Beaches even the Mayor of West Palm Beach’s Office.

We have been received with open arms. There is a warmth to the people here; it’s a welcoming place both professionally and personally. West Palm Beach is a great and growing city, but it’s not overwhelming like New York, San Francisco, or Los Angeles, but a smaller, closer, and more intimate community. It’s the perfect size in that you have the city, the beaches, and access to great dining, museums, performing arts, sports, and business amenities such as sizable conference centers and other intimate settings for as The Breakers resort for hosting clients from all over the world.

Palm Beach County is also an instantly recognizable and destination business address. When you say your company is based in the Palm Beach area, it has a certain cache, and everyone knows where it is. We have many clients who prefer to meet with us here in Palm Beach rather than having us come to their offices because they know how much there is to do and what a great place to vacation it is after our meetings are done.

• Summarize Moving Minds and what the company does in 5 sentences or less. 

Moving Minds is an award-winning on-demand marketing+technology agency enabling forward-thinking companies to get to market faster and smarter with ‘Growth as a Managed Service,’ a fractional, more agile #martech model designed for CXOs.

From early-stage venture-backed start-ups to the Fortune 500, companies rely on Moving Minds as a dedicated partner for driving growth and outsourcing their multi-channel marketing and tech programs. Moving Minds’ global team brings a diverse range of skills on demand, faster than internal resources associated with recruiting, hiring, and retaining a multi-channel marketing department, and at a fraction of the cost of full-time employees.

Moving Minds serves a global roster of clients in technology, healthcare, financial services, and digital services, including Siemens, Citi, Schweiger Dermatology, MasterCard, HealthSouth, Axogen, and Norwest Venture Partners.

• What do your growth plans look like over the next 2 years?

We plan to double our marketing + tech agency’s size over the next two to three years. Founded in 2006, our agency has been a virtual company from the start because of our lack of proximity to marketing talent and a more vibrant business community. But being headquartered in Palm Beach County and South Florida open up so many opportunities for us, not only in assembling and accessing an intelligent high educated workforce, but proving access to a vibrant business community of prospective clients in all types of industries.

• What would you tell another CEO about the area that you wish somebody had told you sooner?

We’ve been visiting Palm Beach for many, many years for vacation. It’s our favorite place in the world to be. One day the light went off while visiting, and we said to ourselves, what are we doing? If we love living here so much, let’s relocate our agency. When we reached out to Palm Beach Tech and the Business Development Board, it opened our eyes to the opportunities for us to grow and prospect in a super-friendly business environment at all levels; local, county, regional, and state.

And we’ve been thrilled with our decision. We wish we had decided to relocate10 years ago, so we are making up the time we missed as fast as we can.

From a business and personal perspective, South Florida and Palm Beach County, in particular, is where you want to be.