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Why I Left My Job to Start My Own Digital Marketing Agency

Hi there, I’m Roshan Samuel Ambler.
I used to work a regular job.
I had a steady paycheck and predictable days.
Then one day, I thought, “What if I could do more?”
And that thought led me to leave my job and start my own digital startup.

Why I Left My Job and Focused on My Own Digital Startup

It’s a feeling most of us know too well: waking up to the same alarm clock every morning, dragging yourself to the same cubicle or office, staring at a screen filled with tasks that feel more like drudgery than inspiration.

For a while, that was my life.

I worked in digital marketing, hopping from one startup agency to another, trying to fit in and make a name for myself.

But the more I tried to adapt, the more I realized one thing—something wasn’t right.

The more I observed, the more I started to feel like I could be doing more, something bigger. The thought kept gnawing at me: What if I could create something of my own?

So, after some soul-searching (and a few really bad meetings), I took the plunge. I left my job. I left my safety net. And I focused on building my own digital startup.

But I didn’t take this step blindly—I had a lot of reasons, some big, some small. Here’s the full journey of how and why I made the decision to leave it all behind.

The Startup Work Culture That Left Me Wanting More

At first, the startup world was everything I thought I wanted. I was in the trenches, pushing out campaigns, making my mark. But soon, I realized that there’s this unspoken reality in many startup agencies: they’re not really built to grow.

Sure, there’s innovation, but there’s also a whole lot of chaos. The budget? Tiny. The pressure? Huge. And don’t get me started on the tools I desperately needed to do my job well—most of them were just out of reach.

And what about the people in charge? Well, that’s where it got tricky. In so many agencies, I found myself working under managers who didn’t really understand digital marketing.

They were more about ticking boxes than truly grasping what made a strategy effective. This lack of understanding meant that promises were often made to clients that were too big for our team to deliver. This created a cycle of frustration for me and, of course, for the clients.

After a while, I couldn’t ignore the disconnect any longer. I was done with working in environments that left me feeling more like a cog in the machine than a creative force.

The Knowledge Gap (That I Couldn’t Unsee)

Here’s the thing about digital marketing: it’s complex. Really complex. And to be successful, it takes a lot more than a surface-level understanding.

Yet, all too often, I found myself explaining the same things over and over again to senior management. For example, I once had to spend 30 minutes explaining why buyer personas were such an essential part of the customer journey.

Let that sink in. These are the basics of digital marketing, and I was still fielding questions about them in a job interview. It was frustrating, to say the least.

What this really did was highlight a massive gap in knowledge among those at the top. And, truthfully, this gap often led to bad decisions—decisions that set entire projects up for failure.

Projects that could have succeeded with just a little more knowledge of the principles at play. This wasn’t a one-off thing either.

It was a pattern, one that kept me up at night, wondering if I should take my own leap into something more impactful.

The “Aha!” Moment: Realizing I Could Do More

And then there was freelancing. Oh, sweet, sweet freelancing. In the midst of all this corporate chaos, I started taking on some side projects—small ones at first, but soon I was getting more clients than I could handle.

I had clients asking me to work with them on everything from SEO to social media strategy, and every time I helped them increase their leads, I felt a rush of satisfaction.

It was like a lightbulb went off. Freelance projects were not only more rewarding than my 9-to-5 job, but they were financially more lucrative as well. The control, the flexibility, the creative freedom—I was hooked. It was then that I realized: This is what I was meant to do.

And so, the decision to go full-time with my own digital marketing business wasn’t a dramatic one—it was a gradual epiphany. The realization that I could work for myself and help others achieve their marketing goals without being bogged down by the limitations of a traditional job was exhilarating.

The Birth of Go Lead Digital

I decided to take the plunge and officially launch my own digital marketing agency. Go Lead Digital was born. The idea? Simple: deliver results-driven digital marketing strategies that work.

It wasn’t going to be about empty promises or fluffy buzzwords. It was going to be about delivering the goods and helping businesses grow with authentic, creative, and high-quality marketing.

The success didn’t come overnight, but it came quickly enough. A wedding planner in Vienna, VA, was one of my first clients. They saw a tenfold increase in leads within just three months of working with me.

Word spread fast—referrals came in from clients all over the U.S. and even in India. The momentum was real, and so was the feeling of seeing my dream come to life. It felt like I was doing work that mattered.

Conclusion: The Entrepreneurial Journey

Taking the leap into entrepreneurship wasn’t an easy decision, and it certainly wasn’t without its risks. But as I look back now, I realize how much the discomfort and frustration of my previous jobs fueled my drive to create something different.

Yes, the work culture in the startup world was often broken. Yes, there were plenty of frustrating moments. But those very frustrations pushed me to take that leap.

If you’re considering making a similar move, I’d say this: don’t let the fear of failure stop you. Don’t let the security of a paycheck hold you back. There’s nothing quite like the freedom and fulfillment that comes from building something of your own.

Maybe your leap won’t look exactly like mine, but it could be the start of something amazing. And, just maybe, you’ll look back one day and realize that taking that first step—no matter how uncertain it seemed—was the best decision you ever made.

FAQs

Q1: Why did you leave your job?
I left because I wanted more freedom and to build something that truly reflected my passion for digital marketing.

Q2: Was it hard to start your own agency?
Yes, it was a wild ride with many ups and downs.
I learned a lot from every mistake and every success.

Q3: What is the biggest challenge you faced?
Sometimes, it felt like I was juggling too many tasks at once.
But every challenge taught me a valuable lesson.

Q4: How do you keep your team motivated?
We laugh a lot at our mishaps.
Every mistake is a chance to learn and grow.

Q5: What advice would you give to someone thinking about starting their own business?
Trust yourself and take risks.
Even if you fall, you learn to get back up, stronger and wiser.

Hi, I am Roshan Samuel Ambler.
I have been through the ups and downs of the digital marketing journey.
I know that leaving a safe job for a startup is not easy.
But every step taught me something valuable.
Let’s take that leap together and make every click count.