Welcome to Inside Track – our ongoing feature in partnership with Russell Thompson, Director on Demand, who gets the real-life stories behind some of city’s most inspiring business leaders.
Elliot Ghali
“Dedication and being relentless – that’s what brought me to where I am today,” Elliot tells me. “My mum had businesses from when she was 18. She brought up my older brother at the same time and instilled that idea of ‘work hard, play hard’. That’s where my work ethic comes from.”
Growing up in a family of entrepreneurs, Elliot absorbed early on the value of hard graft. His mother, who started businesses from the age of 18 while raising his older brother, laid the foundation. “She just instilled work ethic – hard work, you can play hard if you work hard,” he says. “That’s where it originally came from.”
Rather than head to university, Elliot chose to enter the working world, believing that the marketing content taught in universities lagged behind what was happening in the real world. “I was just clued up enough not to think I’m going to pay £30,000 for outdated material,” he says. “Why spend three years drinking and doing a dissertation when you could be getting experience and learning from people wiser than you?”
Those early years saw him in various hands-on roles – a pizza chef, a line painter, even managing his own team in his late teens. By 20, he was earning good money in a marketing role. Still, he stepped away from that salary to take a near 50% pay cut for a sales assistant job. For him, the experience and the challenge meant more than the paycheck.
It was that bold move – and the intense hours that followed – that laid the groundwork for Example Marketing. “I didn’t want to work every day doing the same thing,” he says. “That’s what I’ve tried to instil in the company – responsibilities, yes, but also diversity and fun. Work shouldn’t be boring.”
That ethos sits at the heart of the company’s culture today. Elliot speaks often about building a workplace that offers fulfilment, not just employment. He wants his team to feel genuinely invested in the work and the wider mission. “I saw wealth more as time back,” he explains. “I wanted to build a company where people enjoy the challenges – where it’s a lifestyle, not just a job.”
Elliot is candid about how his leadership style has evolved. In the early days, he was a self-confessed control freak – but he soon realised that meaningful growth depended on his ability to let go. “The biggest thing for growth is delegation. When you delegate, you’ve got to drop your ego. I still make sure the process is there, but that’s what allows creativity to follow.”
Training and development are high on the agenda at Example, particularly for a young team made up of full-time staff, part-timers and contractors. Elliot believes that with the right support, anyone can develop a growth mindset. “If you train someone in a new skill, it gives them a sense of potential. That’s how you build a growth mindset – marginal gains, little improvements, that’s what builds success.”
He puts emphasis on getting to know his team as individuals, recognising that retention is built on both results and relationships. “Understanding the person matters just that bit more than the numbers. If you invest in them, they invest in the company.”
He credits his grandmother with instilling many of his values. During a difficult period in his teens, she took him in and helped keep him grounded. “She gave me generosity, but also a great education. She cared about how I spoke – and that’s one of the reasons I’m articulate today. She kept me on the right track.”
Self-discipline remains a core part of his personal approach. “No white space in the calendar,” he says of his tightly organised weeks. “If I’m not developing every week, how can I expect my team to? I’ve got to lead by example.”
Not every lesson has come easily. One setback that stands out was losing a client after just one week due to concerns around tone of voice. It’s an experience he still thinks about. “It really annoyed me. But it taught me that pre-positioning is everything – setting expectations and understanding the client’s needs before the work even begins.”
He applies that lesson to team communication too – always aiming to be clear, intentional and values-led. One of the decision-making tools he uses is something he calls the BRAIN model: Benefits, Risks, Alternatives, Issues, and Next steps. “It always creates an outcome,” he says. “It gets you out of emotional loops and into clear thinking.”
Comparison is a common trap in a competitive, fast-paced industry such as marketing– and Elliot doesn’t shy away from acknowledging its challenges. But rather than dwell on what others are doing, he encourages a more constructive approach. “Rather than compare yourself negatively, look at what they’re not doing and specialise in that. Multiply your ideas. Try more things.”
Asked if he believes in failure, there’s a more optimistic lens applied to the concept. “I don’t like the word failure. I just call it learning. Not everyone has that mindset, so you have to be intentional about staying positive.”
As our conversation draws to a close, Elliot is asked what one rule he’d make law. His answer comes without hesitation. “Always seek to lift people up,” he says. “Someone will have done that for you at some point. Just remember to pass it on.”
It’s a philosophy that captures the heart of how Elliot Ghali leads Example Marketing – with drive, clarity and with an unwavering belief in people and possibility.
