Interview with Jonas Muthoni

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jonas Muthoni.

So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I was raised in Africa by a single mother of six kids. Family, hard work, moral values and close relationships are very important to me. I moved to the US in 2006 and during the first few years of my residence here, I deejayed for and alongside popular mainstream artists across the nation.

I also owned and operated a bar/lounge in downtown Fullerton prior to working full time at a fortune 500 top 20 company for about seven years as a quality & sales analyst. Although we had a big internal marketing department, it was mostly operations as the majority of the implementation and execution of the marketing initiatives were by outside Marketing agencies. Because of this, I realized that there is one thing that almost everyone needs, and that was marketing. Everywhere you go, someone is either trying to market themselves to another, a product or a service. This epiphany is what gave birth to my desire and pursuit of wanting to be in the digital marketing space, not only because I understood what it would take to be successful, but mainly because I genuinely wanted to help businesses and individuals succeed regardless of their niche. I cared about my clients and their success, and hence I wanted to be different but with a purpose behind it; and this why the Agency is called Deviate.

I have always been a giver by contributing my time, money and participating in various charities, children’s hospital and have been and currently a breast cancer board member for the last three years. My approach was not the traditional way which is usually building a business and focusing on revenue as a driving factor, but more of a mentorship approach. This allowed business owners and individuals to feel comfortable talking to me about their struggles in attaining their desired goals, and trusting me to find the best strategic solution and implementing it for a performance turnaround. My endeavor into the digital space in October of 2014 and despite all the struggles and adversities I have had to face during this journey, I have still managed to put together a team of the best in the digital marketing world from development, execution and the quality of work we provide to our clients. Not only are we a mentorship resource to our clients, we are also a full digital production house with some of the most innovative digital assets and software that help us deliver first-class service to our clients.

Since I moved to the US, I have only lived in Orange county but recently moved to downtown LA where I see a big opportunity for me to bring some positive change to this city. I grew up in a third world country and it breaks my heart to see some people living under the same conditions, if not worse in one of the wealthiest cities in the world. I truly believe my move to LA was more than just business but more of a calling to bring some sort of positive change to this city. The more I explore this beautiful city, the more I believe in that notion and in 2020 we will be writing another article about the positive impact I and the Deviate family have brought to Los Angeles and beyond.

Has it been a smooth road?
It has not been smooth until recently. Some of the obstacles have been bad one-sided business partnerships and competition, and the challenges have been overcoming the learning curve, finding the right talent/skills and limited resources.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Deviate Agency story. Tell us more about the business.
We are Deviate Agency. We are known to be fun, skillfully and excellent communicators. What sets us apart from the others is the people and leadership within the company. What makes us proud is how we have been able to overcome adversity and obstacles to being a recognizable force in the digital space. In the last couple of years, we have grown to become a premier multimillion-dollar agency without compromising our culture, a group of humble, passionate and givers. Within the next year we plan to open offices in Asia, Europe and Africa as part of our growth and partnerships strategy. More about our story can be found here https://deviateagency.com/our-story/.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
The digital space is an ever-changing industry and as business we have to adapt to keep providing our customers best in class solutions. Creativity and innovation is what drives the industry. Technologies, strategies and general public are becoming smarter and so are we. Social media has also changed the way businesses operate and it is vital for businesses to be able to stay ahead of the curve to remain competitive.

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