Dan Whalley, Director of rankhouse and Quiet Giants, began his journey to success when he joined NSCG following a difficult time with his AS Levels elsewhere at 17. He started on the Level 3 Extended Diploma in Business Studies, and ended up returning to complete his HND in Business Studies too, he now successfully runs two marketing agencies, and we had the chance to sit down with him to find out how his time with NSCG helped him along the way.
The biggest thing the college gave me was belief. I walked in thinking I'd already blown it. I walked out with a Student of the Year award and the confidence to build something of my own.
Dan Whalley, Director of rankhouse and Quiet Giants
After my Level 3 I went to University to study International Business. It wasn't for me, so I came back to Newcastle College and did the HND in Business Studies. When I finished the HND, I was awarded Higher Education Student of the Year, and went on to build a career in digital marketing before starting my own agencies.
I'm the Director of rankhouse, an Amazon growth agency based in Stoke-on-Trent. We've generated more than £100 million in sales for FMCG, health and beauty brands and manage over £500,000 a month in advertising spend across the UK, Europe and the US. I've worked with and sold products for brands including Nestlé, QV Skincare, Fushi Wellbeing, Known Nutrition, DoNotAge, Oceans Alive and CuraLin, and taken one supplement brand from nothing to over £3.5 million a year. We're now hiring locally, including a Digital Marketing Apprentice, so there's a direct route for the next generation coming through. I also run Quiet Giants, a search marketing agency for owner-operated businesses in construction, manufacturing, engineering and the trades.
The lecturers. I came to Newcastle after failing my AS levels and it was the first place education actually clicked for me. The Level 3 was where I met most of the team, and when I came back for the HND I was lucky enough to have a lot of them again. Becky Sergant, Vicky, Dan, Tina, and Janet Heath.
Jan in particular changed the direction of my life. She taught me the academic side, but what stuck was everything else. Respect, patience, how to carry yourself. I use those things every day running a business, far more than anything I learned from a textbook. I always meant to come back and see her after I left and never found the time. Finding out she'd passed away was one of the hardest days I've had, and I'd like to do anything I can to make sure her impact on students like me is recognised.
The biggest thing the college gave me was belief. I walked in thinking I'd already blown it. I walked out with a Student of the Year award and the confidence to build something of my own.
Failing something doesn't mean you're done. I failed my AS levels at 17 and thought that was it. It wasn't. It was just the wrong route.
Find the lecturers who believe in you and listen to them properly. They can see things in you that you can't see yet.
And be decent to people. Patience and respect will get you further in work and in life than any qualification.
