Maisie Lloyd
I'm passionate about recording the world, but most of all driven by creativity and collaborative environments. My experience revolves around the production of digital content, pertaining to graphic design, writing copy, and video and audio content.
In celebration of Brothers Day, we sat down with Intelligency’s Co-Founders and Directors, Sean and Liam, to talk about building a business together, not just as colleagues, but as siblings too. From their beginnings to their future ambitions, here’s what they had to say.
What was the process of beginning to work with each other?
Sean recalls: “Liam was working at the Telegraph at the time, and I was still working by myself. We got our heads together and thought that we could work together to build our social media vetting technology.”
Liam adds: “I had been working in London, but we’d always wanted to do something together, and the social media vetting was such a good idea, we thought, why not! Now we’ve grown and grown into Digital Intelligence, and I couldn’t be happier!”
What is the thing you’re most proud of in terms of your achievements as both brothers and Company Directors?
Without hesitation, Sean points to resilience: “I think surviving and working all the way through COVID, where other agencies and small companies were shutting down or having to go on furlough. We managed to grow the business and do so remotely with our clients. It was incredibly hard and challenging, but meant that the company survived and grew into what it is today.”
Liam echoes the sentiment, highlighting consistency: “That we’ve grown year on year! It’s such a difficult period for businesses, and the fact that we’ve been successful and are delivering exceptional results to our clients is something we are both so proud of!”
Working with family can be complicated. What challenges have you faced as siblings in business?
Sean laughs : “Other than an intense rivalry on the office ping pong table, mixing family and work can always be dangerous as it’s hard not to talk about work at family functions and let work life slip too easily into personal life. We’ve always done well to protect against this and try to keep the two separate.”
Liam agrees: “You have to be able to communicate effectively and considerately, as well as ensure you can separate work from personal life. We’ve been really lucky that we’ve been able to merge our great personal relationship positively into running a business!”
What is something you each want to achieve within the business in the next 5 years?
Sean’s focused on expanding their impact: “I’d love to expand our team further and grow our digital intelligence business further. We’re great at helping clients solve issues with clients, and our digital audits and reporting technology are often transformational for clients. I’d love to see us do more of this work.”
Whilst Liam keeps it simple but powerful: “Same as the last 5 years, grow the company and staff whilst creating a culture where people enjoy coming to work every day!”
And finally, if you could summarise working with your brother in just 3-5 words, what would they be?
“Best business partner ever.” Whilst Liam said, “A brilliant brother & business partner!”
