From Homelessness to Hero: Harry Sanders Inspires EO Melbourne Members with Tales of Triumph

EO Melbourne recently played host to a learning event that left attendees spellbound and inspired. The gathering served as a platform for the extraordinary journey of EO Melbourne Member Harry Sanders, the visionary Director and Founder of StudioHawk. In a narrative that echoed the very essence of resilience and triumph, Harry took EO Melbourne members on a gripping ride through his tumultuous yet triumphant path to success.

Against the backdrop of adversity and uncertainty, Harry's story emerged as a beacon of hope and determination. From his challenging beginnings, grappling with homelessness at just 17 years old, to founding StudioHawk, Harry's journey exemplifies the transformative power of unwavering resolve.

As Harry recounted his journey, attendees were drawn into a narrative rich with invaluable insights and wisdom. With each word, Harry painted a vivid picture of resilience in action, showcasing how he overcame seemingly insurmountable obstacles with sheer determination and grit.

Central to Harry's narrative was the founding of StudioHawk, a journey fraught with challenges yet illuminated by moments of sheer brilliance. Attendees hung onto every word as Harry shared the secrets behind StudioHawk's rise to prominence, culminating in the prestigious title of the 'Best Large SEO Agency – Globally.'

Guiding the conversation with finesse and insight was Rob Roy Rankin, EO Melbourne's Member Engagement Chair. Through his expertly crafted questions, Rob unearthed deeper layers of Harry's journey, offering attendees a rare glimpse into the heart and mind of a true entrepreneur.

Harry's accolades speak volumes, with recognition pouring in from esteemed platforms such as Forbes 30 Under 30 and the Australian Young Entrepreneur Marketing Award. Yet, amidst the glittering accolades, Harry's true passion lies in giving back to the community. As an ambassador for the Lighthouse Foundation, Harry channels his success towards combating youth homelessness, embodying the spirit of compassion and empathy.

As the event drew to a close, attendees departed with hearts brimming with inspiration and minds buzzing with possibility. Harry Sanders' journey serves as a poignant reminder that no obstacle is insurmountable, and every challenge is an opportunity in disguise.

In the grand tapestry of entrepreneurship, Harry Sanders stands as a testament to the indomitable human spirit, a shining example of what can be achieved with unwavering determination and a relentless pursuit of one's dreams. As EO Melbourne continues to pave the way for transformative learning experiences, members can rest assured that the journey to success is as much about the obstacles overcome as it is about the triumphs celebrated.

The value of EO’s KE Program to key executives and entrepreneurs

In every business, people are essential to drive the organisation forward, reach one’s goals and allow the company to operate in the long term. This is why strengthening your 2iCs and key executives is necessary to keep your business running smoothly and steadily as well as enable it to grow and expand to new markets and horizons.

The good news is that EO Melbourne has a Key Executive Program (KEP) that enables its members to learn growth strategies from EO and execute them into their businesses with key management buy-in and participation. This program allows an EO member to have a key executive from their business take part in EO learning events and EO Accelerator learning days and become a member of a Key Executive Forum.

Through this program, EO members are able to communicate and learn jointly with their key executives as they share the unique benefits of EO with a key executive from their business. In addition, it empowers EO Members and helps them align with their key executives as EO provides them with the tools, accountability, community and support to aggressively scale and master some business best practices and become better leaders. Also, the benefits are two ways as the program serves both the entrepreneur and the key executive.

EO Melbourne Member Harry Sanders, Founder of StudioHawk, had his General Manager, Lawrence Hitches, join the chapter’s Key Executive Program. Both shared the benefits of the program, helping them in their respective professional development and their organisation’s growth. 

"I had a great experience as an EO member and got so much value out of Forum, I really wanted Lawrence to be part of that experience. Being able to talk about his 5% issues without judgment in a safe environment, share experiences, learn heaps, and events and networking helped Lawrence understand the broader business community in Learning Days and really cemented him as a leader. The business has gone through many challenges and first had seen the effect Forum has had on being able to overcome them,” Harry said.

Lawrence was enthusiastic that he has become part of EO’s KEP. "I heard great things about EO from Harry and other people about how much learning and insights you can gain from talking to like-minded business people owners and people with similar challenges ahead of them. EO provides many workshops and communities that have helped our business in hard times. Implementing EOS practices has helped restructure our org chart to be solid and more accountable. The value of the KEP program is immense and I’d recommend it to any EO member to sign up their key execs."

Another Key Executive that has joined the program is Cindy Liu, an accountant at Masseuse Massage Chairs. She shared how becoming part of the KEP has impacted her growth as a professional. "I have been in the Key Executive Program for 2 years now. I have learned so much from every interaction I have had with both the group learning days and our individual forum. To start with, it is a great opportunity for me to step out of the business to learn things from the business strategy level rather than just day-to-day operations. The importance of that is I get to experience what it feels like as a business owner seeing things from a bigger picture rather than just working within my own department. The alignment with the business owner is critical from that perspective."

At present, EO Melbourne has two forums for Key Executives. They also get to attend the quarterly Learning Days as well as other learning events that the chapter offers for those in the program. To know more about our KEP, visit https://www.eomelbourne.org/key-executive-program. Interested to join EO Melbourne? Check out our https://www.eomelbourne.org/join page. 

Nuggets of entrepreneurial wisdom from Harry Sanders

Work hard. Find your purpose. Step out of your comfort zone. These are the three main lessons that Harry Sanders, founder and director of StudioHawk, a Google Marketing Specialist SEO company, learned in his experience as a businessman. Harry established his company during his teens, and he found that the entrepreneurial journey is full of challenges. Yet, the hardships moulded and strengthened him to be what he has become today.

Resilience is the biggest factor that enabled him to move forward and continue on the journey. “I knew that it was a make-or-break situation, either I would find a way to make the business work or I was going to remain where I was. There was no fallback or backup plan. During the journey, however, I faltered many times, wondering what I was doing and even wanting to give up on it all. In the end, what got me through is the resilience to keep going when every part of my body wanted me to stop. I recovered by persevering and crushing it for the clients that I had, which generated mass referrals,” Harry recounted.

Three major lessons on the journey

The challenges and milestones that Harry faced since he decided to hit the entrepreneurial road have brought him many lessons that he will always carry in life. He shares three major learnings that he got out of his experience.

1. Hard work. Harry found that there is no substitute for hard work as there is no “get rich quick” formula to a successful entrepreneurial journey. One has to work hard and for a long time to reach one’s goals and take them further towards bigger goals.

2. A deeper purpose. “If you are in this just to make money or hoping to strike it big quickly, you will need to dig deeper to find your purpose. Mine was to provide opportunities to others. Find out why you do what you do other than for money,” Harry said. Most businesses are born out of a particular need, and their products and services provide solutions to such necessities.

3. Stepping up and stepping out. “Be uncomfortable. Step up. Do that speaking job. Do that thing that you’re not sure if you are ready for it. The most consistent success that I have seen has been when I stepped outside of my comfort zone,” he remarked. Becoming an entrepreneur is not just creating a product or making an idea into reality. It also calls one to become a leader, a motivator, a mentor, a marketer, a sales specialist, and so much more. Someone who wants to enter the entrepreneurial world must be ready to take in as many roles as possible to achieve his mission and goals.

Two core values to keep the business running

For Harry, he found that these couple of core values have done well for him in managing his business and facing the challenges of entrepreneurship.

1. Passion. When things get tough, passion is the fire that fuels one’s drive to brave the difficulties. According to Harry, “Always be passionate about what you do. If you are not passionate about it find out what makes you passionate and pivot accordingly.”

   He also advised that other tasks in the business that you do not have the expertise or drive to do, such as administrative work, should be delegated to other team members to maximise your time for the most efficient areas of the business.

2. Win-Wins. Coming up with solutions that are mutually beneficial to your business and your clients can contribute to the longevity of your venture. “Every relationship that we have, whether it be with a client or a partner, needs to be a win-win. Anything that isn't geared towards that will be temporary at best and can be detrimental to your reputation at worst. We also find ways to make sure that the other party benefits from anything that we do, something that was taught to me very early on in the business,” Harry imparted.

One goal of SEO

To demonstrate domain expertise and knowledge is the key goal of SEO, according to Harry. It is what gets brands to the top, not to put keywords on pages or acquire tons of backlinks.

He further states, “SEO is a simple thing that a lot of people make complex. Essentially you want to make sure that you have:

1. Strong technical SEO as how Google perceives the website and which issues it can see like broken links, poor structure, among many others;

2. A good backlink profile with strong, niche-relevant websites referring to you. For example, having a gym talk about your SEO business is not niche-relevant. So, even if it's from a massive gym brand, it will still not help;

3. Good search intent. Make sure that you are answering that query that users are looking for and that the answer is structured in an easily digestible way. This could be through your services pages, or often through a blog and content.”

Becoming part of EO Melbourne

The hardships of the entrepreneurial journey become bearable when you take it with like-minded individuals who can support you along the way. As an entrepreneur, Harry found many additional knowledge, insights and learnings in EO Melbourne.

“It's been a great experience, meeting up and connecting with other successful business owners. Understanding through the activities helps further things that we could be doing as a company to push the envelope and innovate,” he quipped. Harry may be young, and there are still more things ahead on his journey, yet he has acquired so much wisdom through the years. Even so, he continues to learn and develop himself to serve his business and clients in the best way he can.