Meet Cody Clifton

Before launching Squeak Media in 2019, Cody Clifton spent a decade as an EMT — which, as it turns out, was perfect training for agency life: fast-paced, high-pressure, and all about problem solving. After earning his IT degree and cutting his teeth as a project manager at a nationwide marketing agency, Cody took the leap into running his own shop — one built on relationships, community, and a healthy dose of curiosity.

These days, he leads a six-person team crafting creative, high-performing websites and marketing strategies. In our conversation, Cody talks about what drives him (spoiler: freedom and flexibility rank high), why relationship-building has been the biggest catalyst for growth, and how giving back to local nonprofits has become one of his proudest accomplishments.

What kind of work did you do before your current business and what did you bring with you into this career?

I started off as an EMT for 10 years. During that time I got my degree in IT Management Systems and started an internship at a local church which landed me a job with KwikTurn Media. KwikTurn Media was owned by R+L Carriers and was a nationwide large-scale agency. I was a project manager there with about 50 clients. As a project manager I was able to learn a little from each department like SEO, development, design, content marketing, etc. With a little bit of self teaching and the experience I gained at Kwikturn allowed me to confidently open Squeak Media in 2019.

What part of the website creation process is your favorite to work on and why?

Front end dev is by far my favorite part of the website creation process. I have the knowledge and skills such as CSS, SCSS, JS, and PHP to create pretty much whatever I want to. It’s fun to take a homepage design and create the rest of the website off of that design.

What motivated you to start your own business, and what keeps you going when things get tough?

Plain and simple, I was tired of someone else determining my worth. I always had the mentality to start a job and work your ass off to move up within the company. After trying that about 9 times in my working career I figured out the only way I was going to make the money I wanted to make is to open my own business. The thing that keeps me going when things get tough is the fact that I make my own schedule. There’s a certain freedom that comes with owning your own business that regular employees just don’t get. The fact I can take any day off at a whim and just make up the work at a different time whenever I want keeps me coming back. The freedom to go down any rabbit hole I want to to further my knowledge is an additional plus.  

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever gotten and how has it affected your business?

Success comes from 10% of what you know. The rest comes from who you know. This couldn’t be truer for my business. I joined the local Chamber, a BNI chapter and have focused on building relationships within my community. Since then, my business has skyrocketed. Just because you may be the best option for someone doesn’t mean anything if they don’t know you exist. People work with people they trust. The only way to build trust amongst strangers is to build meaningful relationships.