We had the good fortune of connecting with Noriko Roy and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Noriko, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
There is truly nothing more important than maintaining a work / life balance. As an entrepreneur – keeping a solid relationship with those in your personal life, while also prioritizing “me time” can be challenging but crucial to your mental health.
As the CEO and co-founder of a 360 marketing agency, co-founder of a second agency, and an investor in two new ventures, I’ve found that waking up extra early, and getting a workout in before the emails/texts/calls start to roll in has been essential for keeping stress and anxiety levels low for the day/week ahead.
My dad has always kept me grounded, down to earth and has helped me learn to properly prioritize. I’ve also been lucky enough to have great mentors who have turned me on to mind mapping in order to stay organized, and those who can talk me through inevitable obstacles.
Creating success in my career and personal life, while staying true to myself is how I define success and will always be incredibly important to me.
Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
NK Agency is a 360 international marketing agency. We do everything from social media marketing, management, content creation (photography, videography), brand development, creative marketing, influencer management, digital advertising, SEO, Web development, and more. 85% of the business we have acquired has been purely referral based, the other 20% has been networking and post public speaking engagements.
Digital New age is is one of the first digital marketing agencies to exclusively offer turn key solutions for TikTok marketing campaigns. We curate stand out brand campaigns and represent digital influencers with a TikTok footprint, building their DNA and connection into a brand story. We began with one solid brand campaign (@pri_manukahoney) that generated over 1.1M views in 30-days, increased monthly sales by 30% and new client acquisition by 25%. Soon after, Mark Cuban created a duet with one of our videos (+ gave brand mention) and it’s his highest performing piece of content on his page at 20M+ views. The duet was then picked up by Official Foodies Channel (20+ million followers) with brand channel mention as well.
A couple other great stats: 1) We generated 8.4M+ views from a single piece of content for a sustainable alkaline water bottle brand @DYLNbottle which catapulted that channel into a whole new level of WOW. 2) After launching the @bhufoodsofficial – our 5th piece of content went viral at 4.8M views!
In both agencies, our teams ensure our clients never fall behind, but rather set the tone as “the one to beat” in that respective industry. Our ability to build brand awareness through the content we produce is very powerful. Excellent content is the key to brand success.
We have set a known standard for those who are interested in joining either team. The success of both agencies have been built around going above and beyond for our clients. No matter what time of day, or day of the week – we do our best to make ourselves available. We truly care about the success, and continued success of each of our clients and will do all that we can to help them reach their goals.
This certainly has not been an easy path. Starting out I felt like I had NO idea what I was doing most of the time, and had no idea if I was taking my career in the right direction or if I had just made an incredibly impulsive decision.
I can honestly say that I followed my intuition and just did what felt right – which was, and still is, absolutely terrifying at times – especially in the digital space. Stability comes and goes, and you realize that if you don’t have the drive and discipline to continue building, growing and always capitalizing on the chance to get creative (especially in times of uncertainty) – things probably aren’t going to work out the way you had envisioned.
The good things in life never seem to come easy. I have been reassured over and over that life will throw every hurdle imaginable at you when you least expect it – and sometimes all at once. At the same time, this is a huge reason why I am where I am today. These hurdles along with the strength and brilliance of each of my business partners have afforded great success for both agencies.
Challenges hit you from all different angles – sometimes you overcome them, sometimes you don’t. Fear of failure will hinder you and will hinder your decision making. Failure has never scared me. Sure, there are times where I am worried things won’t work out the way I had hoped for / planned, but failure is crucial to personal growth. If you do not experience failure, it’s nearly impossible to appreciate success.
If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I live in DTLA and my favorite spot is the Noe bar at the Omni hotel. I’ve always had a thing for hotel bars – you always meet the most interesting people, visiting from different places in the world. It’s a great way to enjoy conversation outside of work. Mezcalero is another favorite – great mezcal, great food.
Ye Old Kings Head, English restaurant and bar, in Santa Monica is a spot i’ve been going to since I was a child. My grandmother and I had a standing “tea time” date and the food is phenomenal.
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have two digital agencies, NK Agency (2016) and Digital New Age (2020).
My partner in NK Agency, Kristy Adcock is one of the most creative individuals I know. She is more than just a fantastic partner – but someone I consider my best friend, sister, and the person I know I can count on for absolutely anything. Loyalty means everything to me and Kristy is the most loyal, honest, optimistic individual I know. We have built an incredible company together, as well as a badass team of women that never cease to amaze me.
My partner in Digital New Age, Melissa Ginn, is a force of nature and simply brilliant. When the pandemic hit we saw it as an opportunity to get creative – and together built a 6-figure company in 30-days. Being able to work along side such talent has been inspiring, motivating and the success that our agency has achieved in such a short period of time is more than I could’ve ever imagined.
Jin Yu has been my greatest mentor, biggest cheerleader, but also the hardest on me – especially when I’m down and need a kick in the a$$. This man is pure genius, a loving friend and someone I can wholeheartedly count on for absolutely anything – work, life, personal. He motivates, encourages, and pushes me to be the best business woman, leader and innovator in all that I do.
My parents have been my greatest supporters and have always encouraged me to be me and to go for it – no matter what. They taught me at an early age “girls can do anything boys can – in fact they can probably do it better, so do it better”. I took that to heart. My dad has taught me how to think 360 about any situation, and how to separate emotion from logic. I believe this ability has been a major key to the success as a female entrepreneur.
Website: www.nkagency.la
Instagram: @koko_roy
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/norikoroy/
Other: www.digital-new-age.com instagram: @nkagency.la instagram: @digital-new-age