As he approaches a decade at SmartFrame, CEO Rob Sewell tells us how he got to where he is today and explains what traits those looking to head in a similar direction should prioritize
How did you get started?
Due to family circumstances, I lived on my own from a very young age. Having to fend for myself so early on in life instilled a strong drive and ambition to get ahead and create a better life, making me quite entrepreneurial.
At 18, I was a DJ and quickly realized that I could earn more money as a promoter, so I started booking DJs and running my own monthly clubs.
By 21, I had become quite successful, and my club regularly appeared in magazines and on the radio. But when my younger half brother also found himself homeless and needing care, I reassessed my life and decided to become his foster parent.
Wanting to be a good role model to my brother, I then decided to retrain as a holistic personal trainer and launched a personal training business. I also achieved two black belts in martial arts and became a qualified yoga instructor, Reiki master, and Thai masseur.
Before long, I was working with many high-net-worth clients. My network was growing and I learned a great deal from the people I was training, and this inspired me to create a well-being holiday experience for high-net-worth individuals.
During this time, I met someone who became a role model, a serial entrepreneur who recognized my drive and ambition. We ended up going into business together in the well-being sector.
With a broader network and extensive experience, I then went on to start my own membership business called My Phone Club. Nearly 20 years ago, mobile phones were offered on long-term contracts with fluctuating bills and poor customer service. Our approach introduced fixed-cost, flexible contracts, with the ability to change handsets, upgrade, downgrade or even cancel with just 30 days’ notice, along with many additional benefits such as discounts and offers at restaurants, cinemas and gyms nationwide, and a dedicated UK-based customer service team. Today, 20 years later, fixed-cost, flexible contracts with benefits are commonplace within the industry!
Unfortunately, one of our main backers let us down terribly, which forced us into administration. I then moved on to do some consultancy work for a Portuguese manufacturer. Its UK business was turning over £13 million a year and we took it to £14 million and growing in 12 months.
While it was a stable job, it didn’t satisfy my entrepreneurial drive. So when the founders of SmartFrame’s precursor [Pixelrights] approached me, I saw an opportunity where my commercial experience and network could help bring this product to market.
How has your role evolved since you started at SmartFrame?
In the very early days, my main focus was on the business plan, vision, and strategy to get the business investment ready. Once we received an initial investment, we started to deploy the strategy, validating the model, gathering market feedback, and signing our early adopting customers.
Once this foundation was in place and the model was being proven, the focus shifted to attracting and onboarding great talent. This meant getting everyone to personally buy into the vision and creating a culture where we highly incentivized staff through sales incentives, profit-sharing, and option schemes. The goal was to create an entrepreneurial company where everyone had a sense of ownership and are personally invested in the business and its strategy.
As the team and the right level of senior management were in place, that culture continued organically. I then focused more on the larger-scale investment requirements, managing investor relations, strategy, forecasting, and investment cash flow.
What’s been the biggest change during this time? And what has surprised you the most?
We’ve seen a lot of innovations come and go that promised to change the industry. These included blockchain technology and NFTs, which didn’t really have any meaningful application.
And now, of course, there’s the explosion of AI. Ironically, as the photography industry is in terminal decline, it initially looked to prevent images from being used to train AI models. And now, these companies are actually opening up their collections and being paid by AI companies, allowing their models to train on their content, which can further undermine the industry’s value.
For SmartFrame, the most important aspect of AI is ensuring that end users can distinguish between what is real and what is AI-generated. With the increasing amount of synthetic media being published online, authenticating assets has become crucial, allowing consumers to trust what they see and easily identify its origins.
There’s no harm in AI-generated images, as long as consumers are aware they are AI images and can trace their origins. So, for us, this is a tailwind. With so much synthetic media, authenticating assets has only become more important, helping consumers to trust what they see. And SmartFrame does exactly that.
How important is it to take risks?
As the saying goes, the bigger the risk, the bigger the reward. I would always encourage people to take risks. You have to live outside of your comfort zone as that’s where the magic happens.
If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you always got. If you want something different, you need to do something different – and that inevitably means taking risks.
I’ve become comfortable living outside my comfort zone and actively seek to challenge myself further whenever I get too comfortable. If you think you can, you can, and the opposite is also true. I’ve dreamt big from humble beginnings and pushed myself to take risks and expand my horizon every step of the way, and I would encourage anyone else to do the same.
What traits do you believe are essential in order to lead a company like SmartFrame?
Honesty, integrity, and a strong moral compass. Ultimately, the leaders of the company set the company’s culture and its brand values. It’s important to lead with passion, purpose, and integrity.
Be fearless and don’t be afraid of failure – fail fast, learn quickly, and adapt. You should inspire others around you to share the same values and philosophies in life so they can push themselves and experience the exhilaration that this brings.
What advice would you give someone looking to step into a CEO role?
There’s never a right time. I didn’t follow the traditional academic or corporate path, and I believe real-world experience is the most valuable qualification you can have.
Listen to and learn from others with empathy and lead by example. The rest you can learn.
How do you switch off when you’re not at SmartFrame?
My children are the most important part of my life, so spending quality time with them is the best nourishment for my soul.
Outside of that, I still regularly go to the gym, a habit from my personal training days. Boxing is still a key part of my life, along with running, weight training, and keeping healthy. Yoga and meditation occasionally, too.
Walking the dog in the countryside, taking in the views and fresh air, is another way I switch off.
You have something of a milestone birthday celebration later this year. Do you have any reflections or aspirations for the next chapter in life?
This April will mark my tenth anniversary at SmartFrame. As Jeff Bezos says, it takes about ten years to become an overnight success! So I would encourage that tenacity to keep going because it does take time to build an overnight success that’s a global disruptor.
In the next three to five years, having transformed the photography industry, I would like to think that we will exit. I aim to create financial freedom for all SmartFrame employees and a better internet for everyone.
In the next stage of life, I’d like to tell my story. I’d like to inspire others from disadvantaged backgrounds – those who may not have had the family support, the opportunity to go to university, or to have financial backing – and create a fund to help them get started. If they have a good heart, vision, drive, grit, and a strong moral compass, I’d like to inspire, mentor, and support them to make their dreams come true too.
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