Dear Friends (…and haters),

I am beyond ecstatic to introduce the new Razor Sharp Digital website. An evolution of over seven years that entailed a collection of hard work, resilience, commitment, teamwork, long nights, late-night snacks, and plenty of caffeine. The new Razor Sharp Digital is the byproduct of what once seemed like a distant dream that would never turn into reality.

If you don’t mind while you’re here, let me tell you a little bit about the origins of Razor Sharp Digital.

It was in April 2016 when I suddenly found myself at crossroads. I was working a job in the agency world, a dead-end job, and the last 9-5 job that I ever held, and was quite unhappy. The pay was terrible, the environment was toxic, the clients were horrendous to work with, and the team members were no better either. It is quite unfortunate how common self-entitlement was and still is especially in the marketing industry. Something that was heavily bothering me but even worst, being made to feel like you’re useless. Dispensable.

On April 7, 2016, my wife and I welcomed our firstborn, Hudson. A beautiful and perfect little angel, in every way. Seeing him for the first time suddenly made all of my worries fade away. At least, for the time being. The fact that I was now a father really settled in. Quickly! Lots of emotions came over me in a blink of an eye and it really got me thinking. Hard!

Given the circumstances, I had some tough decisions to make and the whole “being a new father” thing was really settling on my brain.

My two options were as follows:

1. I withstand the emotional pain, tough it out, and keep fighting the 9-5 grind in the hope of change. Something I’ve done actually for quite too long. More specifically a 10+ year tenure in the agency world itself.
2. I quit! Pursue greener pastures and new horizons.

The thought of telling my wife that I’d be leaving a 9-5 job wasn’t thrilling whatsoever. The alternative, pursuing greener pastures was just as emotionally wrecking knowing how she typically responds to things.

So, what’s a guy to do?

“Growth happens from discomfort.”

Option 2 was every bit of discomforting and that was merely the thought of actually pursuing it. I still had to figure out if I would actually muster up the courage and grow a pair to follow thru and quit.

So, I grew a pair, quit the toxic 9-5 gig, and set out to pursue greener pastures like a lone ranger. Believe it or not, I suddenly felt immediate relief knowing that I detached from a toxic environment. Almost like the shackles from my wrists and ankles had been cut after an eternity of suffering.

Emotionally I felt great but from a financial standpoint, I still had to figure out some things. Things like how to pay a mortgage, support a wife and newborn, bills, put food on the table, make sure the lights stay on, and all that good stuff.

One day after my departure from the last 9-5 job I ever held I thought to myself, “Ivan, you’ve always wanted to start your own business. A human-centric, personal business that would help people and companies grow their digital footprint on the internet.”

So, just like that in May 2016 Razor Sharp Digital, LLC. was born. Little did I know that the LLC I had registered back in 2009 would come in handy seven years later. The domain https://www.razorsharpdigital.com was introduced along with the website that you may have seen prior to this one in May 2016.

Great! I had a registered business, a website, and social media properties. What was I missing? Clients Ivan, clients. You know, people who pay you money for the services you offer to them.

First hard lesson learned and one that many new and intermediate entrepreneurs seem to fail at comprehending. Just because you registered a business entity and have a business, does not automatically indicate that you are capable of actually running a business.

• Lead generation.
• Servicing business.
• Customer service.
• Billing.
• Accounting and payroll.
• Employees.
• Hatred and negativity from others.
• …and a whole lot more.

The world of entrepreneurship is truly eye-opening for many people. So much so that most new businesses fail or cease to exist in the first 5 years of operations. If you happen to survive in any business past a fiver year mark, you’ve figured out something.

Did I mention earlier that I had a newborn, a wife, and was the head of household along with being a new business owner? Okay, just double-checking to ensure that you were following along.

I’ve been fortunate enough to learn from my father who has been building a business of his own for the last 23+ years. A business that to this day I am still involved in. A business that I also helped grow and scale in a single year prior to the commencement of my own business venture. All those lessons and tips I acquired were absolutely beneficial and rewarding to me in my own new business venture I had just embarked upon.

In order to find new opportunities and spark some cash flow for Razor Sharp Digital, I utilized whatever relationships I had available. After being in the agency world for over a decade I had lots of contacts and acquaintances that I could turn towards. This is where some of my earlier clients such as Concordia Publishing House, True Manufacturing, and UMSL Digital (University Of Missouri-St. Louis Digital Media Marketing Program) came about.

You can peruse my LinkedIn profile for more details on those opportunities if you would like.

Since 2015 I made it a goal to focus on human-centricity and human business with Razor Sharp Digital. Those things were always in the epicenter of the entire brand. One main reason was due to all the lies, false promises, and lack of delivery I experienced during my agency days. Most imporantly though, it is in my DNA as a human to serve people and companies with an ethical approach. Speaking of caring, Empathy was the first of ten core values of Razor Sharp Digital that was introduced in May 2021. Ironically enough six years after the brand’s inception. Coincidence? Maybe! Maybe not!

I’ve been fortunate enough to work with multi-million dollar companies since the inception of Razor Sharp Digital in May 2016. Being an Eastern European and naturalized U.S. Citizen I’ve come from nothing and have worked for everything that I have like my life depended on it. Which is why, now that I think about it it took five to six years to actually comprise the ten commandments of Razor Sharp Digital.

I could go into deeper length about all the lessons and encounters faced since 2015 but then my book might be in fact redundant. I’ll get to working on that one very very soon.

So, without further ado, I want to introduce to you the new Razor Sharp Digital website. We can call it V2 if you will. The evolution of seven years of hard work, commitment, resilience, diversity, creativity, compassion, and a whole lot more.

I would love to hear your thoughts and comments on the socials.

Thanks for stopping by and we are ecstatic to serve you!

Sincerely,
Ivan Temelkov
Chief Human Officer
Razor Sharp Digital, LLC.
“The original human marketing agency”