Usama Khan is an intelligent man. How do we know that? Well, John Moran said it. And if John Moran said it, then it must be true.
“I applied for the role of client manager. John was like you’re too smart to be a client manager, here, let’s make you a strategist.”
Now, we are not casting shade on our fantastic team of client managers. Please take the context into account. You see, Usama didn’t become any ol’ strategist. We are talking about the very first strategist at Solutions 8. That’s monumental. That’s a mastermind move!
“Kasim and John hosted an online mastermind back in 2021 and I paid to participate. Then John and I got talking afterward.”
When Usama accepted John’s advice to become the strategist of Sol8, he became a fearless leader of the team, and the one with the biggest brain to put successful strategies together for our Google Ads campaigns. It was his job to carve out the duties of a strategist and forge the way for those who followed.
In his own words
“In short, I recommend a strategy or the necessary changes to make in various accounts to help optimize or scale it. Or, I could take it in a completely different direction depending on business goals. This approach has changed very little since I started. Perhaps, it’s become more of a mix of strategy and education now, making sure all the client managers understand the changes within an account and why we are doing them.”
Jumping down the rabbit hole of everything he has learned about Google Ads will take anyone on an eye-opening journey through the world of digital marketing. He’d like to show people how it’s done and teach people everything he knows.
His CMs are his biggest fans. They are grateful for his dedication to their learning. Usama put together some education sessions for the whole pod of client managers which was invaluable in terms of improving their overall knowledge of Google Ads. They could be strategists in their own right simply because Usama has been so helpful in answering their questions and teaching them new things.
Our pod culture is important to Usama. He likes to ensure that his entire team can come to him and feel comfortable bringing their questions and concerns. Our pod has a weekly training call where we discuss matters that have come up during the week or review different Google Ads concepts.
A favorite part of these classes is when we challenge Usama to take a high-level Google Ads strategy and turn them into “party analogies,” whereby he has to re-explain the strategy or concept as if he were at a party.
His ability to take something so complex and reduce it to something the average person with no Google Ads experience can understand is impressive. It also helps that they are often very funny, and the whole pod gets a good laugh out of them.
Another trusted colleague makes the observation, “Sometimes less is more, and that is Usama.” We are a step closer to understanding what makes him tick.
Here’s something else to help us: If he could get a famous artist to paint his portrait, he would choose Picasso to represent him in all his colorful fragmentation. Usama is probably referring to the Spanish artist’s simplistic style of painting, but there’s endless complexity beneath the basic shapes of a Picasso picture.
It’s this contrasting information that paints the picture of our intrepid strategist! He’s a little lazy when it comes to his spare time, refusing to take up a hobby.
Kayaking, perhaps? Or, is Google Ads his favorite pastime? Could be!
Tons of personality
Our strategist thinks of himself as fun and funny. He loves making fun of people.
“Making fun of people allows me to be extremely approachable, and it helps build strong relationships with all my team members, so they aren’t ever afraid to ask me questions.”
While Usama makes his job look like a walk in the park, he won’t deny there are certain challenges.
“Staring at numbers all day is one of them,” he says. And jumping from one business model to the next for his clients is another. “It’s not always easy to understand all the different marketing channels they are on, what they do on those channels, and how Google fits.”
Family Life
There are some values in life that Usama’s parents taught him, which he can appreciate today. The first is to treat people the way you want to be treated. The second is to be the role model you want people to be for you. The third and final lesson that remains in Usama’s mind, thanks to his parents, is “Give people the opportunities you never had if you have the chance!”
He was a shy kid at his school in Faisalabad, Pakistan, and it continued well into high school.
Usama says, “I was the quiet type.”
Judging by his delight at roasting Kasim, that shyness has well and truly disappeared. His group of friends has surely helped him grow from shy teenager to self-assured young man.
“One of my best memories is when my friend bought a new apartment. There were five of us and we all went for breakfast. After that, we headed back to the empty home. I mean, there was no furniture, nothing. So we just sat around on the floor. We chatted for hours, covering topics from movies to religion to politics. And there were a bunch of activities too, that day. Yoga, wrestling, fitness challenges!”
Usama lives in Toronto, Canada, with his parents, younger brother, and sister.
Jani Kahukiwa
