Seven years ago, MJ Widomska moved from Poland to London. At the time, she was only 20 years old, and worked in Marketing. Today, she is the founder of YRS TRULY, an award-winning creative agency based at Bootstrap.
It was during her time freelancing with a lot of agencies that she realised she didn’t agree with the way they were run and how the workers were being treated. She loved the creative work but didn’t want to be part of that world, so she decided to create an alternative. That’s how YRS TRULY was born, almost five years ago. Despite the challenge of starting an agency so young in a foreign country without a network, her creative and ethical approach made YRS TRULY stand out amongst more traditional agencies. They started with a range of different clients, but in the past couple of years have directed their focus to the gaming industry, helping them reach new audiences.
MJ has always loved gaming, but being a woman, this meant they were never targeted at her:
“I remember being really frustrated not getting any games adverts on my social media even though I engaged with gaming content all the time, while my boyfriend, who barely engaged with it, was getting gaming ad after gaming ad. There are a lot of women I know who only got into gaming later on in life because they never saw it as an option. What a big loss for the gaming industry! Having more than half of the population completely cut off because you think your product only speaks to a specific audience. The more I worked in Marketing, the more I wanted to work in Gaming and make things better as much as I could”.
That’s how she managed to combine her passion with her work, and has been doing a great job so far. At the moment, there are seven people working in her team, all from marginalised genders, which is a big achievement in a male dominated industry.
Besides that, YRS TRULY call themselves an ethical company. They promote diversity and inclusion, ensure fair and transparent pay, support small businesses, offer discounts for charities, apply sustainable practices to their work, offer advice and opportunities for young and marginalised people, and promote work-life balance with a 4 day week every second week. You can read more about their code of ethics here.
They have recently participated in Limit Break, a mentoring programme for people of under-represented backgrounds to get into the gaming industry, which is notoriously difficult to get into, and have previously taken part in the Kickstart Programme. They also have done several talks and taken part in our Bootstrap programmes.
“I remember not knowing so many things in the beginning of my career, and I received so much kindness from so many people. That’s what I want to give back to the world”
MJ says.
“We’ve had several moments that were super memorable, like winning awards, but what I’m the most proud of is of the team we built and or our work ethic. The way we interact with each other, the way we treat work, the passion we have for gaming. Building this team and creating this atmosphere at work makes me really happy”.
This Summer, YRS TRULY have been nominated for 10 awards, among them Best Small Agency at both UK Social Media Awards and UK Agency Awards. Fingers crossed!
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