From School to Startup, Hugo Bruce on How to Build a Business

At just 21, Hugo Bruce is an inspiration to young entrepreneurs. As the head of Pillared Media, Hugo has blazed a trail for young people interested in business, and he has some excellent advice to share. 

For many young people, the roadmap after secondary school is clear: finish your Leaving Certificate, head to college and begin building a career. But for one Cork entrepreneur, that path never felt like the right fit.

Instead, Hugo chose to leave school, teach himself digital marketing and build a business from scratch. It wasn’t an easy road, building a business in your teens is certainly challenging, but today his story is proof that success doesn’t always follow the conventional route.

“I was an excellent student.”

“I really loved school, particularly maths.”

Despite being successful at school, and fitting the bill of a model student, Hugo knew there was more out there for him. Being in school, instead of working on his business, felt like a drawback. Growing up Hugo watched his father manage the business world, and knew he could do the same.

“Location freedom, time freedom, you have control of when you work and where you work,” he explains. “There’s no market cap. You’re not tied to a local customer base. You can work with clients all around the world.”

It didn’t take long before he knew this was the direction he wanted to pursue.

“I made a bit of a bold choice.”

“I said, ‘This is what I want to do. I don’t want to give myself the fallback option, so I’m going to burn my bridges.'”

Initially, Hugo took a gap year from school to see whether building a business was realistic. Like many aspiring entrepreneurs, however, he quickly realised the online world looked much easier than it actually was.

“I took a couple of online courses and learned everything myself from YouTube,” he says. “I quickly realised it’s not the easiest thing to do.”

After a year away, he returned to school hoping it might feel different.

For a while, it did.

“There was a buzz around being back.”

“I started to enjoy maths again.”

But the feeling didn’t last.

“I realised I’d missed quite a substantial amount, and I still knew that I didn’t want to go to college.”

He found himself caught between two futures: staying in education for the security it offered or taking another leap into business.

“People suggested it might be smart to get a degree just so I’d have a fallback,” he says. “It’s not a bad idea, but I knew I would regret that in retrospect.”

Instead, Hugo committed fully.

Before throwing himself back into business, Hugo spent several months volunteering in Bali, working with animals and meeting other young people who were also forging unconventional paths. Meeting likeminded people helped to drive Hugo forward. 

“We were all on the same journey, we knew what we wanted to do, we just hadn’t started it yet.”

Returning home, he knew one thing: he needed to find clients.

The problem?

“I knew I wanted to do marketing, but I hadn’t actually run ads live before.”

Without heaps of experience or a portfolio, he decided his greatest advantage was honesty.

“I started sending a lot of emails.”

 “I actually told people I was doing it as a school project and that I’d work for free for the first couple of months.”

For weeks, nothing happened.

“About a month of emailing, nothing came back.”

Eventually, Hugo’s chance presented itself.

“The stars aligned,” he says. “He was just starting his own business too.”

Hugo took a risk, and explained to the client that he was new to the industry. Luckily, this client was happy to take the risk. 

“I just copied what was working,the market sets the conditions, you just improve on what’s already working.”

The campaign proved successful almost immediately.

“We had great success with those ads from the get-go, and then I just kept doing what was working before.”

Soon referrals followed, and the business slowly began to grow.

Although his business has expanded considerably, Hugo is quick to stay grounded.

“At the moment, I’m still a bit of a glorified freelancer,” he jokes.

Hugo’s vision remains clear, he’s here to help with the logistics, so the business can focus on the service they provide.

“They’re busy doing the service they do, they don’t want to go and learn a separate skill that’s going to take away from their business.”

When asked what motivates him, his answer is refreshingly honest.

“I would say it’s a mix between insecurity and desire.”

Growing up with two older siblings who excelled in sport and school, he often felt he needed to find his own path.

“I’ve always felt the need to compensate.”

“I thought, by the way the dice have fallen, I’m not going to do that as a child. But in the long term, I can win.”

The second part of his motivation is freedom.

“I want the freedom of choice,” he says. “One thing is pushing me away, and one thing is pulling me towards a desire. Then it’s just focus that gets you there in between.”

Building a business at a young age isn’t just challenging—it’s lonely.

“The tricky thing is you’re going against the grain.”

While friends were discussing assignments and college life, he found himself thinking about clients, marketing campaigns and business problems.

“You don’t really relate to your current group of friends, but you’re not yet established enough to fit into a new group of business owners.”

Instead of letting this isolation get to him, Hugo reminds himself that there is growth in the discomfort. The fact that he feels out of place means he is progressing.

“When you’re not relating to your current group of friends, take that as a signal that you’re progressing.”

He believes entrepreneurship demands a tolerance for uncertainty that many people struggle with.

“People really don’t like uncertainty, but that’s exactly what makes business valuable.”

Success, he argues, isn’t about avoiding discomfort.

“You need to have quite a high tolerance for discomfort, uncertainty and taking risks.”

Many young entrepreneurs might struggle to fit into a world where everyone is much older. Hugo sees it differently, being young makes him a tech native, perfect for the job.

“We’ve grown up with social media,” he says. “The people I work with haven’t.”

Working primarily with construction and local service businesses, he believes his digital knowledge has become a genuine competitive advantage.

Equally important has been his willingness to be upfront with clients.

“I think people respected the ambition.”

When asked why someone should choose him over a larger agency, Hugo turns the question around.

“Why are you going to go with a big company where you’re just another number on a spreadsheet?” he asks. “I’m going to give you personalised support. This needs to work for you just as much as it needs to work for me.”

Hugo’s advice for anyone thinking about starting a business is simple and effective.

“Pick one thing and stick to it.”

Too many aspiring entrepreneurs fall victim to what he calls “shiny object syndrome.”

“They see another business and think maybe that one’s easier,” he says. “But it’s all the same fundamental problems behind every business.”

Instead, he encourages young founders to expect motivation to fade.

“Be aware that motivation is going to fade, and that’s okay.”

What matters is staying committed to the original goal.

“Just remind yourself why you started.”

He also believes people place far too much emphasis on finding the perfect idea.

“Everyone thinks the idea is what’s unique,” he says. “But the distinction is really the work you put in behind it.”

His advice is refreshingly practical: learn from people already doing what you want to do, use the free resources available online and don’t be afraid to make mistakes.

“The best way to learn is just to get stuck into it.”

“You’re going to get a lot more experience driving a car than watching videos about how to drive one.”

And perhaps his simplest piece of advice?

“If you know someone who’s been where you are, buy them a coffee and ask them all the questions you’re worried about.”

Link to Hugo’s website here.