Nick Myers: Building brands whilst living out God’s calling

Nick Myers is Chief Strategy Officer at OLIVER, a global marketing business with more than 1,000 employees in the UK and partner to the world’s biggest brands. He’s also Assistant Pastor at The Well Bethel, Crystal Palace, with a wider ministry in teaching and evangelism. He spoke to Juliet Fletcher about how his faith informs his life and work as a leading marketer.   

JULIET FLETCHER (JF): Nick, when people hear your job title and then hear you’re a Pentecostal minister, they assume a tension. Is there one?
NICK MYERS (NM): It seems like a paradox – the world of marketing, media communications and being a committed Christian. But consider Daniel and Joseph. I don’t experience two identities. My Christian faith is my identity. Everything else sits inside that.

JF: Take us back. Where did that identity begin?
NM: I grew up in a non-Christian home. It was my grandparents who first brought me to church, the historic Bethel Gibson Road assembly, under Bishop SA Dunn, in Handsworth. The presence of God was tangible and undeniable. I was baptised at 11, receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit soon after. The Acts 2 experience became my personal experience. As time went on, I, like many others, felt the pull away from God. It wasn’t until I was about 15 that I became super-serious again about my walk with Christ. This was after a profound experience, in which the Lord said to me clearly: “You choose – either stay or go.” I chose to stay and I have never had the inclination to look back.

I learned early on that faith comes at a cost. I loved athletics, trained with the Olympian Denise Lewis (now a Dame) at Birchfield Harriers; I held my school record in triple jump; and had finished 4th in the country for my age. At 16, I had decisions to make about direction. I gave up athletics to focus on my relationship with God and chose marketing as my field of study.

JF: Can you explain why?
NM: My GCSE Business Studies teacher made the subject fun, and I found marketing fascinating. When I told Bishop Dunn I was off to study marketing, he said: “I thought you’d do theology.” He wasn’t entirely wrong.

JF: What about your first job with an advertising agency?
NM: God blessed me with a job seven days after graduating! It must have been God, as I’d applied after the deadline, and the only reason I was called was because someone dropped out the day before the interviews. I couldn’t even afford the train fare to London, but God. The agency was amazing, so creative, so cool. One of the first clients’ accounts they put me on was a national off-licence chain. This was a problem. I don’t drink alcohol, so how could I sell it to millions? I knocked on the MD’s door and told him I’d understand if he wanted to let me go, but I couldn’t do the job. To my surprise, he said he respected my position and added something I’ve never forgotten: “If you don’t believe in it, you won’t do a good job selling it anyway.” I’ve found that if you put Him first, He makes a way.

JF: For readers outside the industry, what kind of work fills your days?
NM: I advise brands on how to build stronger relationships with their customers, making brands more valuable to customers, and customers more valuable to brands. I work with brands people use every day and trust for some of their biggest decisions. I’ve helped launch products that have become household names. And much of my work now is on how AI is transforming marketing.

JF: How do you define faithfulness versus success? You’re at the top of a global agency, but you seem reluctant to use that as the measure.
NM: I disagree with “faithfulness over success”. The ultimate measure of success is “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” That is the real metric. For me, success is about something greater than work.

JF: How do you stay authentic in boardrooms where you’re often the only one who looks like you, and certainly the only one who believes what you believe?
NM: I constantly remind and encourage myself: I am in this room because I am qualified to be, not simply as the token Black man. Me plus God is a majority.

JF: So, what would you say to someone who believes they have a calling to be in your field, particularly as a Black person?
NM: I’d remind them of Solomon’s words: “A man’s gift makes room for him and brings him before great men” (Proverbs 18:16). If you’re called, He places you. I’d also say, don’t be afraid to be different. Every strong brand trades on being distinctive. People will be more likely to remember you. Also, strong brands are built on consistency, and this applies to anyone who wants to succeed in any field.

JF: What does your daily faithfulness actually look like?
NM: I draw inspiration from my wife, Debbie, and making sure that prayer forms the bedrock of my routine. I read (a lot!) and, given the hustle and non-stop nature of my work, try and find moments to get alone and just have time to stop, think and reflect. The advice of our elders is timeless – “Seven days without fasting and prayer makes one weak.”

JF: You’ve also done quiet work behind the scenes, e.g. the Pentecostal Community Bank, Premier Gospel, writing the history of Bethel…
NM: I love being able to apply what I know for the benefit of Christian organisations. Unlocking a new purpose, and a new look and feel for Premier Gospel – as ‘the voice of UK Gospel’– has helped take the genre into new places like Parliament and Apple. Working with the Pentecostal Community Bank was also deeply significant; it’s the UK’s first Black-owned bank, and the only Pentecostal bank in the UK. Somehow, God has a way of placing me on such projects.

Writing the history of Bethel, Bethel Begins, was a labour of love. The Black Church has traditionally not been good at writing things down, but Bethel Begins creates something lasting for the generations to come. And it allows particularly the story of the Apostolic church in the UK to be told from our perspective, which is a rarity.

JF: What would you say to the younger Nick – or to any young Christian trying to navigate ambition and faith?
NM: I’d tell him to not be impatient, to make sure he runs at the right things – not just the shiny things. And to remember the Jamaican proverb: “Long road draw sweat; short road draw blood.” There are no real shortcuts.

JF: And what might you say to other Christian leaders in the marketplace?
NM: Lower the ladder! Think about succession. Real leadership is about raising future leaders. I’m constantly looking for the next person, developing talent, opening doors. I create access into the industry, and I’m actively involved with several marketing charities outside my day job.

JF: Last question: What would your message be to the Church itself, not just Christians in the marketplace?
NM: Simply, that the Church should focus on being the Church Jesus called it to be. Not a business. Not a place of performance. But a place of spiritual power, that’s something only the Church can offer. Sure, we need systems and polish and professionalism, but that’s not where the power lies. Jesus has given His Church the playbook. My advice would be to apply the ancient principles in the New Testament, in a way that’s relevant to 21st century culture. Trends come and go, but Jesus Christ remains the same yesterday, today and forever.

Connect with Nick Myers on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicklbmyers