NEWSErnest Sturm: Elevating Luxury Brands to New Levels
Dec. 5 2023, Published 5:01 a.m. ET
When Ernest Sturm arrived in Los Angeles, he was surrounded by a vast network of creative entrepreneurs. Rather than shrink, he sensed “endless opportunities” that made him feel like he “could accomplish anything” and dove right in.
At only 22 years old, he moved into the luxury events marketing space, founding Runaway Waiters in 2017, a company that provides top models for high-end events. In doing so, Sturm found a unique niche, and the company immediately took off, quickly becoming one of the leading events marketing companies in the US.
Runway Waiters, which is still going strong today, catapulted Sturm into the limelight and allowed him to build strong relationships with the likes of Tom Ford, Louis Vuitton, Ferrari, and Rolls Royce.
Amid this success, he noticed an important change in the modeling world: digital marketing on social media platforms was starting to take off. Models were earning their money differently. They were now advertising products online.
Seizing on this new development, Sturm founded Runway Influence, a firm designed to pair brands with top models from the US, the UK, and Australia.
The idea at the heart of the company made a lot of sense, and massive success followed. Models are able to elevate brands by providing the luxurious and upscale images that brands deserve. Marketing is about delivering persuasive messages to targeted audiences—and simply put, no one is better at doing this than the world’s top models.
Today, the firm is a major player in the social media space. They boast top models who have appeared on the covers of Vogue, Harper Bazaar, GQ, and other major magazines. They have worked with leading brands such as Adidas, McLaren, Wild Fox, and many others. This pairing has produced some of the largest and most successful digital marketing campaigns to date.
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With such a meteoric rise to stardom, one might expect that Sturm’s rise to the top has been without setbacks or struggles. But this is far from the case. Early on, he learned the importance of grit, humility, and relationships.
Sturm had to challenge himself to continually get better and to grow from his mistakes. He had to get in touch with his strengths and limitations and go to the right people when he needed help and realized he could not do it himself. He had to learn when he needed to take a break.
Reading countless business books and biographies of entrepreneurs, Sturm has worked hard to master his craft, and his resilience stems from his deep-seated faith in God. He finds expression in his total dedication to his client’s needs.
Today, Sturm hopes to expand his influence by building a network platform for entrepreneurs that will connect them to consumers and foster innovation. For obvious reasons, this project has many people in the entrepreneurial space excited, and if his previous ventures are any indication, it is going to be a massive success.
