From Rock Star to CGO: Nick Schittone
Advice from a Chief Growth Officer on how to get to a higher level and the story of how he became the CGO of Hot House Inc.
This week, I had the pleasure of interviewing and engaging in a conversation with Nick Schittone. Nick is the Chief Growth Officer of Hot House Inc., a highly successful integrated marketing agency responsible for promoting renowned shows like HBO's Game of Thrones and AMC's The Walking Dead. Nick humorously and humbly describes his responsibilities as being a "glorified door opener," involving the identification and qualification of external clients. Once he ensures they are the right fit for Hot House, he introduces them to his team. Naturally, Nick did not start off in such a high position in his company, so I inquired about his background and the path that led him to such a prestigious position.
Nick's Story:
Nick shared that his strong work ethic and drive to constantly improve were instilled in him at an early age by his father. He reminisced on a story from when he was young when he asked his father for an allowance. His father agreed but with the condition that he wake up at 7 A.M. the following Saturday morning. To earn his allowance, Nick found himself greeted by his father with work clothes and boots, ready for him to join him at work. Nick explained that this has driven him throughout his entire life and moved on to talking about his young adult life. As a young adult, Nick applied to seven colleges after high school but was rejected from all seven of them. Because of this, Nick worked with his father in construction after high school but soon realized, even though he describes it as a "noble profession," it wasn't the path for him. Therefore, he pursued higher education further. Nick's higher education includes Baruch College and Harvard University Extension School. While in college, Nick studied marketing but didn't really know what he wanted to do with it. While he was studying in college, he shared with me that he was actually the lead singer in a rock band! Nick believed in his band and eventually sought to get his band a management contract. After showing the management company his demo, they offered him an internship instead, and his journey officially began. After interning and working there for a short time, he moved on to a college startup where he was the head of music programming. From there, MTV bought the startup, and he became an official employee of MTV. Eventually, he was introduced to Hot House, where he works and continues to make a remarkable impact to this day. Nick emphasized throughout this portion of our interview that he made sure he was in a position where people didn't necessarily see him just for his job title but mainly for his skill and what he could potentially bring to a company. After I heard this, I branched off and asked Nick what he did specifically during college and in other aspects of his life that he thought helped propel him to his current position.
Nick's Advice:
The first question I asked Nick, regarding advice, was what he thought he did during college that helped him reach his current level. When asked about the impact of college, Nick highlighted its role in building his confidence. He firmly believes that confidence is a crucial part of success. He believes that it is absolutely everything, explaining that it allows people to put their trust in you. According to Nick, when people have confidence in your abilities, they entrust you with more challenging projects, providing an opportunity for you to rise to the occasion. The next question I asked Nick was what traits he thinks are necessary for individuals today to have a strong start in business. He shared that people need to be critical thinkers and opportunistic. He emphasized that the world of business and people's careers are not a linear path and that you need to learn when to raise your hand at an opportunity. And if you do raise your hand, be ready to work to prove yourself. On this topic, Nick also explained that you should always be curious and ask questions. "If you ask questions and if you have thoughts, people look at you and say maybe you should be doing this too," he said. He also mentioned that it's important to form ideas and test out things you'd like to do by creating content, strategy, and engaging with marketing to showcase your experience and demonstrate that you “willingly threw yourself into the fire”, as Nick put it.
As our conversation drew to a close, I asked Nick what he would change if he could go back to his college years. He responded by saying that he wishes he had developed his swagger and confidence much earlier on and told himself to "stop being so nervous." He firmly believed that it would have helped him seize opportunities much earlier in his life.
Nick's perspective on college, primarily as a stepping stone for personal growth and confidence rather than solely a means to gain work experience, was refreshing. I hope this helped you gain some insights into Nick's journey, and I encourage you to take some of his lessons to heart. Other than that, I hope you have a great rest of your week, and I'll see you in your inbox next week!
Find Nick at:
linkedin.com/in/nick-schittone
Excellent!