Hey, Builders!
I’m Bo Bradarich - a proud Chicago native, UMich alum, and, most recently, a San Francisco resident.
Build Up is my life’s mission.
Growing up, I learned the value of working hard.
My family was tough, we stayed small circled, and we valued making our own money. As a kid, I shoveled snow, raked leaves, and cleaned gutters. When I turned 18, I started working 60-hour weeks as a garbage man and a pool boy. I rode my bike everywhere.
As I grew older, I learned the value of working smart.
I always wanted to start my own business. A few months after graduating college, I landed my first salaried job: a Business Development Representative at ActiveCampaign, a marketing automation software company in downtown Chicago.
I climbed the leadership ladder at the young age of 24. I built the sales onboarding program from scratch, with no prior sales experience, and still receive compliments from people I trained. In addition, I found myself being one of the go-to experts in transforming business needs into automated workflows; even for our Agency partners.
So, I started my first agency at 25.
The agency was my first taste of building holistic business operations. I was hooked.
We integrated softwares to create our clients’ dream experiences. Our projects spanned from building a multi-channel sales funnel for a 200-employee flooring company to stitching together two project management softwares for a 12-person marketing agency.
The work was good, but Build Up’s mission was in the back of my mind.
I wanted to make an impact at scale and I knew our current business model was limited, so I took the plunge. I rebranded the company from a full-service operations agency to an economic development agency.
Now, at Build Up, we focus on making connections.
Why? Because I’ve always been obsessed with making things easier for people than I had it, to provide people with the resources I wish I had, and the connections I wish I knew about. But I also know genuine, quality connections are hard to come by, so we quality control the experience for the small businesses we work with to ensure they’re truly taken care of.
In my free time…
I love watching movies, making music on my keyboard, and getting outdoors.
Looking towards the future, I dream of leading large, city-wide economic development programs and publishing a research paper. But for now, I'll just enjoy a good Chicago dog and build up the community one business at a time.
