Aaron Edwards, CEO of The Charles Group

Originally hailing from Manchester, England - Aaron worked as a financial analyst at Barclays Capital, London, before moving to New York in 2010. Working as an agency account manager for clients that included Ferrari North America, Diageo and Pepsico, Aaron invested a large portion of his time learning about brand strategy, data driven marketing campaigns and digital technology. Transitioning from finance to creative came naturally to Aaron, due in part to his desire to provide data driven design insights and business strategy to the creative and digital industry. "As kid I was always trying to figure out how to beat the AI in video games. I grew up playing donkey kong on my Atari and I'm still an avid gamer. I have always challenged myself to beat gaming algorithms and I guess that's why I love digital so much because there is no set formula for success, it's trial and error, it's iterative and it's unforgiving." Partnering with his sister, Aaron wanted to create more than an agency, he wanted to create a brand and a work environment that never felt like work. This ethos lead to the creation of The Charles (a business name carried by all men in their family and rooted in a founding mission - ‘To Honor. To Inspire’. To Honor - their clients and do business with integrity. To Inspire - with the work created. Aaron’s deep understanding of the relationship between creativity and commerce and attuned business strategy skill set has helped to solidify The Charles as one of the go-to boutique creative digital agencies in New York. Aaron is also an angel investor in a new start up named Pedul (a recruitment platform creating equitable representation for large multinational companies).