Peter Urmson

Peter Urmson

CEO and a Director of Spotzer, Siinda Board

Peter is CEO and a Director of Spotzer. He leads a passionate team of people around the globe who are dedicated to making a positive impact on the lives of Small to Medium Businesses. Peter has vast experience, spanning 15 years, in the digital marketing space working with Sensis, Fairfax, and others. He has a deep understanding of categories. Bringing together Technology Platforms with Sales and Marketing in a fast-changing environment is what drives this CEO.

Now, meet the B-side!

Q. Many people started new hobbies or routines during the lockdown, did you?

Great question for reference, I started life in the hospitality business, and I am a very avid fan of cooking.

I had a very fast and furious life before the lockdown, every other day on a plane traveling somewhere. Also as you know we’ve got an office in Australia so I would need to make early morning calls at like 6 am and then I would need to be making calls in the evening with our US. Partners so the day was full. I never really had the time to cook. So now with the lockdown, I have been able to resurrect my passion for cooking. It’s also been useful because most of the bars and restaurants in Amsterdam, which is where we live, have been closed.

I also really worked on my fitness to help my sanity. Where I used to go to the gym a couple of times a week I now go to the gym around five times a week. I even just got myself, a home gym, so I have something at home when winter comes or the gyms close.

This entire situation has been very challenging not only, from a business perspective but from a personal perspective, so I tried to lead a healthy life and I bought myself another dog.

Q. So are dogs another hobby or passion?

Yes I have three now, so it was a good time to get the third one, I am into the little sausage dogs. We have three Dachshunds.

Roxie, I brought over from Australia from when I lived in Sydney Roxie is 15 years old.

She’s named after the Roxie Nightclub in Amsterdam.

A couple years ago we got Bronte, who’s named after Bronte Beach, which is one of our favorite beaches in Sydney.

And Tallow, is our third dog and is named after Tallow Beach, which is Northern New South Wales.

Q. And why Dachshunds, any special reason?

Yes, it is because of the breed.

There’s a website that you can go to and you can put in what your lifestyle isn’t.

It kind of tells you the best type of dog lifestyle. We needed dogs that don’t smell, do not lose hair, limited molting and do not need to have to get clipped much.

They are small, don’t really need a lot of your time don’t need a huge amount of exercise. We can walk them around the block or along the canals.

Also, they are great little dogs, full of character.

Q. What about your hobby of going to the Gym, can you tell us more about that?

With the gym I’m lucky. My local gym is Splash, and just literally two blocks from where I live. They open at 7 am. So I’m usually there at 7 am. No one else is usually in the gym at that time, which is perfect.

With that I have a personal trainer and I’m fortunate enough that I can do that for a couple of times a week. He’s a great guy helps me get in shape and motivates me.

I’ve just bought a home gym, which is really just a bench press. And so, Dumbbells and things.

Q. What was your first non-desk job?

In school, I managed to get a scholarship through the Hilton group and I went into a hotel management role at the Hilton at Stratford on Avon Glenn’s in England. I hated it, and quickly left that and went straight into working with my dad. My dad had a construction business.

I wasn’t going to do it and then decide that I would do it and moved to Devon, England and worked with him and we ran the construction business together. It was a lot of hard work but great. We would work Saturdays and Sundays, buy building lots, and build houses.

I did all kinds of labouring tasks but look forward to working with my dad on the weekends.

But, you know, my dad works long hours, and I never really got to see him a huge amount during the week.

After that I decided I wanted to see the world and went backpacking.

I flew straight to Sydney, which is where I was just going to go start my backpacking endeavor for a year, and left Sydney 26 years later.

It was probably one of the things that I will remember from my youth that one of the most exciting events or fun events I had, growing up maybe as a young man or a teenager. But regardless I was always working.

I really used to look forward to working at the weekends with my dad.

Q. What other passions do you have?

I like animals. I bought a horse; we had a couple of goats and also all sorts of weird pets.

I was always a little bit entrepreneurial. At Christmas time, with my dad and mom, bought about 50 little turkeys and then sold the turkeys for Christmas dinner.

I also used to go to the forest and get Christmas Trees and sell them. Whatever I did I had fun.

Q. What was your first job in this Industry?

My first kind of desk job really was at Sensis in Australia.

I went for a job in telephone sales, even though I didn’t think that I could really sell but they quickly promoted me to face-to-face. I really did not know what I was doing at that time.

Then 10 years later I was a director of sales, product and marketing.

I learned a lot at Sensis, and I had a great time.

The reason I’m so passionate about my time at Sensis is I worked with small businesses and my dad was a small business owner and my mom had a pub. I empathize with the highs and lows of small businesses.

Q. Do you have a favorite comfort food or a special cuisine you like? What do you cook?

I’ve crafted and do an amazing roast chicken.

I love doing roasts, you know being an Englishman it makes sense.

Most people think I am Australian, but I am actually English.

I’m not really a new-cuisine or a Kind of a Michelin Star type of person, I like simple comfort foods like a nice steak or roast.

I like more wholesome foods and many things I make end up with tomatoes or tomato sauce.

Q. What message would you like to give our Siinda Members, partners, and colleagues?

Hang in there.

Be positive. Think positive.

It’s all a choice.

You can choose not to be positive and wallow in doom and gloom, or you can choose to be positive. It’s a much, much better way to live a life, being positive. No nagging, think of the end game It’s not that far away and these times will be over.

In the overall scheme of things, it’s not that far away.