Written in Partnership with Amir Bakian
Leadership experience, sense of discipline, ability to perform incredibly under pressure, willingness to take on risks or make sacrifices, and, most importantly, the teamwork spirit in a veteran are unparalleled. Undoubtedly, more veterans are turning into entrepreneurs leveraging their innate skills and experiences to scale up their businesses. However, although military veterans have the inherent quality to become successful entrepreneurs, they often lack mastery of modern marketing techniques to escalate sales in the new-age digital world. This is where America Forward Agency is helping not only veteran-owned but many other businesses monetize their presence on digital media.
America Forward Agency is a veteran-owned digital marketing agency focused on business marketing partnerships. Founded by John F. Cook, aka “Jeff”, a U.S. Air Force veteran, the agency traces its origin to the early 1980’s, when the internet was in its infancy. After serving in the U.S. Air Force, Jeff was enthusiastic about the myriad of various dynamic career options and founded J.F. Cook & Associates as a general marketing agency. He later re-branded this start-up as Growth Management Company to help dental laboratories scale up their business. At Growth Management Company, Jeff has educated many Dental laboratory owners from around the U.S. and Canada about marketing, sales, and organizational development, which has yielded tremendous results.
Following the success of Growth Management Company, in 2006 Jeff saw a real estate disaster blooming and founded National Foreclosure Prevention in Las Vegas, Nevada to provide loss mitigation services to homeowners facing the surge of foreclosures by lending institutions. After successfully negotiating over 602 mortgages losing only one case (which was later overturned in court), National Foreclosure Prevention was converted to a non-profit to continue the important work. America Forward, was incorporated into an LLC to cater again to diversified businesses across all industries. As the company continued scaling, Jeff made some operational adjustments to enable him to manage the business remotely and spend more time with his family in South Carolina.
Besides founding and scaling Growth Management Company, Jeff has many accomplishments in his entrepreneurial journey. He has acquired several failed businesses like retail stores, R.V. dealerships, restaurants and turned them around within months, and sold them at a considerable profit.
Armed with a bachelor’s Degree in Engineering Sciences and a Master’s degree in Marketing and Sales, and as a Le Cordon Bleu Paris trained chef, Jeff has launched successful businesses across varied industries. He has cooked for celebrities such as Sammy Davis Jr, Rock & Roller Chuck Berry, The Coasters and the Drifters, Frank Sinatra, and politicians including President Ronald Regan, President Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Michael Bloomberg and all the Democratic debate candidates in 2020. As a chef he has traveled to seventeen different countries and many of the U.S. states. He built and owned a small chain of restaurants, a catering company, construction company, and he also worked pro bono for struggling business owners over the past few years. Because of his thirst of knowledge and vast interest, the list of certifications Jeff has been trained in is the dozens. With the change in digital media dynamics and seeing more businesses leveraging it to grow, Jeff decided to return to his field of expertise and help businesses scale through marketing partnerships.
During his entrepreneurial journey, Jeff has learned the digital vocabulary and mastered the intricacies of the social media world to develop proven strategies that can help businesses build strong identities on the internet. America Forward Agency is one of the leading digital marketing agencies in South Carolina. Unlike other marketing firms, America Forward Agency, focuses on helping veterans scale up their businesses through modern digital marketing tools and strategies. In addition, the company offers a host of top-notch services to help partners grow by leveraging the power of social media.
From brand designing and social media management to SEO, web development, paid media, creative writing, and lead generation strategies, the range of services at America Forward Agency cover all aspects of digital marketing for businesses of any size. Under the leadership of a seasoned marketer with decades of experience, America Forward Agency has developed a proven track record of helping companies scale from start-ups to corporate giants. As a full-service marketing partner, America Forward works as a team with the client partners.
Jeff prioritizes clients’ growth over profit, as he believes that a client’s success is a win for the agency. With this principle, Jeff is looking forward to reaching more veteran-owned businesses in the coming years, partnering with them to help make their journey more profitable.
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