If your idea of a gamer is a guy that lives in his mother’s basement, binge eating Cheetos, and skips showers, you’re about to be in for a heck of a shock.

On the outskirts of Norway, we find an idyllic farm consisting of multiple buildings. You can tell the people who lives there takes care of their property with a passion. But the household isn’t only about a passion for property.

Inside, we find a family of four. Mother, father, daughter and son.
Truls Aandal, the son and gamer of the household is most likely in the middle of playing a video game, while the parents are yelling for him to take out the trash.

Making It In Gaming

Not every parent understands the complexity and sees the possibilities of making it in the gaming industry, and neither did Truls Aandal – until he really made it.

Years go by, and Truls plays casually. It wasn’t until 2018 that Truls realized he had gotten good enough at video games that he could make some money off it. At the time, gaming and esports was still kind of unknown, but on the rise in today’s society.

– If someone asks you what you do for a living, and you respond by saying you play video games, they don’t get it. They either counter with a “but do you work?”, or “but that’s not a job”. I understand that video games are pretty unknown territory for the older generations, Truls Aandal states.

In 2019, Truls was recruited by esports and entertainment organization eRa Eternity to represent the team in official gameplay. He had gotten to the point where it was possible to do gaming for a living.

– Competing on behalf of a team gives you the feeling of belonging to a community. You have people cheering and rooting for you and your team. It’s just like a sport. Some stick with Arsenal, some with Real Madrid. Our supporters stuck with eRa Eternity.

Birth Of An Entrepreneur

Time goes by. Truls was balancing gaming and studies. He was almost done with his degree in Information Technology when he also started developing an interest in social media and marketing. He got more and more involved with the marketing efforts at eRa Eternity until he eventually launched his own company. Alongside the CMO of Orbit Esports, Jordan Daley, Your Marketing Partner came to life.

Your Marketing Partner wasn’t going to be like every other social media company. It was going to be one with purpose; one that served clients whose voices needed to be heard.

The Business Model

Truls’ business model was outlined as a moneymaker, but the concept looked more like a charitable organization. Truls Aandal had decided that YMP would be focusing on serving clients free of charge. YMP would focus on serving clients within the Non-Profit and Government industry.
But how could a marketing company stay profitable if their services are free?

The Merge

A short time after YMP’s inception, entertainment organization VivaceHub merged with YMP, bringing in over 50 standalone clients in entertainment, fashion, and business. VivaceHub’s operations would move under YMP’s umbrella, and be the companies moneymaker, while the new name would grow bigger in a more serious industry.

6 Months Later – Mid-COVID

Outside looking in, business seems to be booming for the duo. Truls states that he is now balancing work and gaming, from the comfort of his home, but states that he aspires to move to the United States to meet a bigger demand for his business.

– I was due to leave Norway for the United States on July 1st, and then COVID came, and here I am. On the bright side, business is going great. COVID hasn’t had that much of an impact on our operations, but we have been working hard to ensure that we’re covered if that should change Truls states.

Read also: Conversation With Football Agent Samuele Mura on How Covid-19 Has Changed the Industry