Confessions Of An Agency Owner

On this episode I welcome David Wynne, CEO of Red Badger to find out what it's like to build a 100 strong person agency. In 2010, along with his 2 co-founders, David quit his job with a large consulting firm to start their own agency and a dream to work with the biggest brands, on the most complicated projects. Using their savings they were close to giving up when they managed to win their first contract with BMW and that was the start of a journey which has seen them grow to a team of over 100 people and build digital products for brands like Nandos, HSBC, Financial Times, Sky Sports and the BBC. As someone who has been there and done it, going from a start up idea to 100+ strong agency this is the dream for most agency owners. So I was keen to uncover the struggles, the successes and the biggest lessons he’d learnt along the way. Have a listen!

On this episode of Confessions of an Agency Owner, we dive into the captivating debate of whether copywriters should fear the rise of AI or embrace its transformative power. My guests, Charli Hunt and Chris Wright from Proof Content, shed light on their firsthand experience with integrating AI, specifically ChatGPT, into their copywriting process.Discover how Charli and Chris have harnessed the capabilities of AI and ingenious in-house scripts and tools to assist clients in defining their key messaging and positioning within their market. In the past Proof Content relied on a vast network of over 150 freelance copywriters—now, they seamlessly blend AI and content editors to produce remarkable content that truly stands out from the crowd.We discuss how AI will shape the content we consume online and if Google will evaluate AI-generated content versus that produced by human counterparts in terms of search rankings. It’s an eye-opening discussion that uncovers the untapped potential of AI in revolutionising the copywriting industry and discover how the integration of AI into the creative content process can pave the way for an exciting future of creativity and innovation. Disclaimer: This description was written by AI and edited by a human. 

On this episode of Confessions of an Agency Owner I welcome James Leavesley, CEO of Torchbox. When James joined Torchbox it was owned by two founders Olly and Tom. Their exit strategy was a little different to the norm. They didn't plan to sell to a third party but to hand the keys over to their team through an Employee Owned Trust. James found himself in a position as CEO where his job was to not only to manage the business but also lead it through a pretty major transition and help the team understand what this meant for them.I was keen to find out more about how an Employee Owned Trust works and what it was like to go through that process. Have a listen!

Building a purpose driven business: This episode is all about Building a purpose driven business. And in my opinion Alex Holliman, founder of Climbing Trees, takes this to a seriously impressive level. Whilst the world was in lockdown in 2020 it gave Alex time to reflect on his purpose. Not only was there a global pandemic but climate change was causing wild fires across the world. It felt like a pivotal moment in world history. Alex set out to make a change and set his agency the objective to become B-Corp certified. This involved looking at lots of elements of his business, from diversity and inclusion to sustainability and social responsibility. It’s such an inspiring story and these days Alex finds himself turning away a lot of business based if they don’t align with their own mission to make the world a better place. 

Is the solution to a shortage of UK digital talent to build distributed remote teams from around the world? After setting up their agency in 2009 one the biggest challenges founders David & Bachir faced was the struggle to find talent in the UK. So they they changed their business model to remote first and built distributed teams across Europe. After exiting their agency in 2022, David and Bachir used that experience to set up the recruitment firm Prodigi where they promise to bring the world’s best talent in development, design and marketing. In this episode I chat with David & Bachir to find out how hiring overseas remote staff might work for UK agencies. Have a listen! 

On this episode of the Confessions of an Agency Owner podcast Ben Potter a business development advisor and mentor joins Chris to talk sales and building a pipeline to win new clients. One of the biggest challenges for any agency is winning new business. And in this episode we try to cover the whole process from finding prospects to closing the deal. We discuss how to position your agency, how to kick start a pipeline, identifying the wrong opportunities, how to pitch and most importantly how to win the client. I got so much value from this conversation, Ben is a seasoned pro in new biz and if you are looking to grow your agency and learn how to win new clients then grab a pen and paper and take notes! Have a listen.

My guest on this episode of the Confessions of an Agency Owner podcast is Ryan O’Keeffe, co-founder of personal branding agency Jago. Personal branding has become its own industry over the last couple of years and on LinkedIn in particular, our feeds have been taken over by a new wave of experts promising a secret formula to make us famous in business. But what makes an expert? And what makes a personal brand? After building a career in a highly successful sales role at Yell, Ryan went on to start a full-service agency before a life-changing event in his family made him look for a purpose in his career. And it’s this purpose that ties in perfectly with his move into personal branding and helping Jago’s clients understand the strengths behind their own personal brands through the use of emotional intelligence. For anyone looking to grow their personal brand he shares some great insight and valuable advice.

On this episode of Confessions of an Agency Owner podcast my guest is Maria Kelly, a leadership coach who prior to setting up her own business worked her way up the ranks at Sotheby’s, the international auction house.Over her 22-year career at Sotheby’s, Maria rose through the company starting as an entry-level administrator to becoming the country manager for Switzerland and then leading global multi-million dollar divisions working in New York and London.Maria now helps people moving into leadership roles, not only CEOs and senior management but also people taking on a management role for the first time.It’s a new world of leadership, with remote working so popular we’ve had to learn how to build relationships, retain culture, collaborate, train and work together in new ways and I was keen to get as many tips as I could from Maria to help anyone already in a leadership position and those moving into a new senior role succeed.Links:Find out more about Maria here: https://askmariakelly.com/Follow Maria Kelly on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/askmariakelly/Find out more about Chris’s company, Honcho Search, here: https://www.honchosearch.com/Follow Chris Ailey on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisailey/Don’t forget to subscribe to our podcast and please leave a review if you enjoyed an episode!