Creative Agency Success Show

 “I love having the opportunity to help an agency owner see how much easier their lives can be, how much bigger their bank accounts can be, if they put a little time and attention into being proactive about putting measures in place, such as making sure their teams are well trained about the legal issues that matter to them and the work that they put out every day.” -Sharon Toerek  The finer detai...

“If I’ve learned anything in my agency journey, it’s to figure out your numbers. It took us probably two years to dial in the formulas and figure out what we wanted to see when we looked at theoretical revenue generated. And now we know what works for the business, and we check our metrics once a month.” – JD Graffam   The finer details of this episode: Benefits and risks of agency life Importance...

Episode Notes: “Any business, whether it's startup, tech, any business across the board, should really have a strategy of diversification of the funds that they don't particularly need on a 90-day basis to a six-month basis. If they've got that cash flow, let's start to diversify the rest of those funds.” –Paul Rhea The finer details of this episode: Risk vs. Reward: Diversifyi...

“I talk to a lot of business owners who have created something fabulous, and sometimes it becomes stale to them because they don't understand what their place is now that they've scaled their company. I hope this book will help them reconnect with their ‘why’ and reconnect with who they are so that they can play a new, fresh role in their company. Or maybe go ahead and follow that next d...

“If an organization views human resources as the “HR police” that only values and enforces compliance, it's a disservice not only to HR as a discipline, but to each employee's experience of what work ought to be like.” – John Baldino The finer details of this episode: Career mapping vs. one career map Human resources as a service, not a department Boomerang employees and adding skillsets...

“I think right now the biggest problem is people, whether it's hiring or internal leadership challenges—people understanding how to lead generational shifts, work-from-home shifts, or cultural shifts. So, people in general is a constant; turnover is huge right now. The job market in the agency space is very cutthroat. People are getting stolen from agencies at premiums.” Steve Guberman The fi...

“Don't stop challenging yourself. It's really easy to get comfortable, especially if your business is doing well. We always need to be pushing and stretching ourselves and thinking about our mindset. Look for what's changing and stay open to that; be receptive to changing what we do and how we do it.” – Chuck Mollor  The finer details of this episode: Understanding how leadership ro...

“GTD® doesn't deliver a solution; it delivers hope. How much people want to take advantage of that is up to them. GTD® and implementing these best practices—capture, clarify, organized, reflect, and engage—of how you get stuff under control in your life and work, they don't give you more time. They give you more room. What you do with that room is unique to you.” – David Allen     The fi...

I learned that most small business owners never hired before doing it within their own business, or they were coming from corporate jobs where they had HR departments, senior leaderships, and job postings that were already created. They were pretty much being given everything that they needed, and now that they needed to create it on their own, they were lost.”  – Jamie Van Cuyk The finer details...

“Think of us like bookkeepers for your non-financial data. We've essentially built QuickBooks for time tracking and project management data. It's an environment where we can more efficiently do this type of analysis and quality assurance.” – Marcel Petitpas  The finer details of this episode: The importance of time tracking and data analysis  What is the right amount of data to track and...

“We got some really great results in terms of a lot of the things that we were kind of hypothesizing and wanted to see. Employee stress level went down and feelings of burnout went down by a magnitude of almost 20%. Personal satisfaction went up 25%.” – Morgan Witham The finer details of this episode: How to pilot a four-day work week schedule What factors play a part in moving to a four-day work...

Episode Notes: “Everyone has Caveman Brain, and once you know how to harness it and focus it, you can be super successful.” – Dr. Jean Oursler  The finer details of this episode: Understand what Caveman Brain is and how to put it to use for business success  Know who your target audience is and be able to easily identify them Close a new client with less follow-up   Resources: Summit CPA website –...

“People don't want to make changes. And a lot of times, we've normalized using software that doesn't understand us and doesn't understand what we want out of it. We expect to have to adapt ourselves to software. At Enliven, we believe it shouldn’t be that way.” -Ian Robinson  The finer details of this episode: The importance of creating processes and software that lasts  Gaugin...

“I came across this emotional appeal theory, and this is something that was developed in the sixties; there’s lots of research behind it. And essentially their thesis is, we are all motivated by one of four emotional needs, and that drives all our decisions in life—not just in your personal life, but your career, your hobbies, every single decision you make. This really resonated with me.” Sandy G...

“There are timeless concepts and universal principles that work in businesses across the board. At Pinnacle, we've taken this best-of-the-best approach and created a model with very specific tools and a process.”– Tom Barrett  The finer details of this episode: How can the Pinnacle platform help businesses overcome obstacles and achieve better functionally?  How to leverage the Pinnacle syste...

“Long before COVID, people were feeling frustrated, particularly younger people who were feeling like the market was leaving them behind. Then, along came COVID, which completely shook the entire job market. And it sent people home to sit on their couch and think about themselves and what they're doing. The pandemic shook the market and caused there to be some realization on the part of the e...

In this episode, Jamie Nau, our host and Summit CPA's Director of Accounting, sits down with Adam Hale, Partner at Anders CPAs + Advisors, and Jake Grimm, Summit CPA's Director of Technology, to discuss financial tools for remote and distributed companies. If you are a business owner of a fully distributed company, this episode is for you! Jamie, Adam, and Jake discuss must-have tools to...

"I'm just authentic me. When I meet people, I don't talk about me and what I can do for you and what I do for a living. Ask questions about other people, like: Why are you here? What made you wanna do this business? What can you offer? Who can I connect you to? It's adding value to other people. And one thing I've figured out is people notice people who notice them. Simple...

"When you showcase your best, you attract the best." - Donna Serdula. The finer details of this episode : Why is LinkedIn an essential tool to grow your network? Practical tips build your brand on LinkedIn. Understanding your purpose on LinkedIn and using your purpose to achieve success.   Episode resources Summit CPA website - www.summitcpa.net Email us with questions - cpa @summitcpa.n...

"Honestly, the way we've structured our kickoff call week. 80% of the kickoff call, just letting the CFO and the client kind of start to have those conversations, which is huge. We listen and we hear the things that are most important to them." - Lydia Rapp   The finer details of this episode : What are we doing now that we haven't done before? Why you should have a client onbo...

"I think a lot of it has to be started through exploration because if we don't start with a mindset around exploration and learning...If we're just changing for the sake of changing, then we really, we're not coming from an informed perspective." - Douglas Ferguson The finer details of this episode : The mindset and behavior that is essential to change management in an org...

"I never thought I'd be in sales for this long and you know - 16 years later here I still am in a sales role, but I've made it my own because I've made it myself. I've made it genuine. I have made it about relationships, about people, about trust, and about the thing, I'm passionate and believe in." - Danielle Hendricks The finer details of this episode : The bus...

"It's amazing to watch their creative process in the agency space, they generally are very skilled at what they do (but) it's the financial piece that mystifies them, somewhat. And, even if they understand it, many of them have a very solid understanding, they don't have the tools that we have, and they don't have the backgrounds that we have. Were some things may be a lit...

"Give yourself little wins and celebrate them, but ultimately, make sure you know where you're going to, not just what you're running from. " - Carl Smith   The finer details of this episode : What are the latest trends in the digital agency space? How has the industry changed since the start of the pandemic until now? With all the shifts happening in the industry, what should...

"From my perspective, when I look at what businesses need today, I think it's absolutely positioned for massive growth." - Dave Hartley   The finer details of this episode : What does the future look like for Summit after the merger with Anders? What does the firm of the future look like? What value will the merger bring to our clients?   Episode resources Summit CPA website - www.s...