Human Powered: High-performing agency & consultancy teams

How do you scale a consultancy without becoming the bottleneck yourself? Ben Tye is CEO of Gate One, the growth transformation consultancy within Havas. Alongside leading a 300-person business across three continents, he also works as a psychotherapist - giving him a unique perspective on leadership, organisational change and human behaviour. In this episode, Ben shares how he: Explains why giving...

How do you transform an established agency without losing the people who made it successful in the first place? Chris Jones is CEO of Space & Time, the growth marketing agency he acquired through a management buyout in 2018. Since then, he’s led the business through a major repositioning to focus on commercial growth, innovation and long-term client impact. In this episode, Chris shares how he...

How do you step into your first CEO role, make difficult restructuring decisions whilst merging two businesses and still build trust quickly? Rebecca Crook is CEO of MSQ DX, the digital impact company. She leads a 150-person business across the UK and Spain as part of the wider 550-person global MSQ DX group. In this episode, Rebecca shares how she: Learned that first-time CEOs should throw away t...

How do you transform a 1600-person global agency without leaving your people behind? Annabelle Walters is Global Chief People Officer at Jellyfish, leading the people and talent strategy across 30 offices in 22 countries. She’s helping reshape performance, culture and leadership while preparing the business for an AI-driven future. In this episode, Annabelle shares how she: Defines high performanc...

How do you build a culture that people believe in - and behave differently because of? Alex Willcocks is Founder and Managing Director of Engage, a 60-person digital agency. He’s grown the business over the past 18 years with a relentless focus on people, culture and performance. More recently, he transitioned the business to employee ownership. In this episode, Alex shares how he: Created three v...

How do you keep culture sharp, standards high and people engaged as an agency grows? Jessica Hargreaves Paczek is CEO of Pretty Green, the creative comms agency behind global fame-making campaigns. She leads a 70-person team and has helped build an agency that’s been named a Best Place to Work for four years in a row. In this episode, Jess shares how she: Uses EOS to give everyone clear accountabi...

How do you grow 37% in a tough market without letting culture, trust or performance slip? Chris Pearce is Managing Director of Greenpark, the global digital content agency. He’s been running the business for the past 18 months, leading a team of 250 people across six countries during a period of rapid growth. In this episode, Chris shares how he: Defines high performance using the trust equation -...

How do you take over from agency founders and scale the business without losing trust, culture or momentum? James Leavesley is CEO of Torchbox, the digital agency for innovative nonprofits. He leads a 110-person team, having taken over as the agency transitioned to employee ownership. In this episode, James shares how he: Scaled Torchbox from 50 to 110 people by changing how decisions are made, ow...

How do you build an agency group that’s more than the sum of its parts? Tina Judic is Co-Founder and Chairman of the independent agency network Tomorrow Group. She founded the search agency, Found, 17 years ago and has since built this into a group of five agencies. In this episode, Tina shares how she: Stepped aside from running her own agency to lead at group level, overseeing and empowering MDs...

How do you align an entire business around a set of outcomes? Zoë Blogg is Managing Director of the search marketing and digital PR agency Reboot. She took over the business from its founders just six months ago. In this episode, Zoë shares how she: Shifted from Operations Director, focused on fixing everything, to leading the entire business Runs two weekly sprint cycles with the Senior Leadershi...

How do you get the absolute best out of everyone in your team? Jon Goulding is Founder & CEO of the creative agency Atomic. He runs a group of four agencies united by one mission: to unleash the superpower in brands. In this episode, Jon shares how he: Grounds the agency’s work in four principles - being unmistakable, unmissable, unforgettable, and unlimited - to unleash the superpower in bran...

How do you build a thriving team and happy clients using DISC personality profiling? Victoria Usher is CEO and Founder of the multi-award-winning B2B tech PR consultancy Gingermay. She’s been running the global consultancy for 16 years. In this episode, Victoria shares how she: Has a senior team member meet 1-to-1 with each client every month, contributing to impressive long-term client retention...

How do you transition from a full-time YouTuber to running a 100-person agency? Mike Craddock is Co-Founder & CEO of the social creative agency NewGen. He’s been running the business for 10 years and leads a team of 100 people across the UK, New York, and Paris. In this episode, Mike shares how he: Instils the mantra “Slow down to speed up”, after growing the agency too quickly at the expense...

How do you reinvent the traditional agency model? Samppa Vilkuna is Founder & CEO of the creative company, Superson. He leads a small in-house team alongside more than 400 specialists worldwide. In this episode, Samppa shares how he: Set up the business to be the Airbnb of the agency world - the world’s best creative agency without a single creative person Resources from a massive pool of free...

How do you help 300 people understand their impact on the business? Victoria Sugg is CEO of the creative comms agency, Emperor. She’s been leading a team of over 300 people across the UK and UAE for the past 3 years. In this episode, Victoria shares how she: Regularly explains what’s happening with the business and its strategy, then translates this into what it means for everyone day-to-day Sits...

How do you embed the idea of being extraordinary into every aspect of your business Jon Lonsdale is CEO of the B2B marketing agency Publicis Pro, which he’s led for almost 25 years. Originally Octopus Group, they were acquired by Publicis in 2021. In this episode, Jon shares how he: Reviewed everyone’s job specs to define what an extraordinary version of each role looks like Moved from using value...

How do you drive people through the intensity of agency life while still offering strong support? Rebecca Hull is Managing Director at manifesto, part of the publicly listed TPXimpact, where she’s led a team of 100 people for 4 years. In this episode, Rebecca shares how she: Organises the business around conscious leadership and helping people operate 'above the line' Uses their manifesto to guide...

How do you rapidly scale a profitable agency in just two years? Vicky Hope is Co-Founder & CEO at LOOP Agencies. In only two years, they’ve grown to 15 people and are on track to double in size over the next year. In this episode, Vicky shares how she: Used half their original funding to pre-book a Christmas party for a team that didn’t yet exist - giving them something to aim for Resigned a d...

How do you scale an agency in an industry you’ve never worked in? Anant Sharma is CEO & Founder at Matter of Form, a design consultancy that works primarily with luxury brands. Over the past 15 years, he’s grown the business to a $10m turnover. In this episode, Anant shares how he: Evolved from being a busy fool with a growth-at-all-costs mentality to fostering a safe, calm culture for his tea...

How do you launch and scale a business with an average employee age of 24? Alex Bodini is Co-Founder & Group CEO at Spin, a creative-first social agency. Over 9 years, he's grown the business to 75 people. In this episode, Alex shares how he: Uses the High Challenge, High Support framework to drive supportive performance growth Takes on the role of 'Chief Repeating Officer' when introducing ne...

How can you make a genuine and positive difference to the entire sector you operate within? Sam Gregory is co-CEO of the PR agency Tangerine, leading a team of 110 people. She took over the business in 2011 and has overseen significant growth since then. In this episode, Sam shares how she: Puts entrepreneurial spirit and courageous thinking at the heart of everything they do Embeds a culture of b...

How do you bring together two well-established businesses to create a new entity? Phil Fearnley is CEO of the creative company, House 337. He led the creation of the business in 2022 by merging 200+ people from two separate businesses, ODD and Engine.  In this episode, Phil shares how he: Brought together two businesses by leveraging their joint histories to forge a shared future Set up seven inte...

How do you create a strong culture and community with a global remote team? Ranzie Anthony is co-founder and CEO of Athlon, a global design & technology company. He’s been running the business for 14 years, with a team of 100 people across 4 continents. In this episode, Ranzie shares how he: Overcame cultural, language, time zone, and process differences to build a high-performing global team...

How do you motivate diverse leadership teams across an agency group? Andrew Southcott is the CEO of Captivate Group, overseeing 4 independent agencies and a team of 120 people. In this episode, Andrew shares how he: Adapts his leadership style to get the best out of everyone and get out of their way so they can excel  Pushes a DEI agenda because of the noticeable improvements to their work  Takes...

How do you continually embed AI to create a high-performing business? Fergus Dyer-Smith is founder and CEO of Wooshi, an AI-enabled content business. He got early access to the original GPT from OpenAI back in late-2020. In this episode, Fergus shares how he: Realised the potential of AI early on and created automated solutions for most business processes Built an AI-powered creative ideation prod...