On the series finale of THRIVE, Fereshta Ramsey talks with Kelly about their forthcoming book, HEAL to LEAD , and how our emotional history impacts the way we show up as leaders. Fereshta Ramsey and I cover these points and more: Reflecting on the end of the podcast and creating space for future opportunities; The need for willingness and courage in trauma healing; Empowering clients to understand that the key to healing and growth is within; The epidemic of "not enoughness" in society; and The ...
Dec 27, 2023•49 min•Ep. 164
On this episode of THRIVE — sponsored by E2M Solutions — Kelly and Kyle Prinsloo of FreelanceFam discuss the challenges of growing a business as a freelancer and how a community can make all the difference. Kyle Prinsloo and I cover these points and more: Our initial journeys into freelancing and how it worked for us; The importance of connecting with like-minded peers who have similar goals; Misconceptions about the ideal business structure for freelancers and agencies; What makes a business su...
Dec 13, 2023•25 min•Ep. 163
On this episode of THRIVE — sponsored by E2M Solutions — Kelly and Alyson Caffrey discuss the critical nature of rest and time off for strategic agency growth. Alyson Caffrey and I cover these points and more: Recognizing the signs of burnout in agency owners; Implementing breaks to set boundaries and prioritize self-care; The importance of intentionally building systems and processes; How to get started with a plan for rest as a business owner; and The benefits of taking time off to recharge. B...
Nov 29, 2023•25 min•Ep. 162
On this episode of THRIVE — sponsored by E2M Solutions — Kelly and Claire Hutchings discuss an innovative way to market your agency in 2024. Claire Hutchings and I cover these points and more: What agencies get wrong when they think about their own marketing; How to avoid the spikes and drops in content by having a strategic plan; Creating a “hero moment” to help fuel your marketing and generate leads; and The first action to take to think about your marketing differently. Be sure to tune in to ...
Nov 15, 2023•20 min•Ep. 161
On this episode of THRIVE — sponsored by E2M Solutions — Kelly and Ben Guttmann discuss how we may be making our messaging unnecessarily complicated for our audience and how to address that. Ben Guttmann and I cover these points and more: How we experience fluency in messaging as consumers; The difference between complicated and complex; Five design principles to achieve the goal of fluent messaging; and Focusing on benefits, not features, to resonate with an audience. Be sure to tune in to all ...
Nov 01, 2023•20 min•Ep. 160
On this episode of THRIVE — sponsored by E2M Solutions — Kelly and Josh Irons discuss the power of story to differentiate your agency from its competitors. Josh Irons and I cover these points and more: How to extract differentiating factors for clients; The importance of focusing on your strengths as an agency leader; How outsourcing and partnerships support agency growth; and Building a symbiotic relationship with a white-label partner. Be sure to tune in to all the episodes of THRIVE to get pr...
Oct 18, 2023•17 min•Ep. 159
On this episode of THRIVE — sponsored by E2M Solutions — Kelly and Nate Freedman discuss collaborating with your so-called competition to increase referrals, business growth, and relationships. Nate Freedman and I cover these points and more: Why we should lean into collaborating with competitors; The power of connecting with competitors to refer business; How a competitor connection may actually lead to an acquisition; and The impact white label partnerships can have on business growth. Be sure...
Oct 04, 2023•26 min•Ep. 158
On this episode of THRIVE — sponsored by E2M Solutions — Kelly and Adrian Koehler discuss the roles that self-leadership and healing play in helping agency owners become better leaders. Adrian Koehler and I cover these points and more: Why taking responsibility is important in self-leadership; How ego plays into our survival, and how we can overcome but not escape it; The role of childhood trauma in a leader's ability to regulate emotions; Ways in which leadership is a healing journey for us and...
Sep 20, 2023•25 min•Ep. 157
On this episode of THRIVE — sponsored by E2M Solutions — Kelly and Nikki Rausch discuss how the art of selling is fundamentally about developing mutually beneficial relationships. Nikki Rausch and I cover these points and more: How sales is a collaborative conversation with another person; What NLP is and how it’s used in business development; A step-by-step framework for creating ease in a sales conversation; How to be flexible in the business development process; and Five steps in business dev...
Sep 06, 2023•24 min•Ep. 156
On this episode of THRIVE — sponsored by E2M Solutions — Kelly and Dante Pannell discuss what it means to prioritize a healthy, disciplined mindset so you can show up as an authentic leader. Dante Pannell and I cover these points and more: How discipline can be a gateway to freedom; Understanding the through-line between your values and how you operate; The importance of trusting yourself to truly show up as you; How monotasking vs. multitasking can help create discipline; and How to create a ge...
Aug 23, 2023•26 min•Ep. 155
On this episode of THRIVE — sponsored by E2M Solutions — Kelly and Kat Kennan unpack the importance of trauma-informed marketing and discuss practical ways to start thinking differently about your clients’ creative campaigns. Kat Kennan and I cover these points and more: What is trauma-informed marketing, and why is it important?; Clear examples of brands that market through a trauma-informed lens; Cementing brand loyalty by making your customers feel seen; Trauma-informed marketing as a company...
Aug 09, 2023•20 min•Ep. 154
On this episode of THRIVE — sponsored by E2M Solutions — Kelly and Kristy Yoder discuss how leaders can delegate tasks effectively by empowering new or existing team members and setting them up for success. Kristy Yoder and I cover these points and more: Why agency leaders talk themselves out of delegation; How to start delegating if you’re unfamiliar or if it feels easier to do things yourself; Deciding on your non-negotiables when you are looking to hire someone; Effectively communicating feed...
Jul 26, 2023•30 min•Ep. 153
On this episode of THRIVE — sponsored by E2M Solutions — Kelly and Jeffrey Shaw discuss how personal development strategies help us to increase our capacity to grow our creative agencies. Jeffrey Shaw and I cover these points and more: How personal development work increases our capacity; The difference between following your passions versus doing what you’re great at; What “the deserving ceiling” is and how it impacts our work; The cross-section of entrepreneurship and personal development; How...
Jul 12, 2023•26 min•Ep. 152
On this episode of THRIVE — sponsored by E2M Solutions — Kelly and Jarrett Thomas discuss the level of intention and authenticity needed to create reciprocal business relationships. Jarrett Thomas and I cover these points and more: Why outdated sales tactics and methods no longer work; Creating connections with people to generate more revenue; The biggest challenges in sales today; The importance of authenticity in content marketing; Why relationships are the key to an effective ‘sales process’;...
Jun 28, 2023•26 min•Ep. 151
On this episode of THRIVE — sponsored by E2M Solutions — Kelly and Marquis discuss how agencies can build culture through efficiency instead of feeling like they are at odds with one another. Marquis Murray and I cover these points and more: What we miss out on by thinking of culture and efficiency as competing options; How to notice moving back toward old patterns and how to adjust; The power of saying ‘no’ to protect your mental health and leading by example; and What you can start implementin...
Jun 14, 2023•23 min•Ep. 150
On this episode of THRIVE — sponsored by E2M Solutions — Kelly and Martin Palethorpe discuss how agency leaders can go deeper on their journey toward more conscious leadership. Martin Palethorpe and I cover these points and more: What “conscious leadership” means, and how it influences many aspects of our lives; How agency leaders can practice conscious leadership with their clients; The role that fear plays in our journey as awakening leaders; How 70% of our work is about unraveling the grip of...
May 31, 2023•28 min•Ep. 149
On this episode of THRIVE — sponsored by E2M Solutions — Kelly and Lola Bakare discuss what is actually at the core of responsible marketing for agency leaders today. Lola Bakare and I cover these points and more: Creating a positive ripple effect with responsible marketing that lives on past the event; Realizing the opportunity we have as marketers to make the world better; Understanding what it looks like to include the underserved or ignored with our marketing; What happens when brands choose...
May 17, 2023•26 min•Ep. 148
On this episode of THRIVE — sponsored by E2M Solutions — Kelly and Brad Williams of North Node Consulting explore how astrology can play a role in helping leaders ground into their innate gifts and better harness the wisdom of their teams. Brad Williams and I cover these points and more: How astrology makes sense of the order and chaos in our lives; Using your team member’s age or birth chart to better understand them; Ways that leaders can use their own chart to be organically of service to our...
May 03, 2023•19 min•Ep. 147
On this episode of THRIVE — sponsored by E2M Solutions — Kelly and Lisa Bragg discuss how being even more authentic leads to magnetizing the right connections and attracting ideal clients. Lisa and I cover these points and more: Realizing that there are multiple ways to grow an agency authentically; The importance of self-advocacy when talking to your prospective clients; Why agency leaders should be focused on earning trust instead of building trust; How to open the line for authentic communica...
Apr 19, 2023•20 min•Ep. 146
On this episode of THRIVE — sponsored by E2M Solutions — Kelly and Chris Bantock discuss extracting agency owners from their firms to create more space for leader independence. Chris Bantock and I cover these points and more: Why people fall into the trap of being in the day-to-day of running an agency; How to transition from founder to agency owner to visionary leader; Strategically extracting yourself from the business based on your long-term goals; The importance in creating a self-sustaining...
Apr 05, 2023•27 min•Ep. 145
On this episode of THRIVE — sponsored by E2M Solutions — Kelly and Gretchen Pisano of pLink, discuss the complex journey of leadership and how agency leaders can accelerate positive change among their teams. Gretchen Pisano and I cover these points and more: Why leaders, as high achievers, tend to get in their own way; How to create positive change after recognizing how our trauma shows up as leaders; The importance of understanding post-traumatic growth as part of the journey; Recent research o...
Mar 22, 2023•26 min•Ep. 144
On this episode of THRIVE — sponsored by E2M Solutions — Kelly and Corey Quinn discuss how saying no to non-ideal prospects is a business development strategy that allows you to scale your agency responsibly. Corey Quinn and I cover these points and more: How agencies can better serve their clients when they specialize; What to do when current clients ask for things outside of your agency’s expertise; How variability reduction in your offerings allows you to scale more efficiently; and Why sayin...
Mar 08, 2023•21 min•Ep. 143
On this episode of THRIVE — sponsored by E2M Solutions — Kelly and Nicole Lewis-Keeber discuss how past big “T” and small “t” trauma impacts how we lead our agencies. Free Masterclass - How Hidden Trauma Can Affect Your Business, Profits and Your Peace of Mind. Nicole Lewis-Keeber and I cover these points and more: Why leaders’ reactionary behavior is rooted in trauma; How childhood trauma can act as a runway for more trauma in our lives; The correlation between trauma and our attraction to entr...
Feb 22, 2023•21 min•Ep. 142
On this episode of THRIVE — sponsored by E2M Solutions — Kelly and Melissa Morris discuss the operational issues that can lead to overwhelm for agency owners and how they can be addressed. Melissa Morris and I cover these points and more: How burnout in business can impact your clients, team, and the growth of your agency; The bottleneck that happens when the agency owner is the sole point for answers; Siloing internal and external communication to better support teams and clients; How creating ...
Feb 08, 2023•24 min•Ep. 141
On this episode of THRIVE — sponsored by E2M Solutions — Kelly and Rhoan Morgan discuss fear around economic downturn, the nuances of business development, and why transparency in agency revenue makes a big difference. Rhoan Morgan and I cover these points and more: How to show up in a sales conversation with integrity; The importance in being comfortable with external influences that are out of your control; The ways that revenue goal transparency can empower your team; Tackling fear around eco...
Jan 25, 2023•22 min•Ep. 140
On this episode of THRIVE — sponsored by E2M Solutions — Kelly and Khushbu Doshi discuss how creative, media and tech agencies can improve client retention with an aligned account services team. Khushbu Doshi and I cover these points and more: The importance of account managers and project managers working side by side; How empathy can actually improve your client services. Why creating synergies between sales and the account team is crucial; Understanding the point of contact when working with ...
Jan 11, 2023•21 min•Ep. 139
On this episode of THRIVE — sponsored by accessiBe — Kelly and Khalil Stultz discuss the process of selling or acquiring an agency, and how to communicate to your team. Khalil Stultz and I cover these points and more: Focusing on growth through strategic partnerships to catapult business growth; The things acquirers look for when vetting an agency to buy; What to consider if selling your agency is part of your exit strategy; Potential options for effectively communicating a transition with your ...
Dec 28, 2022•20 min•Ep. 138
On this episode of THRIVE — sponsored by accessiBe — Kelly and Caleb Clark of Hook and Ladder dive into the pragmatism of a people-first approach to agency leadership. Caleb Clark and I cover these points and more: The power of creating collaboration within your team and the teams you work with; How core values can have an impact on the team, when turned into applicable phrases; What a people-first approach looks like at the start of the hiring process; The ways that people-first works different...
Dec 14, 2022•25 min•Ep. 137
On this episode of THRIVE — sponsored by accessiBe — Kelly and Jason Debiak of Paper Tiger discuss the journey of becoming the Chief Creative Officer at your agency, as well as the self-awareness you can develop and impact you can make as a leader. Jason Debiak and I cover these points and more: His career evolution as co-founder and lead designer to now Chief Creative Officer (CCO); Challenges surrounding delegation and elevating the work of your team; Taking an intentional sabbatical to help w...
Nov 30, 2022•27 min•Ep. 136
On this episode of THRIVE — sponsored by accessiBe — Kelly and Marko Pavicic of Unity Method discuss how agency growth can be linked directly to neuroscience. Marko Pavicic and I cover these points and more: Why many agency owners believe that the market isn’t big enough for them; Translating energetic magnetism into business growth; What happens on an unconscious level when we meet someone who’s in alignment; Feeling empowered around how our interactions impact our physical and mental health. B...
Nov 16, 2022•25 min•Ep. 135
