In this episode of Build a Better Agency Drew McLellan talks with Tessa White, also known as the Job Doctor. Tessa has a rich background with 25 years in HR and a fascinating journey that saw her pivot from corporate life to empower individuals in the workforce, all during the turbulent times of late 2020. What started as a simple endeavor on TikTok quickly transformed into a massive platform with millions of followers and a compelling new book, “The Unspoken Truths for Career Success.” We explo...
Feb 03, 2025•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast Agency book writing and publishing can seem like a daunting mountain to climb. But with the right people to help you through the process, it can be one of the best things you can do to uplevel your thought leadership efforts. That’s why this week, I invited Shadley Grei, an agency book publishing expert and newer member of AMI, onto the show to share how agency owners can start thinking about writing their first (or next) book with the help of a ghostwriter. He shares how his agency helps other ...
Jan 27, 2025•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast I wanted to wait until after the holidays to talk about this topic because it’s a bit heavier than what we usually talk about on the show. But it’s something that Danyel and I have noticed weighing heavily on a lot of you since COVID, and that is agency owner grief. It’s true that many of you have experienced quite a lot of loss and change these past few years — with the way we work, how well our business is doing, AI, our overall productivity, and so much more. It’s a lot of change to handle, a...
Jan 20, 2025•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast Many agency owners feel like their clients are putting them in a box of specific skills they’re able to perform for them. And for many of us, that’s not a good feeling. We’re wired to think creatively and break free from that metaphorical box, but it can be hard to communicate that to our clients in a sea of competition. So, it’s time to break out of that box in 2025. That means we need fresh ideas, innovative thought leadership, and non-obvious thinking. And there’s nobody better to talk to us ...
Jan 13, 2025•50 min•Ep 484•Transcript available on Metacast Almost no agency owner got into the agency world for their passion for bookkeeping. And if you did — great! You’re several steps ahead of most of us. But the reality is, most of us are just happy to keep cash in the bank for payroll and probably aren’t looking at the finances as much as we should be. Sandy Catour joined me this week to share why we should rewire this habit. Agency owners should be just as involved with the agency finances as their finance and accounting teams, and they should be...
Jan 06, 2025•57 min•Ep 483•Transcript available on Metacast Agency growth and biz dev can feel like an uphill battle when we’re already so tired, overworked, and burnt out. But it doesn’t have to be hard or add anything extra on our already full to-do lists. In fact, it shouldn’t be difficult at all. Tori Boats joined me this week to help close out the year on a high note and show us that setting our agencies up for exponential growth in 2025 doesn’t have to be tough — and it can even be fun. If you’re feeling that end of the year slump, this episode sho...
Dec 30, 2024•56 min•Ep 482•Transcript available on Metacast Agency ownership can leave us stressed, burnt out, and sometimes, thinking the grass is greener somewhere else. But when you really sit back and think about it, we have it pretty good — we just lose sight of it sometimes. So this week, I’m finishing off the year with another solo episode to really sit down and take stock of what it is about agency ownership that makes it so special compared to other jobs. Because no matter how hard things get or how many bad days we have, our jobs are still pret...
Dec 23, 2024•19 min•Ep 481•Transcript available on Metacast As we round the bend into the new year, I’m reflecting on the lessons learned from my time as an agency owner and the insights I've gained from working with hundreds of agencies. While there are too many to count, I’m going to try to boil down my experiences into a few points that I hope you can take into 2025 as you start to think about what you want the next year to look like for your agency. This episode is packed with actionable advice on things like niche selection, service offerings, opera...
Dec 16, 2024•30 min•Ep 480•Transcript available on Metacast To grow the agency, agency owners need to be working on the business, not working in it. That means we have to accept that it’s time to get out of the day-to-day and embrace agency entrepreneurship as business leaders. Michael E. Gerber, author of The E-Myth and renowned business guru, joined us today to share some profound lessons for agency owners to uplevel their businesses and stop getting stuck just being technicians of the business. Too many of us get stuck in the day-to-day operations, do...
Dec 09, 2024•1 hr 13 min•Ep 479•Transcript available on Metacast Account executives are critical for agency profitability and success. Without them, we wouldn’t have anybody responsible for building deeper trust with clients and growing their accounts. That’s why we’ve brought Lori Highby on the show this week to share everything she knows about the account executive role. Some of you might recognize her from the AE Bootcamps she teaches at, and she’s here to bring that wisdom to the greater AMI community so we can better understand just how important our AEs...
Dec 02, 2024•51 min•Ep 478•Transcript available on Metacast This one is going to be hard for most agency owners to hear, but you need to take a sabbatical — or a vacation or any amount of time off where you completely unplug from the agency. No Slack, no email, no phone calls. Nothing. Most of you just got really uncomfortable reading that statement, but it’s absolutely necessary if you want your agency to grow. In fact, not taking time off could be stifling agency growth more than you realize. Every time you jump into a meeting with a client that your p...
Nov 25, 2024•53 min•Ep 477•Transcript available on Metacast The future of work is becoming more fractional. Instead of full-time, in-house teams doing all the work — how many of us grew up in the agency world — fractional employees like contractors and freelancers can take on more and more complex roles for us. With remote and hybrid work still on the rise, we can leverage fractional employees to bring a more diverse portfolio of skills to the agency without breaking our bottom line. Sara Daw joined me this week to share her knowledge about fractional em...
Nov 18, 2024•50 min•Ep 476•Transcript available on Metacast Many agency owners reported in 2024 that one of the best things about their agencies are their employees. Despite continued biz dev struggles and slow sales cycles, agency owners have had a hard time shrinking their teams because they just love them that much. So, this week, let’s talk about some of the ways we can think about agency employee compensation more holistically to show them our gratitude and continued support. Agencies continue to be really competitive environments, and many of our b...
Nov 11, 2024•40 min•Ep 475•Transcript available on Metacast It’s no secret that new business for agencies was brutal in 2023. And for some in 2024, it’s been equally difficult. So, for 2025, we want to challenge you to get unstuck from those difficult sales cycles and lay the groundwork for some new energy as we come to the end of this year. This week, Susan Baier joined me again to help us look at the agency sales cycle a little differently. Next year, it’s all going to be about using research studies to build your thought leadership portfolio, create c...
Nov 04, 2024•1 hr•Ep 474•Transcript available on Metacast With more agency owners wanting to step out of the agency’s day-to-day operations to focus more on being the company’s visionary leader, there are many areas of the business that can sometimes go overlooked. To remedy this, many agencies are embracing the COO role to help keep things running smoothly. With the fast growth of this role comes many questions, which we will answer in today’s episode. Carolyn Lodge, a COO and agency owner herself, has a unique perspective that will help us see both s...
Oct 28, 2024•54 min•Ep 473•Transcript available on Metacast This is a topic we’ve covered many times before, but it’s an important one. When was the last time you checked in with yourself about what agency growth really means to you? It can be more than just adding more team members and physically growing and expanding the agency. It can also mean growing your AGI, getting higher paying clients, more interesting projects, more name recognition, or more freedom and time off. No matter how you personally define agency growth, there’s a method to achieve it...
Oct 21, 2024•42 min•Ep 472•Transcript available on Metacast As agency owners, we’re perpetual change-makers, striving to affect real and sustained transformation not just in our clients’ lives, but also in our own. But as we all know, creating transformational, lasting change within the agency can be an uphill battle. Humans are hardwired to resist change because it can feel unsafe. So when we want to change our day-to-day operations, revise a strategy with a client, or even get a prospective client to say yes to something unfamiliar to them, it can be t...
Oct 14, 2024•52 min•Ep 471•Transcript available on Metacast Your business should serve your lifestyle — not the other way around. Many agency owners got into the industry because it affords them a lifestyle and freedom most people dream of. But it’s easy to lose sight of that when the business gets overwhelming and we fall into agency owner fatigue. For this week’s solocast, I want to do a deep dive into one of the ways we help agency owners sort out this fatigue and get back on the right track to achieving their goals and dreams — the agency owner life ...
Oct 07, 2024•39 min•Ep 470•Transcript available on Metacast Agency leaders have some of the most important roles in the agency. They’re key team members supporting the agency owner in the agency’s day-to-day operations and taking on roles that allow the agency owner to focus on business development and other key tasks. The truth is, it can be a lonely position. As agency owners, we need to consistently work on being more supportive to these key leaders — whether they’re our COO, creative directors, department heads, account leads, or even the company pre...
Sep 30, 2024•46 min•Ep 469•Transcript available on Metacast Agency owners and leaders are no strangers to proposal writing. But despite our vast experience, there are things we still get wrong, and there is always something we can improve — especially as the industry shifts and changes so quickly. I got to sit down with Robin Boehler and Emily Shapiro from Mercer Island Group to talk about the often-overlooked pitfalls in our agency proposals. This conversation is a game-changer for anyone looking to level up their agency’s pitch game. You might even see...
Sep 23, 2024•44 min•Ep 468•Transcript available on Metacast When I was an agency employee, I admittedly hated being told what to do or how to do it. So naturally, systems and processes really rubbed me the wrong way. Now, as an agency owner, I’ve learned to embrace the same systems and processes I used to rebel against because I know they help me run my agency better. Despite how constricting they can feel at first, they’re there to help you get a zoomed-out look at how your agency is running and collect data on how to make strategic improvements. For Mi...
Sep 16, 2024•58 min•Ep 467•Transcript available on Metacast Finding right-fit clients is one of the never-ending juggling acts of agency ownership. We need to keep the pipeline full, but we don’t want to rely only on referrals or say yes to clients who don’t fit our niche or values. The solution lies in how you build and maintain relationships. Not just any type of relationship — relationships that are aligned with the mission, vision, and values of the agency. On this week’s episode, Matthew Kimberley shares his expertise in finding right-fit clients th...
Sep 09, 2024•52 min•Ep 466•Transcript available on Metacast Every agency should be able to run at 20% profitability on a consistent basis. But as agency owners, sometimes we get in our own way and become the bottleneck to our agency growth. For this week’s solocast, I’m breaking down the five biggest things agency owners do to stifle their agency’s growth. Whether it’s not being able to get out of the day-to-day operations, or not trusting what your numbers are telling you, these are all things most agency owners encounter at least once while growing and...
Sep 02, 2024•39 min•Ep 465•Transcript available on Metacast For many agency owners, sales is a necessary evil. For others, it’s your natural gift, and you look forward to doing it. Either way, you can always benefit from making it easier and better for you. One of the biggest benefits we cover in today’s episode is shortening the sales cycle. Many agencies struggled with elongated sales cycles last year, but that doesn’t need to become par for the course. Stephen Steers joined me on the podcast to teach us how storytelling in sales is one of the most eff...
Aug 26, 2024•45 min•Ep 464•Transcript available on Metacast We’ve spoken before about how podcasting is a great tool for building an audience that sees you as a thought leader. That’s still true, but simply having a podcast is not enough. To truly be successful in podcasting, you must know how to engage that audience and be worthy of their time. As our guest Tom Weber says, “You don’t have a right to have an audience.” An audience must be earned. Tom shared some insights about the importance of knowing who you’re really speaking to. It’s not just about d...
Aug 19, 2024•53 min•Ep 463•Transcript available on Metacast As agency owners, we’re always looking for ways to improve our business development strategies and stand out in a crowded marketplace. This week, I’m flipping the script and sharing an episode where I was a guest on Susan Quinn’s podcast, Better Experiences by Design . Susan asks some great questions to help get to the bottom of the two main biz dev strategies modern agencies can count on today — niching and thought leadership. Doing these two things can transform your agency’s growth trajectory...
Aug 12, 2024•38 min•Ep 462•Transcript available on Metacast Systems and processes are a tough nut to crack for agency owners, and it’s even more challenging once you get clients involved. Many of us are accidental agency owners who thrive in the chaos and disarray of agency life but know that operating this way will reduce profitability. This week, we’re sitting down with Xenia Muntean to share her journey of becoming an accidental agency owner and what it taught her about agency systems and processes as she began to build her own workflow software. We d...
Aug 05, 2024•57 min•Ep 461•Transcript available on Metacast As agency owners, one of the things we fundamentally get wrong in sales is how heavily trust plays a role in the process. We’re selling intangible services and solutions to people with a high price tag, and we expect prospects to trust that we’ll deliver on our promises. It’s a risky proposition, especially for the ones putting their trust (and wallets) in our hands. This week, I’m sharing how agency owners can earn and leverage their trust with client referrals to increase sales. When you sit b...
Jul 29, 2024•45 min•Ep 460•Transcript available on Metacast Agency owners have it tough these days, but we have more control over how hard it is for us than we think. This week, we’re going to talk in-depth about how we can change the course and direction of our business by changing our habits and mindsets. To help us, we’re talking to Jason Yarusi about creating positive momentum around breaking bad habits, choosing to offload tasks that aren’t propelling us forward, and cutting out unnecessary chaos in our lives. You might think there’s nothing you can...
Jul 22, 2024•41 min•Ep 459•Transcript available on Metacast When you’re stacked against other agencies with the same awards, credentials, and impressive case studies as you, it’s tough to stand out above the rest. But with the right pitch deck, you’re sure to catch the attention of your ideal clients. This week, Tom Martin is teaching us a few things about crafting the perfect pitch deck that moves beyond just impressing clients, but making them remember you over the rest. You already have their attention just by getting the meeting, but your pitch deck ...
Jul 15, 2024•58 min•Ep 458•Transcript available on Metacast 
