"Don't lead with the solution. This is my number one tip for agency operators. And it's my number one tip for traditional sellers, SaaS sellers—anybody who is trying to get someone to work with them." Are your sales suffering? Are you finding it harder to get calls and close deals? Are you looking for ways to run cold outreach or follow-up after an event that actually gets responses? If so, this episode of Agency Journey is for you. Jen Allen-Knuth is the founder of DemandJen, where she...

Are you struggling to differentiate yourself in a saturated market? Are you finding it hard to win enterprise clients and manage complex relationships with them? On the other hand, perhaps you’re looking for ways to create high-quality content at scale, or demonstrate the long-term value of SEO to your stakeholders and clients? If any of those resonate, the latest episode of Agency Journey will be useful for you. Alex Birkett is the co-founder of Omniscient Digital, an organic growth agency...

Tired of working harder for the same (or less) money? Frustrated by clients who don't value your expertise?  Or perhaps you’re dealing with: – Razor-thin profit margins; – Clients who nickel and dime you; – Difficulty scaling without burning out; – Sales processes that feel like pulling teeth? If so, this episode of Agency Journey is for you. Raul Hernandez Ochoa is the founder of Do Good Work, a growth consultancy helping agencies scale and increase profitability. With experience...

"The value of an hour of your time as an agency owner, if you're growing, is never going backwards." In this episode of Agency Journey, Gray “The Martian” MacKenzie joins Kuba to discuss the challenges and strategies for agency owners scaling their businesses beyond 10 full-time employees (FTEs).  Gray shares valuable insights on both the psychological and operational aspects of this critical growth phase. If your agency is past the 10 FTE threshold—or close to it—this is a must-listen to...

“If a handful of 20 year olds can service millions of dollars a year in revenue—your agency can, with very little stress and very little complications. And your newsletter can, too.” Marketing Max is a serial entrepreneur and growth marketer with a seven-figure agency exit under his belt. He's the man behind the Growth Daily marketing newsletter, read by over 50,000 world-class CEOs, founders, and marketers every day. In this episode of Agency Journey, Max shares his journey from Wall Street...

"Clarity is not the natural state of things. It is a discipline that we have to build into ourselves and into our organizations to create clarity for the team. The outcome is well worth it." In this episode of Agency Journey, Kuba talks with Gray about the importance of clarity in agency leadership and operations. Gray emphasizes that clarity is a form of kindness—it reduces anxiety, builds trust, and allows team members to make better decisions aligned with the company's vision. If you're...

“We have to optimize the business just like a hotel optimizes their business—because you can only sell your time once, and we're in the business of selling time." Tycho Luijten is the CEO and co-founder of Dapper, a B2B marketing agency focused on helping scale-ups set up marketing engines that deliver inbound leads. With offices in Rotterdam and Lisbon, Dapper has grown to a team of 30 experts and has ambitious plans to become a key global player in the next 8 years. In this episode of...

"I can't grow if I'm doing the same stuff that I was doing last year. So for me to grow, I need to give my leaders space to grow in so that they're doing the stuff that I was doing last year—and then I'm doing something different. That's my yardstick for a good year." Damian Papworth is the founder and managing director of Globital, a white label digital marketing agency serving over 250 agencies across 6-8 countries. With a team of around 300 staff distributed globally, Damian has built a...

Ben Catley-Richardson is the "Accountability Viking" for agencies, helping owners of 3-5 year old agencies grow beyond their own capabilities.  With a background in video game journalism and a passion for Norse mythology, Ben brings a unique perspective to agency growth and accountability. In this episode of Agency Journey, Ben shares insights on the importance of rest and reflection in the growth cycle, the power of creating personas, and how to prioritize effectively in an overstimulated...

"Going from a company of know-it-alls to a company of test-it-alls—that's really powerful at the organizational level. And it makes people's work so much more meaningful." David Arnoux is the co-founder and CEO of Growth Tribe, one of Europe's leading EdTech providers focused on bridging digital skills gaps within organizations. With a background in growth marketing and consulting, David has built Growth Tribe into a powerhouse that has trained over 35,000 alumni from 1,000+ companies. In...

"Trust is only built through time. It's very hard to build trust through any other mode than time. And that's what's great about having a podcast." Hector Santiesteban is the founder of Amplafy Media, a podcast production company helping businesses leverage podcasting to drive revenue.  In this episode of Agency Journey, Hector shares insights on using podcasts strategically to grow your business and generate leads.  He emphasizes the importance of focusing on benefits over features,...

Corey Morris is the owner and CEO of Voltage Digital, a specialized digital marketing agency focused on search marketing and websites.  He's also the author of  "Digital Marketing Success Plan", a new book aiming to help businesses worldwide make digital marketing predictable with a documented strategy and objective, actionable plan.  In this episode of Agency Journey, Corey shares insights on niching down an agency's services, creating comprehensive digital marketing plans, and adapting to...

"It was clear that there was so much power in individuals banding together to do something." Cooper Munroe is the CEO of The Motherhood, an influencer marketing agency founded in 2006, long before the term "influencer marketing" existed. Cooper shares the fascinating origin story of her agency, which emerged from a viral blog post during Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. In this episode of Agency Journey, Cooper discusses the evolution of influencer marketing over the past 15+ years, from...

"Managing a CEO's LinkedIn account is a full-time job." Garret Caudle is the founder and CEO of Influent, a full-funnel LinkedIn marketing agency. With a background in scaling agencies and a passion for LinkedIn's untapped potential, Garret shares his expertise on leveraging the platform for thought leadership and business growth. In this insightful episode of Agency Journey, Garret breaks down the strategy behind effective LinkedIn content creation for agency founders and executives. He...

Is it ever possible to track 40 hours of work in a given week? If not, what should the benchmark be? What is time tracking for, anyway? And how to talk about it with your team members in a way that makes them motivated, and gives you good insights? In this episode of Agency Journey, Gray and Kuba discuss the challenges and best practices of time tracking in agencies. They explore how to communicate its purpose, implement effective processes, and use the data to drive business...

In this episode of Agency Journey, Gray and Kuba discuss the pros and cons of daily standup meetings and explore alternative approaches for remote teams. They break down why many companies still rely on standups and offer strategies to instead build trust, maintain momentum, and improve planning asynchronously. Episode Insights: 💡 Daily standups are often a crutch for poor planning or lack of clear expectations 💡 Trust is built when expectations are consistently met over time 💡 Asynchronous...

"From the very start, when I launched Galactic Fed, some of my friends (former entrepreneurs) gave me really good advice, which is that you want to be removing yourself from as many processes as you can. You do not want to create what some people call a key man or key woman scenario." Zach Boyette is the co-founder and Managing Partner at Galactic Fed, a full-service growth marketing agency with a team of 150 people across 25 countries. Zach has an unconventional background, having worked at...

“​​In all aspects of your work and your business, you have systems. Why is networking, which is just as important as any one of those singular things, not managed with such ferocity?” Kurt Schmidt is an agency founder, podcast host, author, and agency coach with 25 years of experience growing agencies from just a few people to over 500 employees and tens of millions in revenue. He started his career as a designer and developer before catching the entrepreneurial bug and becoming a "pirate" as...

John Corcoran is the co-founder of Rise25, an agency that helps B2B companies get clients, referrals, and strategic partnerships through done-for-you podcasts and content marketing. John has been podcasting since 2010 and his business partner Jeremy has been doing it since 2008. Together they've built a team of over 50 people to support B2B companies in leveraging this powerful medium. John has a fascinating and diverse background prior to Rise25. At various points in his career, he was paid...

In this episode, Kuba generates a list of client success tips using AI—and Gray critiques them and goes way deeper based on his hard-won experience in the agency space. Episode Insights: 💡 Understanding client goals is crucial for improving client success. Ask questions and listen carefully to their answers to gain a deeper understanding. 💡 Regular communication is key. Set clear expectations around how and when you'll communicate with clients, and provide updates on progress and...

“All of my successes massively outpace my capabilities. Like when you meet me, you're like, ‘I can't believe that guy did all the shit that he did’. Because I look homeless and I'm not really as bright as I pretend to be. I'm not self-deprecating—it's a fact. My success outpaces my capability because I found other people that were more capable than me." Kasim Aslam is the CEO of Solutions 8, co-founder of Driven Mastermind, and co-host of the Perpetual Traffic podcast. He has built four...

“Candidate expectations have certainly accelerated. There's a difference today versus 10 years ago in terms of what people's expectations are and how fast other processes are going. And so moving quickly is an advantage in a hiring process—and figuring out how to move quickly without sacrificing on the process is a little bit of an art.” In this episode, our very own Gray McKenzie discusses the process of hiring the right people for an agency. He shares his recent experience of hiring an...

"I think the hardest thing that all HubSpot agencies are trying to solve for is… 500 product updates this year. How do you keep it all straight? How do you share that knowledge? How much knowledge do you have to know as a team, to what level? One thing that I practice and preach is: not everybody's going to know everything, but that collectively as a team and as an agency, we've got people in certain areas that are experts in those areas that we can rely on." Adam Sharrow is the founder of...

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