The Journey from Freelance to Agency Success

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Is remote agency life really the dream? While many chase the freedom of working from anywhere, the reality is far more complex. In this episode, Lisa Larson-Kelley shares how she built a high-performing remote team—without sacrificing culture, communication, or control.

Today’s featured guest decided long ago that she prefers the remote option and shares what really makes remote work actually succeed. For her, it comes down to two crucial elements:

1. Creating a solid structure for clear communication and aligned goals

2. Hiring people who thrive in self-led, remote environments

Tune in to hear how she built these systems into her agency—and how she still prioritizes meaningful, in-person connection to strengthen team culture.

Lisa Larson-Kelley is the CEO and founder of Quantious, a marketing enablement agency specializing in B2B tech companies. Her agency has worked with some of the biggest tech companies in the world, starting with Adobe and building relationships that would later take them to work with Google and Meta. Currently, she’s looking forward to leveraging this experience working with big companies to create lasting relationships with smaller startups and mid-market companies as well.

She talks about the challenges and benefits of running a remote agency, how she finds talent suited for remote work, and how implementing EOS in her agency operations improved her business’ structure, communications, and employees accountability.

In this episode, we’ll discuss:

• How EOS gives structure and accountability.

• The traits she looks for when hiring remote talent

• How she keeps team culture strong with in-person retreats

• Why remote work isn’t “easier”—but can be better with the right systems. 

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Sponsors and Resources

E2M Solutions: Today's episode of the Smart Agency Masterclass is sponsored by E2M Solutions, a web design, and development agency that has provided white-label services for the past 10 years to agencies all over the world. Check out e2msolutions.com/smartagency and get 10% off for the first three months of service.

A Pivot Fueled by Adversity

Lisa began her professional journey as a developer, then transitioned to freelance consulting. Seeing she had a knack for explaining technical processes, she took some writing courses and expanded her abilities into content writing. Lisa’s freelance work soon attracted several major tech companies.

The growing demand for her services prompted her to hire her first intern through Craigslist, initially viewing this expansion as an extension of her freelance business. However, when her husband fell seriously ill, Lisa's need to provide financial stability for her family motivated her to formalize and grow her operation into a proper agency. What had started as individual consulting work had evolved into a full-fledged business born of both opportunity and necessity.

Why Lisa’s Agency Thrives Remotely—And How Yours Can Too

Since founding her agency, Lisa has maintained a primarily remote operation. She did try to run the team from an office a little before Covid restrictions came to send everyone home again, but was finding it tedious, with common complaints about people’s choice of food or annoying habits. It seemed as though petty distractions disappeared once they returned to remote work.

As the owner of a remote agency, Lisa admits this modality isn’t easier—it’s just a different kind of hard. To truly succeed, agency owners who want a remote team must take care to carefully choose people suited for this type of work. Some people really do need the presence of someone keeping them accountable. These people find that on-site work provides them a sense of structure and that the interaction with teammates helps improve their performance.

Lisa looks for workers who are able to self-manage and are results-oriented. Her team always has access to managers through Slack, of course, but they mostly prefer to manage their work and their time to better fit their lifestyles. Remote teams can leverage technology to enhance collaboration and communication, using tools like video conferencing, project management software, and instant messaging platforms allow team members to work together seamlessly, regardless of their geographical location.

Assessing Candidates’ Adaptability to Remote Work

Not everyone is suited for remote work, so after assessing a candidate’s suitability for the role based on their skills and experience, Lisa also looks to identify whether or not they are suited to work in this modality. If you have struggled finding workers who thrive in a remote setting, try to use assessments and structured interview questions to gauge a candidate's suitability. For instance, asking about their strategies for maintaining accountability can reveal much about their potential success in a remote setting.

Furthermore, candidates who have previously navigated remote roles often have the skills and mindset necessary to thrive in similar environments. This experience can translate into a more seamless integration into a remote team, as these individuals are likely already familiar with the challenges and best practices associated with this working style.

How EOS Can Transform Your Remote Agency Operations

The Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) has helped many agencies create the sense of structure that some remote teams may be missing. In it, every worker has their goals, so they know what they’re working towards, as well the agency’s goals for the quarter, so everyone can grow in the same direction.

It wasn’t immediately easy or intuitive for Lisa to implement EOS into her agency processes. She read the book and tried to self-implement it unsuccessfully. It wasn’t until she was introduced to an implementer who could help her with the process and keep her accountable that she felt she was on the right path with this system.

With expert guidance, structured meetings became the cornerstone of Lisa's agency operations. These non-negotiable, regularly scheduled sessions ensure team alignment and individual accountability. Using Ninety software, Lisa's team conducts highly organized meetings with clear agendas and built-in timers that keep discussions focused on measurable outcomes and actionable tasks. This systematic approach eliminates wasted time while fostering a culture where team members understand their specific responsibilities.

This framework helps Lisa establish high-level objectives aligned with her agency's vision, then break these down into manageable steps by working backward from desired outcomes. For instance, if an agency aims to achieve $20 million in top-line revenue and $10 million in net profit, how does this cascade down to individual team members? This clear linkage between daily activities and long-term objectives helps create a culture of accountability and proactive engagement.

Structuring Professional Growth in Remote Agencies

Part of the changes introduced with the use of EOS was establishing clear pathways for employee growth, something that employees themselves asked for. While tenure still influences senior positions, the agency's COO developed a three-stage framework that provides visual clarity for professional development.

• Seed: Your ground-level tasks for any particular role.

• Blossom: Demonstrating confident competence and Independence in that role.

• Bloom: Preparing for advancement to the next position.

Interestingly, this framework is not necessarily linear recognizing that personal circumstances may cause employees to move between stages. If an employee shifts from "Blossom" back to "Seed," management initiates supportive conversations to discuss their situation and explore potential paths forward based on the employee's choices.

This is an important initiative that all agency owners hoping to scale their agency should consider as it forces you to think about ways to scale your team and locate the leaders that will help take the pressure off you as you start to delegate responsibility to them. Furthermore, you’ll be taking action to help your team take ownership of their roles, thus increasing retention as you motivate individuals who could get frustrated if they don’t see growth opportunities.

How In-Person Retreats Build Camaraderie in a Distributed Workforce

Running a remote agency takes a lot of organization, structure, and also an appreciation for in-person connection. Lisa understands that while tech keeps teams connected, it can’t replace the depth of real, in-person connection.. Hence, to encourage team bonding, she organizes a team retreat, that most recently took the team to Puerto Rico, for a few days of team building activities, but mostly to just be together in the same space.

This is a great lesson for agency owners who want to run a remote agency. Building camaraderie through in-person connections will also have practical implications for agency growth. In-person retreats and gatherings can serve as platforms for discussing career aspirations, setting goals, and mapping out pathways for professional growth, as well as fostering stronger relationships, enhanced communication, and a more cohesive work environment.

Do You Want to Transform Your Agency from a Liability to an Asset?

Looking to dig deeper into your agency's potential? Check out our Agency Blueprint. Designed for agency owners like you, our Agency Blueprint helps you uncover growth opportunities, tackle obstacles, and craft a customized blueprint for your agency's success.