Agency Bytes

Featuring: Ben Guttmann, Author In this episode, I had a fascinating conversation with Ben Guttmann, the author of "Simply Put: Why Clear Messages Win – and How to Design Them." We delved into Ben's journey of founding, managing, and eventually selling his agency, Digital Natives. He discussed the strategic steps they took during the agency's exit, including segmenting sales with different partners to ensure every employee found a new job and every client had a smooth transition. Ben also shared valuable insights into the reasons and goals behind exiting and acquisitions, offering guidance for those considering a similar path. Additionally, we explored Ben's role as a professor at Baruch College, discovering why it's more than just a paycheck for him – it's a fulfilling passion. He discussed his aspiration to become an author and what drove him to write his book. Furthermore, Ben emphasized how his agency experience equipped him with the necessary tools for a successful writing endeavor. Tune in for the full story and gain valuable insights from our conversation. Ben Guttmann is a marketing and communications expert and author of Simply Put: Why Clear Messages Win — and How to Design Them. He’s an experienced marketing executive and educator on a mission to get leaders to more effectively connect by simplifying their message. Ben is a former co-founder and managing partner at Digital Natives Group, an award-winning agency that worked with the NFL, I Love NY, Comcast NBCUniversal, Hachette Book Group, The Nature Conservancy, and other major clients. Ben teaches digital marketing at Baruch College in New York City and consults with a range of thought leaders, venture-backed startups, and other brands. Contact Ben on LinkedIn or grab his book or sample chapter.

Featuring: Steve Jeffreys - Make Your Shift In this episode I got to speak to Steve Jeffreys from Your Shift from across the pond. We dug into how his big agency experience led to his big shift and why he made the life changing shift of focus into helping develop people into breakthrough leaders. He outlines some of the aspects that define a true breakthrough leader - in and out of the agency space. Steve believes that everyone on the team has the ability to be a creative force for good and how that can help a recruitment team can lean into raw talent of candidates. He believes there’s no better way to build the leaders of tomorrow than by asking them to “give things a think” and encourage them to be curious so they can learn to be brave. Steve Jeffreys spent 18 years in marketing agencies leading client relationships across Financial Services, Telecoms, Retail, and Not-for-profit. Through this, he found that his passion lay with connecting with and developing people - something he now does full time in his work helping people in their first step up into leadership - in the marketing industry and beyond. Contact Steve on his website or LinkedIn.

Featuring: Traci Schubert Barrett, Navigate the Journey In this episode, Traci and I talk a lot about what drives people to make life-changing shifts in their lives, whether being personal or professional. And how people can look at their lives to see if they’re living them with intention and significance. Traci shares about the ups and downs of being part of the launch of a billion-dollar media empire and what her driving force to suddenly leave that life to live one of more significance is. We talked about how success is different for everyone and how Traci’s program and book help people find better paths forward than being driven by success. Traci Schubert Barrett is an author, speaker, business owner, and podcast host. She is the President and founder of Navigate the Journey, a business consulting firm that comes alongside entrepreneurial companies helping them scale their businesses and build healthy teams and leaders. She was also one of the founders of the national cable television network HGTV. She enjoyed the amazing ride of taking a fledgling idea and turning it into a billion-dollar media empire. She spent over 20 years in the television industry before taking the leap of faith to create a new path. She writes about that journey in her new book, What If There’s More? Finding Significance Beyond Success. Contact Traci on their websites, tracischubertbarrett.com, and navigatethejourney.com.

Featuring: Owen Williams, Founder, Managing Partner of Outside Lines In this episode, I got to speak with Owen Williams from Outside Lines, a creative industry talent strategy and recruitment company. We spent time talking about how Outside Lines helps transform agencies with their experience in building solid and nimble teams. Owen shares how important it is to focus on roles that develop skills in rising stars and how lessons can be learned from all experiences, no matter how good or bad they seem to be. He breaks down how vital it is to approach recruitment from a strategy standpoint, to dig under the hood of the shop, and to get a deeper understanding of the day-to-day and long-term goals and how recruitment can help accomplish them. We also dug into the need for more diverse leadership in the industry and how we’re already seeing a shift in the lower third of the teams being developed now. Owen has led global organizations in attracting, hiring, and retaining talent. He has restructured and opened new offices in the United States, EMEA, LATAM and APAC regions, and has built recruiting departments from the ground up. His career has been driven by his passion for cultivating great teams who go on to make things that affect and change the modern culture. Before founding Outside Lines, Owen had the privilege of working for some of the world’s best creative agencies, including TBWA\Media Arts Lab, Mother, and 72andSunny. It was in those leading organizations that he honed his craft for identifying unique, divergent talent, in and out of the advertising industry, shaping teams that would go on to create world-class work. When not working, you can find him spending time with family and friends, introducing his son to art and design, golfing (whenever possible…), and eating his way through cities across the globe. Contact Own on his website or on Instagram.

Featuring: Matt Wolach, Ringbot.io In this episode, I got to speak to Matt Wolach from Ringbot. We dug into the benefits of SMS marketing and outreach and how it dovetails into bigger picture marketing strategies. Matt breaksdown how consumers interact with SMS vs. email, web chats, and other communication tools that brands are using. He leans into conversational vendor lead generation for building funnels and how to continue the one-to-one conversation. Meet Matt, CEO of RingBot (a texting tool that helps agencies get better results for their clients), and personal Coach to business owners. With 3 startup exits, he has a lot of experience to share. His focus is primarily on growth including sales, marketing, and specific tactics for increasing revenues quickly. Contact Matt on his website or on Twitter.

Featuring: Sherri and Reuben Johnson from Fly Media Productions In this first-ever two-part episode, Sherri, Reuben, and I talked about how they paved the way into their niche by following a passion that took their marriage to the next level. How implementing EOS lead to a rebrand and informed their overall agency messaging and niche targeting. They shared some of the secret sauce on how they successfully navigate running an agency as a married couple who both have chronic illnesses and ADD. The Fly Duo shared about a few of their side passion projects and how the ambition of eliminating stigma and having sex-positive conversations happen to also be fueling their agency growth. Tune into both episodes to hear the full conversation! Reuben and Sherri Johnson, affectionately known as the FlyDuo®, are partners in life, love, crime, and everything in between. They are co-founders of Atlanta’s premier award-winning, sex-positive brand agency Fly Media Productions®; co-founders of SexTech n’ Chill™, a handpicked selection of news, products, and experiences thoughtfully curated by the couple for pleasure seekers; and co-hosts of the podcast-style web show The FlyDuo Sex Project™. In addition to their own projects, Reuben and Sherri currently serve as official ambassadors for The Bureau of Digital and Erika Lust’s “The Porn Conversation”. Contact the FlyDuo on their websites, FlyMediaProductions.com and ST&C Special Project Website, on LinkedIn for FlyDuo, LinkedIn for FLy Media, Instagram for FlyyMedia, Instagram for ST&C, and on X.

Featuring: Sherri and Reuben Johnson from Fly Media Productions In this first-ever two-part episode, Sherri, Reuben, and I talked about how they paved the way into their niche by following a passion that took their marriage to the next level. How implementing EOS lead to a rebrand and informed their overall agency messaging and niche targeting. They shared some of the secret sauce on how they successfully navigate running an agency as a married couple who both have chronic illnesses and ADD. The Fly Duo shared about a few of their side passion projects and how the ambition of eliminating stigma and having sex-positive conversations happen to also be fueling their agency growth. Tune into both episodes to hear the full conversation! Reuben and Sherri Johnson, affectionately known as the FlyDuo®, are partners in life, love, crime, and everything in between. They are co-founders of Atlanta’s premier award-winning, sex-positive brand agency Fly Media Productions®; co-founders of SexTech n’ Chill™, a handpicked selection of news, products, and experiences thoughtfully curated by the couple for pleasure seekers; and co-hosts of the podcast-style web show The FlyDuo Sex Project™. In addition to their own projects, Reuben and Sherri currently serve as official ambassadors for The Bureau of Digital and Erika Lust’s “The Porn Conversation”. Contact the FlyDuo on their websites, FlyMediaProductions.com and ST&C Special Project Website, on LinkedIn for FlyDuo, LinkedIn for FLy Media, Instagram for FlyyMedia, Instagram for ST&C, and on X.

Featuring: Melissa Morris, Agency Authority In this episode, I got to speak to Melissa Morris from Agency Authority where she works with agencies on process and system optimization. Melissa and I talk about how agencies can leverage the proper systems, tools, and processes to grow healthily and use these tools to optimize agency availability and profitability. Melissa shares some of the benchmarks and areas that agency owners and operations managers should watch for in a growth stage in order to avoid some of the pitfalls that come with scaling. As the founder of Agency Authority, a project management and operations consultancy for agency owners, I use my 10 years of agency experience to help business owners maximize their teams, increase their productivity, and grow their profits. Firmly committed to breaking the ‘long hours and bad pay’ stigma that plagues the agency world, my team and I help business owners and their team members do the work they love without sacrificing client satisfaction, the bottom line, or their own sanity. Connect with Melissa on their website, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.

Featuring: Ryan Watson, Upsourced Accounting In this episode, Ryan Watson from Upsourced Accounting delivers an exciting talk about agency numbers, accounting, benchmarking, and things to watch for in agency growth. He and his team are deeply niched as an agency accounting firm and he shares some of their viewpoints on how they help agencies monitor the “right numbers” at the right stage of their lifecycle. These lifecycle stages bring forth the hierarchy of financial needs for agencies and how they differentiate from stage to stage. Ryan is an experienced operations and finance leader for creative agencies and venture-funded startups. As a partner at Upsourced, he helps scaling agencies build better plans, see the future, and drive profits. Prior to Upsourced, Ryan led operations and finance for a large influencer marketing and ad agency, Ahalogy, where they built the team to over 50 people and $10M in annual AGI before selling to Quotient Technology (NYSE: QUOT) in June 2018. Connect with Ryan on their website, YouTube Podcast, and blog.

Featuring: Chris Puma and Steph Hastings, The Inturnship For the first time in the history of this podcast, I got to have two guests on board when I spoke to Chris Puma and Steph Hasting of the Inturnship. The Inturnship is their response to the impact of covid on student internships and how they're flipping this part of the industry on its head. Acting as an agency, led by seasoned agency veterans, The Inturnship is pulling in talented interns who are mentored to do real-world client work – for pay. Competing with the “mock-up world” of most ad schools, their teams handle creative assignments ranging from full brand strategy and identity to ongoing social content to interactive websites and content strategy. To date, The Inturnship has a placement rate of nearly 90%, delivering well-trained interns into their first “grown-up” jobs in the industry. Chris Puma is Associate Creative Director at BASIC/DEPT® the most webby-awarded agency of the past decade. In 2020, he Co-Founded The Inturnship to help create a new process and pipeline for emerging talent. When he’s not working on his own career, or helping others begin theirs, you can find him tending to his indoor plant collection or snowboarding at Mt. Hood. Steph Hastings is a Senior Web Designer at prAna Living, a small active clothing brand based in Southern California. The right mix of good storytelling and functional design is a beloved daily practice and one that we focus closely on at The Inturnship. When not leading the charge with design projects, Steph is walking her corgi jasper, or hitting the trails for distance runs. Connect with The Inturnship here.