Happy Birthday to Us.
[It’s a Saturday, so the following blog will be posted without proof or editing. So you know, be nice.]
Two years ago today, on my birthday, I launched Strategy School.
And. What. A. Ride.
My primary goal was to leverage learnings from a 25+ year career to upend the traditional agency model and
build something smarter and kinder.
Now you might be thinking, “Damn girl…you’re ripping on agencies.” Not true.
I just knew it would be easier to start an agency from scratch than to try to reinvent any agency or any brand from the inside.
I didn't have the authority, the budgets, or the resources. I just had ideas. Big, disruptive, game changing ideas.
Now, I knew it was going to be a challenge, but it was so much harder than I was able to imagine at the time. Over the past two years, I developed immense compassion for every boss I ever had. How did they manage to keep us in business, fed, clothed, safe? (#respect). There’s a reason not everyone does this. I’ve gained a crap ton of weight, started self medicating like a regular Donna Draper, developed an ulcer, cried at my desk more than once, and pulled way too many six days a week, fifteen hour days. That shit was hard.
Let’s review some of the HARD KNOCKS:
Being the CEO, CMO, CCO, CSO, CFO, COO and CHRO is too many Os
It's hard to make revenue in this business (for me, easy to “make money” much harder to “make revenue”)
Managing cash flow sucks, it’s the absolute worst (bless you finance and ops talent)
Managing, training and up-skilling talent while trying to run an agency can feel almost impossible some days.
When payroll comes out, it physically hurts.
It's really freaking hard to deliver high quality work that matches shrinking budgets and timelines. Client budgets and timelines have been shrinking exponentially since Covid while expectations have been rising. This is a slow death for agencies. We must turn this around (and we will).
I have given away a tsunami of intellectual property for relative peanuts ($). It takes a fraction of a second to come up with an idea that is a game-changing solution for a brand. So when we are getting paid for our time and not the idea - how do we make money? How do we not get taken advantage of? I’ve met with multiple CEO’s and experts on this very topic and do not have a clear solution. If you can help, will you reach out? If you want to sit in on a roundtable on this topic, again, please reach out.
So why am I doing this? Take a peek at the happy bits:
I have managed to attract and onboard some of the most exceptional talent in the industry. They are willing to risk the comfort of a larger agency, for the possibilities of a start-up. Some days I sit in awe of them. We make each other better.
I have built alliances with agency partners that complement our services, allowing us to do more without compromising excellence. By default this has created a network of leaders that I get to dish with, and depend on for advice when times get tough.
I have been profitable since day one, doubled in size each year and see no stopping that growth trajectory.
I launched with a commitment to exclusively “do good work with good people”. We have not only stuck to that promise, that promise continues to attract like-minded clients.
It's a snowball of goodness!
Within each account, it's the people I serve that keep me innovating forward. We partner in such a way with our clients that we become invested in more than meeting business objectives, we become invested in their individual success.
I escaped into books my entire youth, the way kids escape into their phones today. That’s why we made a full year in-kind commitment to Bess the Book Bus. In a matter of weeks we will be launching Bess’ refreshed brand and website. I know for certain, this work will make a real difference to Bess and their ability to serve underfunded school communities.
The idea that we are helping create an army of little joyful readers makes my heart happy.
Cross-industry work is deeply inspiring because developing cross-expertise is like crack for creative strategists. We quickly began to connect the dots between industry pain points and continue to share insights and simply, make the work better because of it. It's super energizing!
In Jan of 2024 we introduced small business pricing to make “agency” accessible to start-ups like ours. We are so confident in our work that select businesses qualify for our Mutual Reward Model (MRM) in which we both win revenue when the work, works. That’s the kind of thing that makes me race to my desk at 6am.
I was invited to join CHIEF which stomped out the final smoldering ashes of my imposter syndrome.
We held our first class, called Art of Discovery, which by default, grew our School community. It was (so so so much) work to get to the first class, but we had an absolute blast and cannot wait for the next one.
Through our course work we identified a major gap in what the industry calls “soft skills”. We have launched “Office Hours” wherein individuals hailing from account mgt., event mgt., strategy, art, copy, creative etc. can learn how to improve their soft skills (as well as other tactical skills) through direct 1:1 Q&A with myself or another School expert of their choice.
SO WHAT'S NEXT?
Our work in reinventing the traditional agency is just beginning. In 2022 I began taking (confidential) interviews with a wide range of agency talent including executives, mid-tier and entry level across disciplines, to get at the real story. I am seeking information to (1) ensure my work is data-driven and not solely based on personal experience and (2) to extract the best and worst practices; ultimately reimagining “agency life”.
In this our third year, my plan is to widen the data collection net and only then decide exactly what to do with it.
I’ll keep you posted.
But for today. I’m putting the work away.
Today is for cake, champagne, the three course dinner my amazing daughter is cooking up and a celebration of all we have to be grateful for.
Happy Birthday, Us.
RT
