Summary:

You don’t hate agency life, you hate the decisions you made to survive it.
In this episode, I break down the two mistakes that quietly drain profit, destroy morale, and make agency ownership feel unbearable.

I’ve spent over 8 years building and operating a 50+ person agency, and I’ve paid a massive “idiot tax” learning these lessons the hard way. If you’re exhausted, buried in client requests, or wondering if this is even worth it anymore, this episode is for you.

Takeaways:

• Why “hopeful clients” outside your ICP quietly sabotage your profit and your team
  
  
• The hidden reason bad-fit clients always demand more and deliver less
  
  
• How fuzzy scopes train clients to expect unlimited work forever
  
  
• The exact moment when “being helpful” turns into scope creep and burnout
  
  
• Why combining bad-fit clients + no scope guarantees you’ll lose money
  
  
• The simple 3-month rule that protects your agency from bad bets
  
  
• The $0 change order that stops scope creep without awkward conversations

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Summary:

You don’t fail as an agency owner because you’re bad at marketing.
You fail because you accidentally build something that can’t survive you.

In this episode, I sit down with Tim Keen, who scaled a DTC growth agency to $2M+ ARR, churned every client and every employee, worked himself to the brink and still sold the business.

This isn’t a highlight reel. It’s the messy middle no one warns you about.

Takeaways:

• Why most agencies feel “busy” but are fundamentally unsellable
  
  
• The hidden cost of adding services too early (and why it feels so good)
  
  
• How Tim closed $70k/month retainers without being the best operator
  
  
• The brutal second-year phase where agencies either mature or implode
  
  
• Why “one service, one niche” beats passion, creativity, and variety
  
  
• The difference between a fun consulting job and a real business

Check out Tim's agency here:
Modern Agency Sales

Join the free agency uplift community: https://www.agencyuplift.co/group

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Summary:

I thought results were the glue.
Then a wildly profitable client fired us after six straight months of 18+ ROAS.

In this solo episode, I break down one of the most painful lessons of my agency career and why results alone are never enough to keep clients long-term. If you’ve ever lost a client you shouldn’t have lost, this episode will hit close to home.

Take aways:

• Why results are just table stakes and what actually keeps clients loyal
  
  
• The onboarding mistake I made that quietly destroyed trust from day one
  
  
• How ambiguity in scope kills perceived value (even when performance is insane)
  
  
• Why clients often mistake expert strategy for “luck”
  
  
• The invisible work you must make visible if you want retention
  
  
• How weekly communication repositions you from operator to strategic partner

Join the free agency uplift community: The Agency Uplift Community

Get the 5 free custom GPTs that will help you stop being the bottleneck:
The Agency Leverage Blueprint

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Summary:

TikTok Shop isn’t slowing down.

It’s maturing.

In this episode, I break down with Collin Cavanaugh why TikTok Shop is entering its most important phase yet, and why agencies that adapt now will have an unfair advantage over the next few years.

This isn’t about chasing trends. It’s about building an agency that’s positioned for where the market is going.

Takeaways:

• Why enterprise brands are finally moving into TikTok Shop
  
  
• What separates scalable agencies from opportunistic ones
  
  
• How early TikTok Shop winners built durable systems, not hype
  
  
• Why creators became the most valuable asset on the platform
  
  
• The operational shifts I believe every agency must make
  
  
• How TikTok Shop rewards clarity over speed

Check out Collin's agency here:
Commerce Social

Join the free agency uplift community: The Agency Uplift Community

Get the 5 free custom GPTs that will help you stop being the bottleneck:
The Agency Leverage Blueprint

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Summary:

2026 doesn’t need more effort, it needs better decisions.

If your agency feels bigger but somehow harder to run, this episode explains exactly why and what to do before things break.

In this solo episode, I walk through the six core values he uses to run and coach agencies through complexity, burnout, and stalled growth and how to apply them immediately as you head into 2026.

Takeaways:

• Why “doing more” is the fastest way to kill leverage and what to replace it with
  
  
• The weekly audit that exposes where founders quietly sabotage scale
  
  
• How ruthless clarity eliminates team confusion without micromanagement
  
  
• The unsexy foundation work most agencies skip and pay for later
  
  
• Why retention beats acquisition (and how to fix onboarding before selling more)
  
  
• The CEO ritual that keeps you out of the weeds and focused on growth
  
  
• How honest feedback can turn “underperformers” into rock stars

Join the free agency uplift community: https://www.agencyuplift.co/group

Get the 5 free custom GPTs that will help you stop being the bottleneck: https://www.agencyuplift.co/blueprint

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Summary:

Most agency founders don’t fail because they’re bad at delivery.
They fail because they never stop doing it.

In this episode, I sit down with Anthony Morgan, Founder & CEO of Enavi, to unpack the breaking point almost every sub $1M agency hits and the counter intuitive decision that unlocked real, scalable growth.

Anthony shares what happened when client churn, market pressure, and limited runway forced him to confront a hard truth: spending 10–20% of his time on growth was silently killing the business.

This conversation is a must listen if you’re stuck as the bottleneck inside your own agency.

Takeaways:

• Why agencies under $1M accidentally optimize for survival instead of growth
  
  
• The exact moment Anthony realized it was “grow or let people go”
  
  
• How reallocating 80% of founder time to growth changed lead quality and authority
  
  
• A practical way to track and gamify your growth activities (without guesswork)
  
  
• Why client experience isn’t “soft”, it directly impacts delivery and retention
  
  
• How partnerships quietly became Enavi’s strongest demand capture channel
  
  
• The long term cost of being “too involved” in client work

Check out Anthony's agency here:
Enavi

Join the free agency uplift community: https://www.agencyuplift.co/group

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Summary:

If your agency collapses the moment you step away or you feel like you own everyone’s job, this episode is for you.

In my final solo episode of 2025, I share the single biggest unlock I’ve seen across 100+ agency owner conversations: most agencies don’t have a people system, so the founder becomes the system.

This episode isn’t about hiring more people.
It’s about building an agency that doesn’t need you to babysit it.

Takeaways:

• Why founders stay stuck even after hiring a team
  
  
• The hidden cost of managing people through tasks
  
  
• How role scorecards replace micromanagement
  
  
• Why objective metrics eliminate emotional leadership
  
  
• How visibility creates ownership (without control)
  
  
• The system that allows you to actually take time off
  
  
• Why accountability, not talent, is the real constraint

Join the free agency uplift community: The Agency Uplift

Get the 5 free custom GPTs that will help you stop being the bottleneck:
The Agency Leverage Blueprint

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Summary:

You’ve been told to “build your personal brand.”
But what if that advice is exactly why your agency still blends in?

In this episode, I sit down with Justin Obermann, former ad agency founder turned modern day publicist, to unpack why self publicity, not personal branding, is what actually drives attention, authority, and inbound demand.

Justin built a seven figure agency using nothing but LinkedIn and word of mouth, burned out, shut it down, and accidentally uncovered a more powerful model that most agency owners completely misunderstand.

Takeaways:

• Why discovering your “personal brand” before taking action is backwards
  
  
• The real reason mediocre content gets 500 likes (and yours doesn’t)
  
  
• How showmanship, not value, creates attention in crowded markets
  
  
• Why fame is easier to track than CAC (and why it matters more than you think)
  
  
• The mistake agency owners make when niching their identity too narrowly
  
  
• How to position yourself so opportunities chase you instead of the other way around

Check out Justin's agency here:
Oberman & Partners

Join the free agency uplift community: https://www.agencyuplift.co/group

Get the 5 free custom GPTs that will help you stop being the bottleneck: https://www.agencyuplift.co/blueprint

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