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#132: Human-First Growth: How to Scale & Bootstrap to 80 Employees (Brooke Maclean, Marketwake)


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Meet Brooke MacLean, CEO of Marketwake, the award-winning, 5x Inc. 5000 digital agency that scaled to 80 employees by doing something radically simple:

She built the business around humans.

Before Marketwake, Brooke became CEO of a tech company at just 26, navigating a massive pivot, rebuilding product, and leading through chaos. But it wasn’t until she launched Marketwake that she discovered her true leadership edge: a blend of feminine intuition and masculine execution that allowed her to scale without losing herself.

In this episode, Brooke breaks down the exact human-first strategies that fueled Marketwake’s growth and how you can apply them in your business today.


💡 Here’s what you’ll learn:

  • How to Say Yes Before You’re Ready: Why momentum creates clarity and how Brooke’s early “yes” strategy opened new revenue streams.
  • How to Build a Human-First Culture: The rituals, leadership habits, and emotional attunement practices that created an award-winning workplace with 80 employees.
  • How to Make Learning a Growth Engine: The systems Marketwake uses to stay ahead of industry shifts (even before they had a budget).
  • How to Lead With Feminine + Masculine Energy: Brooke’s daily energy audit and how it transformed her leadership effectiveness.
  • How to Stop Carrying Emotional Weight That Isn’t Yours: The mindset that helped her avoid burnout and lead sustainably.

If you want to grow your business without becoming a robot in the process, this episode is your permission slip.


🚀 Ready to turn this into actionable traction? Get the weekly Growth Playbooks with frameworks, templates, and tools: https://substack.com/@shegetsshitdone

🔥 Take the Free Traction Quiz: Find your next best move: https://form.typeform.com/to/j6LscUHF

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