Michael Murdoch and Robbie Dale chat about their creative agency The House and the journey to sharing storytelling secrets with Story Cube.

They have been named in both the inaugural BIMA Hot 100 and Drum Digerati, and are alumni in the prestigious Marketing Academy scholarship and the 10,000 Small Businesses Goldman Sachs Programme. We chat about what makes them tick and what inspired them to move from a service based offering to developing a product as well.

Founders Charles & Ashley from Unity & Motion join Ellie to talk about how they swapped the career ladder for forging their own path, along with exploring their commitment to continual personal improvement as founders and their team.

They also dive into the industry improvement work which Charles & Ashley have been driving forward over the past year through their Unify initiative. Working with key industry leaders they have been discussing, identifying and agreeing on actionable positive steps for topics such as:

- Systemic inequality within UK creative industries

- How work patterns can positively impact the environment

- The financial implications of COVID-19

- How to attract and retain the best talent

Ellie talks with James Armstrong, the co-founder of Digital FIrefly, about the police force, starting an agency and what happens when your business partner goes on mat leave...

James is the co-founder and director of Digital Firefly, a creative digital marketing agency based in Brighton and Hove. His expertise in audience first marketing campaigns grew from his 10 year experience in policing, from walking the beat to managing Sussex Police's social media marketing activities.

Just over two years ago he made the leap into agency life alongside co-founder Mel Berry, and hasn't looked back since. Together their passion for putting the 'social' back into social media helps clients grab attention, build meaningful relationships and convert customers.

Mark Alford podcast, founder of Managed Language, talked to Ellie about translations, innovation, and the state of the industry. Mark has a team of 4 staff and over 5000 Linguists and 900 Transcreators. They work with major brands like Freeman Gratton and all their agencies including Swimwear356 and Bonpre, along with UNiDAYS and Agencies that include 20Ten, TMW, Positive Group and many more.

During this episode, Ellie chats with Corrie about social media and the common pitfalls of various platforms, plus they discuss how to go about building an agency culture.

Corrie is the founder of London-based social media agency Untapped Digital, working with ambitious brands around the world on social content, advertising and strategy. Over her 7 years in the industry, Corrie has shared social media expertise with a range of different businesses, from NatWest to Omaze, and has managed live social media content at a number of high-profile events, including with the BBC and the British Royal Family. She also hosts the chart-topping podcast show Self-Made Women.

Jay is the founder of The Animation Guys. He has a background in Fine Art, Graphic Design, Film making and is a skilled 2D Animator. Having navigated his away around a successful advertising career working with clients such as IKEA, Coca-Cola, O2 and many more. His focus now is to keep growing The Animation Guys, maintaining the level of artist integrity and everyone's inner child. After all, animation is meant to be fun, right?

During this episode, Ellie and Jay chat about life during lockdown, systems that have supported better communication with remote working, and how agency life has shifted since their first year in business.

Brant is the founder and chief bottle-washer at ecce. -a web development studio based in Kent whose specialities include bespoke e-commerce applications, solutions & integrations.

They are 20 years old this year - a small team, with a global client base including Sennheiser, NHS & Beyerdynamic. They work with clients direct and other agencies alike.

During this episode, Ellie & Brant chat about remote working, time-pressured briefs, and the karma of establishing good relationships with agency partners.

During this episode, Ellie finds out about the future of video technology and how Marc's agency is pivoting to meet new demand from clients. They also get on to discuss work/life balance - a hot topic within the walls of 23D's virtual office right now.

Nick is director of Pollenary, a performance marketing agency for e-commerce brands focused on Facebook and Instagram advertising. He's also co-host of Facebook Ads Meetup London and a proud Dad!

During this episode we talk about how Nick started his agency based on remote working, the best way to approach recruitment at the moment (especially for a first hire!), and also how client performance has gone bonkers over the pandemic.

>> Agency life, women in agencies and working with family members.

Smoke Creatives specialises in print, digital and experiential to drive customer engagement, loyalty and sales. The agency was started by two sisters, Katrin and Susi Owusu.

In this podcast, they chat with Ellie about how their agency started, plus dive into women in agencies and talk honestly about how to make things work when running a business with a family member.