An Agency Story

Company: Elysium Marketing Group

Guest: Elyse Lupin

Year Started: 2015

Employees: 11-25

Starting an agency is hard. Starting one with a baby at home is even harder. In this episode, Elyse Lupin, Founder of Elysium Marketing Group, shares the real story behind building a food and franchise agency through uncertainty, motherhood, and constant industry change.

Key Takeaways

• Why Elyse launched her agency with a nine-month-old
• The fear of narrowing your positioning and finding the right balance of focus and flexibility 
• How a stronger team and clearer boundaries made leadership and family life more sustainable over time 
• A thoughtful approach to AI: using it for efficiency without losing strategy, judgment, or voice 
• Elyse’s simplest advice after 11 years: keep going, stay steady, and don’t get pulled too high or too low 
  
  

Learn about an opportunity to build resiliency and success for your business in 2027. 

Company: Essjay

Guest: Sarah Patterson

Year Started: 2011

Employees: 1-10

Money clarity changes everything. In this episode, fractional CFO Sarah Patterson breaks down how agency owners can stop guessing and start making confident financial decisions using 7 simple, repeatable habits. You’ll learn how to turn financials into a practical tool for direction, focus, and smarter leadership.

Key Takeaways

• Why clean books alone aren’t enough, and what most agencies are missing beyond accounting
• A simple framework for reviewing financials without feeling overwhelmed
• How consistent review and updating financial tools work together to reduce surprises
• The metrics that actually signal future revenue and risk
• How better financial visibility leads to calmer, more confident decisions

Learn about an opportunity to build resiliency and success for your business in 2027. 

Company: Help.Agency

Guest: John Balauat

Year Started: 2020

Employees: 11-25

Growth doesn’t usually fail because of effort, it fails because of friction. In this episode, Russel sits down with John Balauat of Help.Agency to unpack why forcing outcomes creates pressure, bad decisions, and stalled momentum, and how the discipline of reducing friction leads to clearer sales, better partnerships, and healthier agencies.

Key Takeaways

• Why forcing growth often creates more problems than progress
• How reducing friction in sales builds trust and better-fit clients
• The power of being picky
• Experiment early and often before going all-in. 

Learn about an opportunity to build resiliency and success for your business in 2027. 

Company: Brolik

Guest: Jason Brewer

Year Started: 2004

Employees: 11-25

You can never underestimate the ability to measure your business. In this episode, Russel sits down with Jason Brewer of Brolik to unpack what 22 years of agency ownership actually teaches you about predictable revenue, leadership, and long-term decision-making. 

Key Takeaways

• The mindset shift required to invest in growth before results show up
• How “being your own best client” creates consistency and confidence
• The difference between chasing momentum and building durability
• Why empathy and listening are business advantages

Learn about an opportunity to build resiliency and success for your business in 2027. 

Company: 30|90 Marketing

Guest: Rachel Ledet

Year Started: 2018

Employees: 1-10

Clarity in business doesn’t arrive all at once, it’s built through decisions, experience, and commitment. In this first ever "Where are they now?" episode, Russel reconnects with Rachel Ledet, Founder of 30|90 Marketing, to explore how her agency evolved over the past few years and what changed once she fully committed to a clear focus.

This episode is a candid look at confidence earned over time, the hard tradeoffs behind positioning, and what happens when an agency stops hedging and starts building with intention.

Key Takeaways

• Why confidence in your positioning is something you earn, not something you wait for
• How committing to a clear focus changed referrals, conversations, and opportunities
• What it really takes to let go of “good” clients to make room for the right ones
• How long-term thinking creates momentum you can actually feel
  
  

Check out Rachel's original appearance on An Agency Story podcast, Episode #40 - When Saying Yes Almost Cost Her the Account

Learn about an opportunity to build resiliency and success for your business in 2027. 

Company: Smart Sites

Guest: Alex Melen

Year Started: 2011

Employees: 100+

What does it really take to build a large agency without chaos, investors, or burning out your team? In this episode, Alex Melen, Co-Founder of SmartSites, shares how starting a business at 13 shaped his long-term mindset and how disciplined measurement and intentional growth decisions helped SmartSites become a 450-person agency.

Key Takeaways

• Why agency growth helps the talent game
• How accurate measurement protects your business
• How writing a book sharpens your thoughts

Learn about an opportunity to build resiliency and success for your business in 2027. 

Company: North Strett

Guest: Tom Conlon

Year Started: 2010

Employees: 1-10

In this episode, Russel sits down with Tom Conlin of North Street to unpack how an unexpectedly narrow offer became a mechanism for opening doors, reducing stress, and creating better opportunities across the business.

Key Takeaways

• How a narrowly defined offer can become a powerful door-opener for bigger work
• What it really means to “see the machinery of the business” and why it changes decision-making
• The difference between being busy and being profitable
• How AI can increase leverage without devaluing expertise

Learn about an opportunity to build resiliency and success for your business in 2027. 

Company: Digital HQ

Guest: Hillary Applegate

Year Started: 2020

Employees: 11-25

What if the key to improving your agency is stepping away from your business? In this conversation, Hillary Applegate, founder of Digital HQ, shares how distance reshaped her leadership, clarified what actually matters, and strengthened the way her team operates. Listeners will walk away with a fresh perspective on agency ownership, boundaries, and letting go.

Key Takeaways

• Why stepping away can reveal blind spots you’ll never see inside the day-to-day
• The mindset shift required to lead with more clarity and less stress
• Why flexible work it creates stronger teams

Learn about an opportunity to build resiliency and success for your business in 2027. 

Company: An Agency Story

Guest: Russel Dubree

Year Started: 2022

Employees: 1-10

Most agency owners underestimate the most powerful differentiator they have, their personal story. In this episode, Russel breaks down why your authentic “why” matters and how sharing it can deepen connection with your team, attract the right clients, and clarify your purpose.

Key Takeaways

• Why your personal story is the strongest positioning tool you’re not using
• How authenticity creates instant connection and builds trust with your team and clients
• The hidden reasons owners avoid sharing their story
• A simple way to uncover the deeper “why” behind your work
• How consistently telling your story makes you memorable in a crowded market

Learn about an opportunity to build resiliency and success for your business in 2027. 

Company: Scott Social

Guest: Chelsea Flower

Year Started: 2018

Employees: 1-10

What does it take to turn a disconnected, overwhelmed team into a unified, creative powerhouse? In this episode, Chelsea Flower, Founder of Scott Social, shares the pivotal mindset shifts, leadership breakthroughs, and culture changes that doubled her agency’s clients and transformed her team from stressed and siloed to connected and thriving.

Key Takeaways

• Why investing time, not just money, into your team leads to exponential transformation
• How clarity reduces stress, boosts creativity, and creates space for better leadership
• Why culture is more than a buzzword and how it became the engine behind Scott Social’s growth
• How retreats, shared experiences, and belonging drove stronger performance and doubled their client base

Learn about an opportunity to build resiliency and success for your business in 2027.