Laura Humphreys shares the unfiltered journey of building—and selling—a $15 million agency, only after nearly burning out in the process. Now a mentor to agencies worldwide, Laura unpacks the seven strategies she teaches to help owner-operators escape the hamster wheel, reclaim their time, and create scalable, high-performance businesses. From using AI to future-proof service delivery to building deep sea sales pipelines, this episode is packed with both war stories and winning tactics for founders who are ready to lead like CEOs.

Chapters:

• 00:00:00 – Meet Laura Humphreys: The Mentor Who Turned Agency Burnout into a $15M Exit
• 00:00:26 – From Copywriter to CEO: Laura’s Unfiltered Path to Building and Selling Her Agency
• 00:02:15 – Stuck on the Hamster Wheel: Why Owner-Operators Struggle to Scale (and How to Get Off)
• 00:04:35 – How to Build a Team That Actually Delivers (Without You Micromanaging Everything)
• 00:06:39 – CEO Mode Activated: The Power Shift from Managing to Leading
• 00:09:45 – If You Don’t Know Where You’re Going, How Will Your Team? Creating a Vision That Works
• 00:19:49 – AI, Market Shifts, and What Agencies Need to Do Now to Stay Ahead
• 00:21:42 – Final Word from Laura: Let Go, Trust More, and Build Something That Lasts

Links And Resources:

• Laura Humphreys on LinkedIn
• Join SMASH
• Amplafy Media
• Hector Santiesteban on LinkedIn
• Hector Santiesteban on Twitter

Thanks so much for joining us this week. Want to subscribe to How to Scale a Business? Have some feedback you’d like to share? Connect with us on iTunes and leave us a review!