Lifestyle is a Plan

In this episode of Lifestyle is a Plan, Kelly Molson is joined by Agency Advisor Mat Bennett.

Mat started his agency in the early days of the web and ran it for 25 years before selling and exiting. He now advises founders of small UK digital and creative agencies, helping them make better decisions sooner.

His style is direct and pragmatic: fewer frameworks, more decisions, trade-offs, and follow-through. He calls it "velocity, not speed" -momentum plus direction, not just activity.

Mat's strength is commercial judgement: positioning, pricing, focus, and delivery constraints. He writes at matbennett.com, sends a fortnightly email called Try This, and runs a quarterly Agency Loop survey.

If you disappeared from your business for a few weeks, with no notice and no laptop, what would break first? This is a question Agency Advisor Mat Bennet frequently asks founders he supports, to understand where the agency still depends entirely on them.

But it comes from a place of lived experience. Whilst running a busy, growing agency, Mat was suddenly hospitalised for a series of prolonged spells following a cancer diagnosis.

A heads up - we do talk about cancer diagnosis and baby loss in this episode, so please pause this episode for another time if you need to.

You’ll discover:

• Why every founder needs an Oh Shit document
• What are the key things that document should contain
• Why we all need to structure our businesses to allow for "thinking time"
• How the process of writing down operating procedures identifies inefficiencies
• How selling a business can be a strategic safety move
• How strategic co-ownership can be a critical resilience tactic
• What Mat would do differently this time around as a solo founder

Guest details

Website: www.matbennett.com

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/matbennett

Podcast recommendations:

2Bobs

Brought to you by:

Lifestyle is a Plan is brought to you by me, Kelly Molson - an agency advisor on a mission to support solo founders build the agency they want. I’m here to show the agency world that ‘lifestyle agency’ is not a cop out. It’s the future of our industry’s sustainable growth.

You can join my Lifestyle is a Plan newsletter at kellymolson.co.uk

Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, leave a glowing review and share it with your founder friends.

Edited by Steve Folland. stevefolland.com

In this episode of Lifestyle is a Plan, Kelly Molson is joined by Gareth Hoyle, founder of Marketing Signals - a Performance-Driven Digital Marketing Agency.

Gareth has spent two decades scaling agencies to work around his lifestyle. He currently spends an unhealthy amount of time building in Claude, investing in UK based scale ups, and attempting to teach machines to do his work.

There’s often an assumption that lifestyle agencies are small, but in this case Marketing Signals is:

• 20-person, fully remote team
• Working a 4-day, 32-hour week
• With a £2 million turnover

Gareth is the first founder that I’ve seen talk on stage at a high profile conference about the lifestyle agency route, so I’m very excited to chat today to understand how and why he set out on that path.

You’ll discover:

• If the lifestyle route was a plan A or a plan B
• Gareth's own founder success criteria
• Key things Gareth does differently that makes Marketing Signals a lifestyle agency
• The processes and people put in place to facilitate growth
• What drove the decision to implement a 4-day working week
• Advice Gareth would give to founders considering the lifestyle agency model
• If Gareth believes he could sell the agency in the future IF he chose to

Guest details

Website: marketingsignals.com

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/garethhoyle

Guest podcast recommendations:

Fin vs History

Brought to you by:

Lifestyle is a Plan is brought to you by me, Kelly Molson - an agency advisor on a mission is to support solo founders build the agency they want. I’m here to show the agency world that ‘lifestyle agency’ is not a cop out. It’s the future of our industry’s sustainable growth.

You can join my Lifestyle is a Plan newsletter at kellymolson.co.uk

Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, leave a glowing review and share it with your founder friends.

Edited by Steve Folland stevefolland.com

In this episode of Lifestyle is a Plan, Kelly Molson is joined by Jo Rogers, founder of Client Success Matters.

Jo Rogers brings over two decades of experience across agency and client-side roles, helping agencies strengthen client relationships, retain and grow accounts, and build high-performing Client Services teams. She has led the growth of two major independent agencies and built a Client Services department from the ground up.

Through consultancy, training and mentoring, Jo works with agencies and Client Services leaders to elevate the role of client service from reactive delivery to a strategic growth driver. She designs and delivers practical training programmes that help teams become more commercial, proactive, strategic and confident in how they manage and grow client relationships.

Alongside working directly with agencies, Jo also supports Client Services Directors through consultancy and one-to-one mentoring, helping them sharpen their leadership, elevate their teams and navigate the pressures of the role with confidence. Jo’s approach combines practical agency experience with a strong focus on long-term client partnerships, commercial growth and creating client experiences that make agencies difficult to leave.

Now, some of you listening may not have dedicated account managers - don’t let that put you off.

The advice in this episode has been tailored for if you as the founder carries out that role, or you have team members that have been hired with a particular skillset, but also need to account manage clients alongside.

Your client has 8% of their working week to spend with you, so what are you doing with that time?

You’ll discover:

• The first aspects to consider before mapping out a client success process
• What a great onboarding process looks like
• How we show clients consistent value and impact
• The best way to move to a trusted advisor / partner role
• How to grow an account without over-delivering
• Ways to teach your team to spot opportunities
• Retention strategies - how to track client health and pre-empt churn
• Jo’s advice for hiring your first dedicated account manager

Guest details

Website: www.clientsuccessmatters.co.uk

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jorogers-marketing-consultant

Podcast recommendations:

Confessions of an Agency Owner

Discussion points:

www.uptothelight.co.uk/what-clients-think-report

www.thewowcompany.com/benchpress

Brought to you by:

Lifestyle is a Plan is brought to you by me, Kelly Molson - an agency advisor on a mission to support solo founders build the agency they want. I’m here to show the agency world that ‘lifestyle agency’ is not a cop out. It’s the future of our industry’s sustainable growth.

You can join my Lifestyle is a Plan newsletter at kellymolson.co.uk

Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, leave a glowing review and share it with your founder friends.

Edited by Steve Folland. stevefolland.com

Lifestyle is a Plan podcast is for agency founders who are done with the growth hustle, and want profitability over pressure instead.

In this episode of Lifestyle is a Plan, Kelly Molson is joined by Ryan Hall, founder of Friday Solved.

Ryan is the founder of Friday Solved, a two-time founder with two successful exits under his belt and 20+ years of experience building revenue engines and sales strategy.

He’s worked with global brands like Channel 4, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Vodafone, and UBS, as well as high-growth businesses, to scale sales in a way that actually sticks.

He’s also the voice behind the Don’t Sell philosophy, a straight-talking approach that challenges traditional sales thinking and focuses on building scalable, predictable, and sustainable revenue engines, without the usual noise or gimmicks.

Today, through Friday Solved, businesses fix sales by building modern revenue engines that sharpen positioning, create consistency, and drive real growth..

Whether you’re growing to exit or building an agency for legacy - we all have to sell something to make that happen. Or do we?

Ryan Hall founded Friday Solved to help agencies build scalable, predictable and sustainable sales engines inside your business

His book Don’t Sell sets out his ethos of selling by adding value, and not actually selling at all.

You’ll discover:

• Why outsourcing sales rarely works and why the "Build It, Don't Buy It" model is better
• How to sell without actually selling
• Systemising your content - how to maintain visibility without burnout
• How to embed a culture of ‘value’ helps team members get involved without feeling like "salespeople".
• How to build your sales engine
• Why consistent activity paired with the resilience is critical for agency survival
• Sales for the small agency that’s manageable
• The one piece of sales advice agency founders need to take onboard this year

Guest details

Website: www.fridaysolved.co.uk

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ryanghall

Don't Sell Insta: www.instagram.com/_dontsell

Podcast recommendations:

2bobs.com

Brought to you by:

Lifestyle is a Plan is brought to you by me, Kelly Molson - an agency advisor on a mission to support solo founders build the agency they want. I’m here to show the agency world that ‘lifestyle agency’ is not a cop out. It’s the future of our industry’s sustainable growth.

You can join my Lifestyle is a Plan newsletter at kellymolson.co.uk

Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, leave a glowing review and share it with your founder friends.

Edited by Steve Folland. stevefolland.com

Lifestyle is a Plan podcast is for agency founders who are done with the growth hustle, and want profitability over pressure instead.

In this episode of Lifestyle is a Plan, Kelly Molson is joined by Lee Sturgess, founder of Polar.

Over more than a decade, Lee has reimagined what an agency can be. Not the conveyor belt model of endless projects, but a one-brand-at-a-time approach: deeply immersive, collaborative, and designed to create real commercial impact. That ethos has taken Polar into boardrooms in London, Nashville, Monaco, Dubai and Barcelona, partnering with founders, CEOs and marketing teams to transform brands at pivotal moments.

Alongside leading Polar, Lee serves as a Non-Executive Director and advisor to a number of ambitious businesses. Whether guiding a SaaS product, shaping a luxury lifestyle brand or steering a global player through a rebrand, his role is to bring clarity, creative direction and a steady hand at key stages of growth.

Lee Sturgess didn’t follow a traditional agency route. Fresh out of uni he made a choice, to build an agency over joining one. 13 years later Polar is an Essex based but internationally acclaimed branding studio, who really do things differently.

On the pod today we’re flying the flag for Essex lifestyle agencies, and discussing how a change in model has improved profits by nearly 100%.

You’ll discover:

• Essex to the US - how Lee has carved out Polar’s international visibility
• Strategies for emulating the creativity and standards of major hubs within a regional setting
• The huge benefits a change in model can bring if you’re brave enough
• How saying "no" and maintaining a demand-driven model can make an agency more sought after
• How to step back and lead from the front, by empowering your team
• Why you should look outside of the norm when it comes to networking
• The importance of ignoring industry noise to keep laser focused on your ‘own lane’
• The most important piece of advice Lee would give to every founder

Guest details

Website: www.polar.agency

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lee-sturgess

Podcast recommendations:

Louis Theroux Podcast

Brought to you by:

Lifestyle is a Plan is brought to you by me, Kelly Molson - an agency advisor on a mission to support solo founders build the agency they want. I’m here to show the agency world that ‘lifestyle agency’ is not a cop out. It’s the future of our industry’s sustainable growth.

You can join my Lifestyle is a Plan newsletter at kellymolson.co.uk

Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, leave a glowing review and share it with your founder friends.

Edited by Steve Folland stevefolland.com

Lifestyle is a Plan podcast is for agency founders who are done with the growth hustle, and want profitability over pressure instead.

In this episode of Lifestyle is a Plan, Kelly Molson is joined by FinOps Advisor Rich Brett.

After nearly a decade in agencies Rich took a leap into the world of advising after seeing first hand that agency owners needed someone to support them with FinOps. Much of his experience was gained at We Are Social, where he saw the business go from 50 to 150 people, leading a finance team of 6.

Rich fills the gap between what accountants and NED's offer, but with a focus on aligning finance with operations to enable better decision making and sustainable growth. For the past 4 years he’s worked with owners from £300k up to £10m and improving commercial understanding and helping them look forward, not just backwards.

Rich Brett and I connected over our shared message of building agencies sustainably.

I really appreciate the simplified way he explains Revenue Recognition and FinOps, which makes it easy to understand the advantage of joining the dots between numbers and the data.

This episode covers FinOps for lifestyle agencies, and why forecasting is the key to reducing stress and building a sustainable business.

You’ll discover:

• What FinOps is and why is it important
• The FinOps advice is most impactful for agencies with 1–5 or 1-10 people
• Why revenue recognition is important
• The key to proactive forecasting
• Rich’s Past, Present, Future" structure
• Understanding rate card margins to ensure profitability

Guest details

Website: agencyfinops.co.uk

Social: linkedin.com/in/rich-brett

Rich has been a very busy man since we recorded this episode, launching The Missing Finance Course alongside Harv Nagra. A completely free finance course built for EVERYONE working in agencies, consultancies and other types of professional services firms.

Podcast recommendations:

Athletico Mince

Brought to you by:

Lifestyle is a Plan is brought to you by me, Kelly Molson - an agency advisor on a mission to support solo founders build the agency they want. I’m here to show the agency world that ‘lifestyle agency’ is not a cop out. It’s the future of our industry’s sustainable growth.

You can join my Lifestyle is a Plan newsletter at kellymolson.co.uk

Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, leave a glowing review and share it with your founder friends.

Edited by Steve Folland. stevefolland.com

Lifestyle is a Plan podcast is for agency founders who are done with the growth hustle, and want profitability over pressure instead.

In this episode of Lifestyle is a Plan, Kelly Molson is joined by Claire Hutchings.

Claire worked in independent boutique and global networked agencies for almost 20 years. She also built her own business, Chime Agency to help agencies with the one challenge they all face - their own marketing. Chime Agency produced game changing research into agency marketing and supported more than 40 agencies grow their businesses. Claire now combines her business knowledge from building Chime Agency with her experience working with agencies as a The Agency Adventure Guide.

She specialises in supporting independent agency owners and leaders to make great decisions and get the best out of their businesses. Claire is passionate about mental health and supporting women in the industry, she therefore loves working with female and minority founders plus those with limited previous agency experience who want to scale successful businesses while maintaining a work-life balance.

Claire Hutchings and I met in 2021 when I called on Chime Agency’s brilliance to help me create my agency's ‘hero moment’ - an annual benchmarking report that sat at the heart of our marketing strategy.

On the pod today we’re talking about the mental health toll of agency ownership and her successful exit from Chime as a positive alternative to traditional and often disappointing, agency sales.

You’ll discover:

• The mental health toll of agency ownership
• How to combat creating the ‘owners show’
• What an alternative successful exit could look like
• The importance of a well-managed wind-down
• Why building a support network around you is vital

Guest details

Website:www.agency-adventure.com/who-we-are

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/claire-hutchings

Podcast recommendations:

Grab a paintbrush and book an art class instead!

Agency Exits - Ali Newton-Temperley

Brought to you by:

Lifestyle is a Plan is brought to you by me, Kelly Molson - an agency advisor on a mission to support solo founders build the agency they want. I’m here to show the agency world that ‘lifestyle agency’ is not a cop out. It’s the future of our industry’s sustainable growth.

You can join my Lifestyle is a Plan newsletter at kellymolson.co.uk

Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, leave a glowing review and share it with your founder friends.

Edited by Steve Folland. stevefolland.com

Lifestyle is a Plan podcast is for agency founders who are done with the growth hustle, and want profitability over pressure instead.

In this episode of Lifestyle is a Plan, Kelly Molson is joined by Buyability expert Joe Daniels.

Joe's helped dozens of agency owners and consultants package up their services into an offer that practically sells itself. His "buyability" model presents a new way of winning work, not by selling harder, but by making it easier to buy.

Joe Daniels and I share the opinion that positioning doesn’t need to be difficult, and that agencies should put their prices on their websites. It also appears we both spend a significant amount of time on LinkedIn.

Joe’s on a mission to help founders win work by making it easier to buy from them - something he calls Buyabilty.

• Your agency background
• The positioning dilemma - why is this so friggin’ hard for agencies?
• What is Buyability? And what is your Buyability Framework?
• Self-service - what’s changed that now makes this so important?
• Who’s doing this well?
• What are the benefits of this approach to often smaller lifestyle agencies?
• What’s next for you and Interim?
• Podcast recommendation - something that keeps you creatively inspired that our agency audience would find valuable.

You’ll discover:

• The positioning dilemma - why it's still so hard for agencies
• What Buyability actually means
• Self-service purchases - why is this so important?
• Why we should all put our prices on our websites
• Who’s doing ‘Buyability’ well
• The benefits of this approach to often smaller lifestyle agencies

Guest details

Website: joedaniels.co

Social: linkedin.com/in/uptojoegood

Newsletter: bemorebuyable.com

Podcast recommendations:

Off Menu Podcast

Brought to you by:

Lifestyle is a Plan is brought to you by me, Kelly Molson - an agency advisor on a mission to support solo founders build the agency they want. I’m here to show the agency world that ‘lifestyle agency’ is not a cop out. It’s the future of our industry’s sustainable growth.

You can join my Lifestyle is a Plan newsletter at kellymolson.co.uk

Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, leave a glowing review and share it with your founder friends.

Edited by Steve Folland. stevefolland.com

Lifestyle is a Plan podcast is for agency founders who are done with the growth hustle, and want profitability over pressure instead.

In this episode of Lifestyle is a Plan, Kelly Molson is joined by Carys Dorritt, founder of The Polka, a team of marketing experts helping expertise-led businesses become the go-to.

Carys founded The Polka to help organisations use smart marketing to create meaningful connections with their audience. With 20+ years experience in marketing, digital and communications she recognised the challenges and frustrations marketing folks feel when they simply don't have enough hours in the day.

I’m talking to Carys Dorritt today, founder of The Polka, a team of marketing experts helping expertise-led businesses become the go-to.

What I love about this episode is that Carys created something she needed but couldn’t find herself. You’ll hear how and why she’s developed a "career returner" agency model, and created a workplace where career returners can really thrive.

You’ll discover:

1. How to build a "career returner" agency model
2. The importance of flexibility and work-life balance in agency-life
3. Creating a culture of confidence
4. Key Pros / Cons to this approach
5. Advice to agencies looking to create a workplace for career returners to thrive

Guest details

Website: www.thepolka.co.uk

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/carysdorritt

Podcast recommendations:

The Rest is Entertainment

Brought to you by:

Lifestyle is a Plan is brought to you by me, Kelly Molson - an agency advisor on a mission to support solo founders build the agency they want. I’m here to show the agency world that ‘lifestyle agency’ is not a cop out. It’s the future of our industry’s sustainable growth.

You can join my Lifestyle is a Plan newsletter at kellymolson.co.uk

Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, leave a glowing review and share it with your founder friends.

Edited by Steve Folland. stevefolland.com

Lifestyle is a Plan podcast is for agency founders who are done with the growth hustle, and want profitability over pressure instead.

In this episode of Lifestyle is a Plan, Kelly Molson is joined by Tom Salmon, Co‑Founder of Agency by Agency, which provides data and intelligence to the UK’s marketing, advertising, creative and media agency sector.

Its mapping and insights on 25,500 UK agencies represents the only comprehensive dataset of its kind, helping agencies, investors, media owners, martech and adtech platforms, brands and procurement teams identify the right partners, accelerate growth and make better decisions.

Tom is a people‑centric business leader, strategist and marketer with extensive experience advising agencies, investors and brands. Previously Managing Director of award‑winning digital agency Epiphany, a £12m turnover agency with 190 staff across London, Leeds and Sydney. During his tenure, the agency was named Large Integrated Agency of the Year in 2018 and worked with major brands including Savills, First Direct, Waterstones, TK Maxx and Dixons Carphone.

You’ll discover:

1. What the 25,495 agencies active in our sector look like
2. Why we need more diverse industry representation in the media
3. Why policymakers don't fully understand the makeup of the agency sector and what need to change
4. That founders are now prioritising personal well-being and choice over aggressive growth
5. A future where agencies specialise and partner, rather than building large, full-service teams
6. If 2026 is the year of the independent agencies

Guest details

Website: https://agencybyagency.com/

Company LinkedIn :https://www.linkedin.com/company/agency-by-agency/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomsalmonleeds/

Sprint 2025 Industry Report: https://agencybyagency.com/report/industry-report-spring-2025/

The WOW Company Benchpress report : https://www.thewowcompany.com/benchpress

Podcast recommendations:

The Immortal Life of Agencies with Robin Bonn and Zoe Scaman

https://www.codefinery.com/podcast_episode/episode-60-zoe-scaman/

Brought to you by:

Lifestyle is a Plan is brought to you by me, Kelly Molson - an agency advisor on a mission to support solo founders build the agency they want. I’m here to show the agency world that ‘lifestyle agency’ is not a cop out. It’s the future of our industry’s sustainable growth.

You can join my Lifestyle is a Plan newsletter at kellymolson.co.uk

Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, leave a glowing review and share it with your founder friends.

Edited by Steve Folland. stevefolland.com