Turning Every New Client Opportunity Into an Agency’s Compounding Asset | EP25
The AgencyHabits Podcast
Most agencies treat client work as a series of one-off transactions. But the most successful firms treat every engagement as an investment that compounds over time. In this episode, hosts Peter Kang and Sei Wook Kim introduce the concept of engagement yield: the tangible and intangible value that extends far beyond the invoice. They break down the four components of engagement yield; proof, leverage, relationships, and referrals. And explains how agencies can systematically capture this value. Peter and Sei Wook share practical strategies for turning client work into lasting assets: from...
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Why Peter Wrote a Book on Holding Companies | EP24
The AgencyHabits Podcast
In this special episode, host Sei-Wook Kim interviews Barrel Holdings co-founder Peter Kang about his new book, The HoldCo Guide: How Entrepreneurs Structure and Build a Holding Company That Lasts. Peter shares the organic journey that led him to write the book, from scaling a single agency to building a multi-agency holding company, and why no existing resource fully addressed the topic. He breaks down the core concepts every entrepreneur should understand: the spectrum between capital allocator and operational HoldCos, the critical balance of centralization vs. decentralization, and the...
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Breaking Down Agency Employee Compensation | EP23
The AgencyHabits Podcast
Compensation is more than just a number. It’s a strategic tool for attracting, retaining, and motivating talent. In this episode, hosts Peter Kang and Sei-Wook Kim unpack the full spectrum of employee compensation in an agency setting. They start by acknowledging that while pay is crucial, it’s not the only factor. Culture, management, challenging work, and company trajectory all play vital roles. From there, they dive into the core components: base salary (and how to set competitive, geographically-aware bands), benefits (health insurance, 401k, PTO, and creative perks), and both short-...
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Annual Checkup: 9 Markers to Diagnose Your Agency’s Health | EP22
The AgencyHabits Podcast
Most agencies only seek help when something is broken. But by then, the problems are often systemic. In this episode, hosts Peter Kang and Sei-Wook Kim shift the conversation from reactive fixes to proactive health. They introduce a holistic “annual checkup” framework, mapping nine critical agency functions to body parts and their vital signs: from positioning (vision) and client trust (heart rate) to revenue stability (blood pressure) and risk resilience (immune system). Drawing from their experience building and scaling Barrel, Peter and Sei-Wook explain how to spot early warning signals...
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Evolving from Managing Projects to Growing Accounts | EP21
The AgencyHabits Podcast
Growing from single-project engagements to managing multiple, concurrent work streams is a major turning point for any agency. In this episode, hosts Peter Kang and Sei-Wook Kim unpack the structural shift required to turn this complexity into a sustainable competitive advantage. Drawing from their own hard-earned lessons at Barrel, they dissect the common pitfalls like team silos, client misalignment, and leader burnout, that can derail multi-faceted accounts. Peter and Sei-Wook break down the three critical roles needed for success: Account Leadership for strategy and relationships, Program...
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How Agencies Should Think About and Manage Risk | EP 20
The AgencyHabits Podcast
In this episode, Peter Kang and Sei-Wook Kim break down how agency owners should think about risk, not as isolated problems to react to, but as ongoing exposure that needs to be actively managed. Using a simple risk matrix, they explain how to prioritize risks based on likelihood and impact, and why high-impact risks deserve disproportionate attention. They then walk through nine of the most consequential risks agencies face, from founder burnout and partner misalignment to legal exposure, cash flow insolvency, client concentration, and strategic drift. For each, they share practical ways to...
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Learning From Other Agency Owners | EP19
The AgencyHabits Podcast
Great agencies are not built in isolation. In this episode, Peter Kang and Sei-Wook Kim explore the transformative power of community and peer learning for agency founders. The hosts share their personal journey from working in a silo to actively seeking mentorship and joining dedicated communities, revealing how these connections helped them avoid blind spots, gain crucial perspective, and accelerate their growth. Peter and Sei-Wook break down specific communities that have been instrumental to their journey, including Bureau of Digital, Society of Digital Agencies (SoDA), and Collective 54....
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Why Agencies Rely on Referrals But Few Treat It as a System | EP18
The AgencyHabits Podcast
Most agencies say they rely on referrals, but few treat them as a system. In this episode, Peter Kang and Sei-Wook Kim dismantle the "hope-based" approach to referrals and lay out a strategic framework for building a consistent pipeline. Drawing from the book The Referral Code, they redefine referrals as a transfer of goodwill and share actionable tactics for intentional referral generation. Peter and Sei-Wook cover how to identify the right people to ask, the critical importance of timing your ask within a "state of appreciation," and how to craft effective, open-ended questions. They also...
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The Six Levers of Profitable Client Engagements | EP17
The AgencyHabits Podcast
Profitability is the lifeblood of any agency, yet it can feel elusive. In this episode, Peter Kang and Sei-Wook Kim move beyond surface-level tips to reveal the six fundamental levers that directly impact the bottom line of every project, retainer, and service program. They break down how pricing, staffing, engagement design, scope management, reusable IP, and automation all interlock to create or erode healthy gross margins. Drawing from their experience across the Barrel Holdings portfolio, Peter and Sei-Wook share candid examples of where profitability leaks and provide a practical...
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Scaling Your Agency Beyond $2M | EP 16
The AgencyHabits Podcast
In this episode, Peter Kang and Sei-Wook Kim dissect why agencies hit the $2M and what you can do to break through. They explain how founder-centric systems that work at a smaller scale become the primary constraint to growth, leading to breakdowns in client delivery, team management, and financial visibility. The hosts share actionable solutions, from improving onboarding and implementing debrief processes to strategically hiring for your weaknesses and deepening financial rigor. They also introduce the Agency Systems Playbook, a framework of five core systems that drive a scalable agency....
info_outlineGreat agencies are not built in isolation. In this episode, Peter Kang and Sei-Wook Kim explore the transformative power of community and peer learning for agency founders. The hosts share their personal journey from working in a silo to actively seeking mentorship and joining dedicated communities, revealing how these connections helped them avoid blind spots, gain crucial perspective, and accelerate their growth.
Peter and Sei-Wook break down specific communities that have been instrumental to their journey, including Bureau of Digital, Society of Digital Agencies (SoDA), and Collective 54. They discuss the unique value of both agency-specific and cross-industry networks, and offer practical advice on how to get the most out of being a member. Crucially, they also warn against the "cargo cult" mentality of blindly copying what seems to work for others, emphasizing the importance of understanding the underlying principles and adapting ideas to your own unique context.
For any agency owner feeling stuck or curious about what’s beyond their own four walls, this episode is a compelling case for seeking out your peers.
Key Moments
1. The shift from isolation to seeking external perspective and mentorship.
2. The surprising generosity and transparency found in early one-on-one meetings with admired agency owners.
3. How structured communities like Bureau of Digital and SoDA provide exponential learning and relationship-building opportunities.
4. The value of cross-industry networks like Collective 54 for broader strategic insights.
5. Actionable ways to get the maximum value from any community you join.
6. Understanding and avoiding the dangerous "cargo cult" mentality in business.
7. The long-term benefit: building real, lasting relationships that provide support and perspective for years.
Real Talk Takeaways
1. Early in your journey, you may think you have all the answers, but seeking outside perspective is a sign of strength, not weakness.
2. Most successful agency owners are remarkably open and willing to share their knowledge if you reach out with genuine curiosity.
3. Communities accelerate learning by exposing you to dozens of perspectives and solutions to problems you're currently facing.
4. Cross-industry professional groups can provide unexpected and highly valuable insights applicable to your agency.
5. To get the most from a community, come with a curious mindset, contribute your own experiences, and focus on building real relationships.
6. Never blindly copy a tactic or model from another agency without understanding the "why" behind its success.
7. Treat new ideas as hypotheses to test in small ways within your own context, rather than mandates to implement immediately.
Timestamps
00:00 – Intro: The Power of Learning from Peers
00:28 – Our Early Days: Working in a Silo vs. Seeking Mentorship
02:48 – The Value of Joining a Community
04:00 – Spotlight: Bureau of Digital and Owner Camp
04:39 – Spotlight: Society of Digital Agencies (SoDA)
07:02 – Spotlight: Collective 54 and Cross-Industry Learning
10:23 – How to Get the Most Value from Any Community
13:19 – The Critical Lesson: Avoiding the "Cargo Cult" Mentality
17:03 – Personal Story: Falling into the Copy Trap and Learning From It
19:50 – Evolving Your Approach: Treating Peer Ideas as Hypotheses
21:03 – Final Takeaway: Growth Happens in Community
Notable Quotes
"Early on… the fact that they would, number one, respond. But also set aside time, in some cases, several hours to just sit down with us and talk to us about their business and be super transparent." — Sei-Wook Kim on the surprising generosity found when reaching out to other agency owners.
"In a room with a lot of people who throw around ideas and experiences, it's easy to jump onto things. So I think that's something to be mindful of." — Sei-Wook Kim on the danger of latching onto surface-level tactics without understanding the context.
"Oftentimes, if you're just in your own world, you're siloed and that's all you see. It's hard to have perspective." — Peter Kang on why external learning is critical for agency founders.
"I remember the team would just groan like, 'Oh God, Peter went to another one of these things.' It's gonna be more slew of ideas." — Peter Kang on his early tendency to bring back too many unfiltered ideas from peer meetings before learning to adapt them.
Links & Resources
Peter Kang on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterkang34/
Sei-Wook Kim on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seiwookkim/
AgencyHabits Website: https://www.agencyhabits.com/
AgencyHabits on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/agencyhabits/
Barrel Holdings Website: https://www.barrel-holdings.com/
Barrel Holdings LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/barrel-holdings/
Bureau of Digital: https://bureauofdigital.com/
Society of Digital Agencies (SoDA): https://sodaspeaks.com/
Collective 54: https://collective54.com/