334. Create Predictable Profitability, with Marcel Petitpas
The Innovative Agency
On this episode of The Innovative Agency Podcast Sharon Toerek is joined by Marcel Petitpas, CEO and co-founder of Parakeeto. Their conversation focuses on one of the most persistent and misunderstood challenges facing agency leaders today: profitability. Often when margins feel tight, we blame pricing, overhead, or “the market.” But even agencies with growing revenue can struggle to take home real profit. Marcel helps us look beneath the surface to uncover what’s actually driving (or draining) your margins. From breaking the habit of measuring success by revenue alone to...
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333. Succession Under Pressure, with Christy & Whit Hiler
The Innovative Agency
On this episode of The Innovative Agency Podcast Sharon Toerek welcomes Christy and Whit Hiler of Cornett, for a candid conversation about what happens when leadership, legacy, and marriage all intersect. As a married couple stepping into agency ownership, Christy and Whit share the real story behind succession and transition: the uncertainty, the high-stakes decisions, and the mindset shifts required to reimagine what ownership can look like. They unpack how intentional decision-making became their anchor, how they strengthened culture while the ground was moving, and why betting on...
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332. The Value of Brand Today, with Marc Rust
The Innovative Agency
Branding is often treated like decoration. Something you polish after the “real” business decisions are made. But when agencies are navigating growth, mergers, acquisitions, or fundraising, that mindset can quietly erode value. Today on The Innovative Agency Podcast, Sharon Toerek is joined by Marc Rust, CEO and Founder of Consequently Creative, to challenge that thinking head-on. Marc works with venture-backed and high-growth organizations, and has seen firsthand how intentional branding becomes a strategic asset, not a risk. In this conversation, he breaks down why branding is far more...
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331. Visibility Beats Perfection, with Carrolee Moore
The Innovative Agency
So many agency owners struggle with the tension between wanting to be visible and waiting until their message feels “perfect.” On this episode of The Innovative Agency Podcast, Sharon Toerek sits down with Carrolee Moore, CEO and founder of Podcast Pitching Society, to challenge that mindset and unpack why visibility, not perfection, is the true foundation of agency growth. Drawing from her journey running a multi-six-figure agency to building a business around strategic storytelling, Carrolee explains why so many agency leaders struggle to get noticed by the right clients. She reveals how...
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330. Advance Your Agency’s Operational Maturity, with Harv Nagra
The Innovative Agency
This episode of The Innovative Agency Podcast welcomes Harv Nagra, host of The Handbook podcast and Head of Brand Communications at Scoro, to unpack a hard truth many agency owners overlook: growth stalls when operational maturity can’t keep up with success. Harv draws from his own agency experience to explain why chaos, burnout, and shrinking margins are often symptoms of broken systems, not broken strategy. He breaks down the five pillars of operational excellence, the stages agencies move through as they grow, and the exact moments when “winging it” stops working. If your agency feels...
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329. What Clients See That Agencies Miss, with Armando Turco
The Innovative Agency
This episode of The Innovative Agency Podcast features a guest that has truly seen our industry from every angle. Armando Turco, President of Mojo Supermarket, has built a career that spans major creative agencies, brand consultancies, media companies and crucially, leadership roles on the client side. That journey gives him a rare, unfiltered perspective on what’s really happening inside client organizations right now. Armando discusses what agency leaders often don’t see: the internal pressures brands face, where agencies unintentionally create friction, and why smaller, independent...
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328. Find Opportunity in Uncertainty, with Brook Shepard
The Innovative Agency
On this episode of The Innovative Agency Podcast Sharon Toerek welcomes CEO and co-owner of Mason Interactive, Brook Shepard, for a conversation about one of the most pressing realities every agency leader is feeling right now: uncertainty. Brook offers a candid look at navigating volatility, understanding what today’s clients truly expect, and why deep industry expertise has become one of the most powerful differentiators an agency can cultivate. He also shares smart, practical ways to uncover pockets of optimism, from demographic changes reshaping higher education to the relentless...
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327. Cracking the ROI Code, with Sam Piliero
The Innovative Agency
On this episode of The Innovative Agency Podcast Sharon Toerek is joined by someone who understands the real pressures agency owners face in today’s results-driven digital world. Sam Piliero, Founder of The Moonlighters, went from running entrepreneurial lemonade stands as a kid to leading a high-performing agency serving nearly 100 clients across Facebook, Google, and the ever-shifting digital advertising landscape. Sam digs into the challenges that keep agency leaders up at night: proving tangible ROI when the metrics get murky, navigating client churn, recruiting and retaining top-tier...
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326. Breaking the Trust Recession, with Ari Galper
The Innovative Agency
This episode of The Innovative Agency Podcast features one of the world’s foremost authorities on trust-building in the sales process, Ari Galper. If you’ve been feeling the squeeze of longer sales cycles, increasing commoditization, or the growing “trust recession” impacting today’s marketplace, this conversation will hit home. Founder of AriAI, Ari joins Sharon Toerek to unpack the very real challenges agency owners face as AI accelerates competition and prospects become more skeptical than ever. He digs into the shift from outdated, high-pressure selling to a trust-centric...
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325. Your Agency + Small Businesses = Big Opportunities, with Aya Kikimova
The Innovative Agency
On this episode of The Innovative Agency Podcast Sharon Toerek welcomes Aya Kikimova, Founder and CEO of LeapEngine, for a conversation that hits directly at one of the biggest questions agency leaders are wrestling with today: How do you build a profitable, innovative marketing practice while serving small and midsize businesses for clients who need high-quality work but often operate with leaner resources? Aya shares her intentional journey from working with major enterprise brands, both at top agencies and inside Microsoft, to crafting a service model purpose-built for entrepreneurial...
info_outlineToday on the Innovative Agency Podcast, Sharon Torek is joined by Emily Hatton, an expert at turning bold ideas into real, measurable progress. If your agency has ever wrestled with too many opportunities, scattered priorities, or half-finished projects collecting dust, you’ll want to lean into this conversation.
Emily unpacks the hidden barriers that keep agencies stuck in “idea mode” instead of execution, and more importantly, how to break free. From rescuing abandoned initiatives to deciding which opportunities truly deserve your team’s energy, Emily shares practical frameworks every agency leader needs right now. She also lays out clear strategies for triaging ideas, empowering your team, and applying the right operational tools to keep innovation alive and growth on track.
Move from inspiration to action, and keep your agency’s best ideas from slipping through the cracks.
What you will learn in this episode:
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Why agencies are often tempted to expand their service offerings too quickly and the risks that come with that
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Concrete strategies to help agency leaders filter and prioritize ideas before investing time and resources
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How founders and teams can use simple, systematic frameworks to separate truly valuable opportunities from distracting shiny objects
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Ways agency leaders can empower their teams to vet and present innovative ideas, without losing sight of business goals
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How to strike a balance between chasing innovation and maintaining operational focus in today’s volatile market
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The overlooked power of using existing tech stacks and automation tools for operational efficiency
Bio
Emily Hatton is a strategic growth consultant providing operational excellence, and financial precision for ambitious agency founders. She is Founder of The Female Founder Space.
Resources:
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Website: https://emily-hatton.com/