loader from loading.io

What 2025 Taught Us: Top Agency Owner Interviews of the Year | Ep #867

Smart Agency Podcast: The #1 Digital Marketing Agency Podcast for Social Media, SEO, PPC & Creative Agencies

Release Date: 12/31/2025

From Burnout to Boundaries. Designing an Agency That Energizes You with Ingrid Schneider | Ep #876 show art From Burnout to Boundaries. Designing an Agency That Energizes You with Ingrid Schneider | Ep #876

Smart Agency Podcast: The #1 Digital Marketing Agency Podcast for Social Media, SEO, PPC & Creative Agencies

Would you like access to our advanced agency training for FREE? Do you feel you’re giving everything to your agency and only getting exhaustion as a result? Agencies grow best when they’re built around clarity, empathy, and self-awareness. Whether it’s pricing, boundaries, team management, or AI, the common thread is intention. Today’s featured guest understands that you don’t need to hustle harder. You need to design smarter, around who you are, how you work best, and what kind of business you actually want to run. She’ll share her perspective on agency growth, self-awareness,...

info_outline
Can You Trust AI With Your Marketing Data or Is It Lying to You? With Scott Desgrosseilliers | Ep #875 show art Can You Trust AI With Your Marketing Data or Is It Lying to You? With Scott Desgrosseilliers | Ep #875

Smart Agency Podcast: The #1 Digital Marketing Agency Podcast for Social Media, SEO, PPC & Creative Agencies

Would you like access to our advanced agency training for FREE? Are you feeding your data into AI and assuming the insights it gives you are accurate? What if those confident-sounding answers are quietly steering you in the wrong direction? More agency owners are turning to AI to analyze and interpret performance data, and for good reason. Used correctly, it can save massive amounts of time and move teams beyond using AI to crank out blog posts, ads, or emails faster. But when it comes to attribution, performance analysis, and real decision-making, AI has a dangerous flaw: it’s often...

info_outline
Why Most Agencies Sound the Same and How Yours Can Be Different with David Brier | Ep #874 show art Why Most Agencies Sound the Same and How Yours Can Be Different with David Brier | Ep #874

Smart Agency Podcast: The #1 Digital Marketing Agency Podcast for Social Media, SEO, PPC & Creative Agencies

Would you like access to our advanced agency training for FREE?  Most agencies don’t have a marketing problem. They have a sameness problem. Their websites, their services, their “award-winning team” language. It’s all the same. They even have the same promises that sound impressive but mean absolutely nothing to a prospect who’s heard it 50 times this week. Today’s featured guest has a pretty good idea of why agencies are blending into the background and how the ones that win are doing the opposite. He’ll get into differentiation, AI, pricing confidence, RFPs, and why...

info_outline
From Broken Agency Partnerships to Bulletproof Self-Belief with Cliff Skelliter | Ep #873 show art From Broken Agency Partnerships to Bulletproof Self-Belief with Cliff Skelliter | Ep #873

Smart Agency Podcast: The #1 Digital Marketing Agency Podcast for Social Media, SEO, PPC & Creative Agencies

Would you like access to our advanced agency training for FREE?  Have you ever questioned whether you’re actually built for the hard seasons of agency life? When things get messy, unpredictable, or overwhelming, do you wonder if you have what it takes to keep going or if everyone else somehow got a playbook you missed? Most agency owners don’t wake up one day and decide, “I’m going to build an agency.” They trip into it. One project turns into two, side work turns into real revenue, and suddenly you’re invoicing clients without knowing what an invoice number is supposed to...

info_outline
How to Adapt When Your Agency Niche Stops Working with Laryssa Wirstiuk | Ep #872 show art How to Adapt When Your Agency Niche Stops Working with Laryssa Wirstiuk | Ep #872

Smart Agency Podcast: The #1 Digital Marketing Agency Podcast for Social Media, SEO, PPC & Creative Agencies

Would you like access to our advanced agency training for FREE?  Running an agency today looks nothing like it did even a few years ago. What used to work: SEO-driven inbound leads, tight vertical niches, and predictable platforms, has shifted fast. Today’s featured guest has learned to adapt to these changes and went from having a clear and defined niche to letting clients’ needs guide the next steps for her business. She’ll talk about navigating those changes, evolving your positioning, and deciding whether you’re actually willing to do what adaptation requires. Laryssa...

info_outline
If AI Can Do the Work Faster, What Should Agencies Be Selling? With Eric Weidner | Ep #871 show art If AI Can Do the Work Faster, What Should Agencies Be Selling? With Eric Weidner | Ep #871

Smart Agency Podcast: The #1 Digital Marketing Agency Podcast for Social Media, SEO, PPC & Creative Agencies

Would you like access to our advanced agency training for FREE?  If AI can now write, design, and build faster than your team, what does a profitable agency actually sell next? Most agency owners have experienced a weird mix of excitement and anxiety about AI. On the surface, it feels like everything is changing overnight, including websites, content, search, development, and even how clients perceive value. Underneath that panic, though, there’s a calmer truth: the fundamentals of running a great agency haven’t changed at all. The tools have. Today’s featured guest talks...

info_outline
What It Takes to Scale a 700-Person Agency Without Losing Your Mind (or Margin) with Nital Shah | Ep #870 show art What It Takes to Scale a 700-Person Agency Without Losing Your Mind (or Margin) with Nital Shah | Ep #870

Smart Agency Podcast: The #1 Digital Marketing Agency Podcast for Social Media, SEO, PPC & Creative Agencies

Would you like access to our advanced agency training for FREE?  How big do you actually want your agency to become? Does the idea of running a massive team sound exciting or completely exhausting? For many agency owners, scaling feels less like growth and more like trading freedom for complexity. Scaling an agency isn’t about hustle. It’s about surviving the moments that almost break you, building systems that actually work, and accepting that what got you here won’t get you there. Today’s featured guest understands that running a big agency is about structure and leadership....

info_outline
How to Survive Google Updates, AI Disruption, and Scale a Local SEO Agency with Joy Hawkins | Ep #869 show art How to Survive Google Updates, AI Disruption, and Scale a Local SEO Agency with Joy Hawkins | Ep #869

Smart Agency Podcast: The #1 Digital Marketing Agency Podcast for Social Media, SEO, PPC & Creative Agencies

Would you like access to our advanced agency training for FREE?  Do you feel constantly worried about shrinking organic visibility, heavier ad pressure, and constant change? Running an agency has never been a straight line. Platforms change, algorithms shift, and what worked five years ago can quietly stop working overnight. Organic visibility is shrinking, ads are getting more expensive, and uncertainty feels constant. Today’s featured guest knows that reality and will share her journey from agency employee to founder of a 43-person local SEO agency, along with her honest...

info_outline
How to Choose the Right Agency Niche and Stick With It Through Uncertainty with Filip Lugovic | Ep #868 show art How to Choose the Right Agency Niche and Stick With It Through Uncertainty with Filip Lugovic | Ep #868

Smart Agency Podcast: The #1 Digital Marketing Agency Podcast for Social Media, SEO, PPC & Creative Agencies

Would you like access to our advanced agency training for FREE?  Starting with a clearly defined niche can make all the difference when you’re landing your first clients and deeply understanding that niche can carry you through the toughest seasons of agency life. Today’s featured guest built his agency on exactly that foundation. Before launching his firm, he spent years working as a consultant for governments, UN agencies, and the European Commission. Along the way, he identified a clear gap in the market. That expertise proved invaluable during the pandemic. While uncertainty hit...

info_outline
What 2025 Taught Us: Top Agency Owner Interviews of the Year | Ep #867 show art What 2025 Taught Us: Top Agency Owner Interviews of the Year | Ep #867

Smart Agency Podcast: The #1 Digital Marketing Agency Podcast for Social Media, SEO, PPC & Creative Agencies

Would you like access to our advanced agency training for FREE?  What a year. I sat down with over 100 incredible agency owners—and the insights were unreal. From million-dollar breakthroughs to hard-earned lessons, these founders brought the real talk. In this special year-end episode, I’m sharing the top 5 interviews that stood out most. To everyone who tuned in, shared an episode, or took action from something they heard—thank you. This show is for you, and because of you. Here’s to a smarter, stronger, more scalable 2026. Let’s go.   Subscribe...

info_outline
 
More Episodes

Would you like access to our advanced agency training for FREE? https://www.agencymastery360.com/training

What a year. I sat down with over 100 incredible agency owners—and the insights were unreal. From million-dollar breakthroughs to hard-earned lessons, these founders brought the real talk. In this special year-end episode, I’m sharing the top 5 interviews that stood out most.

To everyone who tuned in, shared an episode, or took action from something they heard—thank you. This show is for you, and because of you.

Here’s to a smarter, stronger, more scalable 2026. Let’s go.

 

Subscribe

Apple | Spotify | iHeart Radio

Sponsors and Resources

E2M Solutions: Today's episode of the Smart Agency Masterclass is sponsored by E2M Solutions, a web design, and development agency that has provided white-label services for the past 10 years to agencies all over the world. Check out e2msolutions.com/smartagency and get 10% off for the first three months of service.

 

AI, Efficiency & the Future of Digital Agencies | with Manish Dudharejia (E2M Solutions)

If you’re running a digital agency and wondering how the hell you’re supposed to keep up with AI, automation, and shifting client expectations—this one’s for you.

Jason sits down with Manish Dudharejia, founder of E2M Solutions, one of the largest white-label partners for agencies, to break down where the real opportunities are—and what’s about to get wiped out.

Spoiler: Agencies that don’t embrace efficiency will get eaten alive.

Whether you’re stuck in fulfillment hell or just trying to stay 3 steps ahead, this is a must-watch if you want to grow smarter, not grind harder.

 

From Freelancer to CEO: How Kriston Sellier Built a Scalable, Human-Centered Agency

Kriston Sellier, Founder of Id8, shares how she broke free from the freelancer grind, stopped being held hostage by a single client, and transformed into a confident CEO with systems, a team, and a business that no longer revolved around her.

We dig into the moment she realized she wasn’t really running a business and how hiring a consultant changed everything (and brought in 25 new clients)

This isn’t fluff. It’s the real path from chaos to clarity—one that too many agency owners skip because they’re stuck reacting.

 

From $1M to $40M: How Chris Dreyer Scaled His SEO Agency with One Counterintuitive Strategy

If you're an agency owner stuck managing chaos, wondering how the hell to grow without everything breaking—this is your blueprint.

I sat down with Chris Dreyer, CEO of Rankings.io, who scaled his agency from barely breaking 7 figures to nearing $40 million in pure service revenue.

And no, it wasn’t because of some sexy funnel or overnight hack. It was because he doubled down on relationships.

Favorite line from Chris:
"You mean to tell me it's not worth $500 to go shake hands with a $125K client?"

This isn’t theory. It’s what the top 1% of agencies are actually doing—and it’s probably not what you’re doing right now.

 

How to Build an Agency Team That Sticks & Clients Who Actually Respect You | Colin Hetherington

I sat down with Colin Hetherington, founder of Dublin’s Common Good and co-founder of Zoo Digital (which scaled to $3M+ with less than 5% turnover). Colin’s the real deal—he’s built agencies people love working at and clients want to stay with.

You’ll hear how Colin combined strategy, creativity, and technical execution to create an agency that stood out—and why focusing on team trust and clarity made all the difference.

Whether you're scaling or starting fresh, there’s gold in this conversation on how to lead without burning out.

 

Do You Want to Transform Your Agency from a Liability to an Asset?

Looking to dig deeper into your agency's potential? Check out our Agency Blueprint. Designed for agency owners like you, our Agency Blueprint helps you uncover growth opportunities, tackle obstacles, and craft a customized blueprint for your agency's success.