THAT MOMENT - the podcast about the turning points that change everything. Presented by Supo, each episode sits down with an agency founder or leader and goes deep on one defining moment in their career - the decision, the crisis or the conversation that altered their path. We trace the road in, the moment itself, and everything that came after. No polished success stories, no career highlight reels - just honest, human accounts of doubt, risk and what it actually takes to build something. Because every leader has that moment. This is where they tell it.
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AI isn't the threat. Average is. - Anthony Kennedy
Season 5 · Episode 7
Wednesday, June 17, 2026 • Duration 36:16
Most conversations about AI in marketing start with fear. Will it replace me? What happens to my team? How do I stay relevant?
Anthony Kennedy doesn't start there. He starts with a different question: What work is actually worth doing?
His career has been built inside global organisations. Goldman Sachs in the late 90s, where he fell into an in-house agency role and discovered how deeply you can understand a brand when you're inside it. KPMG, where he built their in-house capability from the ground up. ION, where he scaled an internal creative services function called Impact across 13 offices, 11 time zones, and 15 specialist teams.
Then he stepped away. Earlier this year, Anthony made the choice to work independently - advising senior leaders on AI adoption, in-house team design, and the future of marketing roles. It's the kind of move that only makes sense if you've already figured out what you're actually good at.
And he has. Deeply.
What Anthony has learned through his career - and what he's now using to advise other organisations navigating AI - is that the threat isn't what everyone thinks it is. The threat isn't AI. The threat is average work. And AI has already replaced it.
His reference point comes from David Droga, the legendary creative leader who recently gave an exit interview where he said something that landed hard: "AI has already replaced. It's better than average. Nobody should be trying to save the average." This isn't doom. It's clarity. If AI can do average work better than humans can, then the conversation shifts. The question stops being "how do we protect average work" and becomes "how do we do work that AI can't do."
For Anthony, that's where the real leverage sits. Not in fighting technology. In understanding what technology can't touch - and building teams and organisations around that.
The episode covers the practical reality of this shift. Anthony talks about building in-house teams at the scale he managed at ION - and why in-house agencies matter more now than ever. He talks about the difference between pressure and stress, and why most leaders confuse the two (spoiler: it's about whether you have your task list under control). He shares his hiring principle - "don't hire a**holes" - and why that rule has held across every organisation he's worked with.
But the core of this conversation is about the tools themselves. Anthony uses AI deeply and daily. Six apps on his phone that he engages with every single day. ChatGPT with custom GPTs built around his Gallup Strengths Finder results, so every query comes back with advice tailored to his strengths and guidance on what to delegate. Claude for specific types of creative work. Mistral to create prompts for other AI platforms. Gemini. ProtonLumo with integrated file storage so he can capture ideas on the move and have his AI projects reference them next time he returns.
This isn't theoretical. This is someone who's thought about how to work in this era and is now building the infrastructure to do it well.
The uncomfortable truth he keeps coming back to: 94% of companies are adopting AI into their workflows. Only 6% of people have been formally trained on it. That gap is where the real problem sits. Not the technology. The preparation. The training. The clarity about what you're actually trying to do with these tools.
This episode is for leaders who feel the shift happening and aren't sure where to stand. It's for marketers who know average work is disappearing and wondering what that means for their career. It's for anyone trying to figure out whether they're under pressure (which is manageable) or stress (which breaks you), and whether they've actually got the fundamentals right - clean data, good systems, people who know what they're doing.
Anthony doesn't have all the answers. But he's asking better questions than most. And his experience building inside complex organisations has taught him what actually matters when the work changes.
Saying no to millions. Building something real instead - Alex Holliman, Climbing Trees & Oliver Zenglein, The Boutique Agency
Season 5 · Episode 6
Tuesday, June 9, 2026 • Duration 35:25
Most agency founders never talk about the clients they turned down. The money they left on the table. The moment they realised that winning the pitch and living with the decision were two completely different things.
Alex Holliman and Oliver Zenglein talk about it constantly.
They met through agency networks - the kind of spaces where people go when they need to process things they can't say in normal business settings. They're both in performance marketing. They're both in different countries. And they're both building agencies that look radically different from what the industry expects.
Alex spent his entire career in agencies. Three of the top five media agencies in London. A startup that grew to £25 million before he left. At 35, he thought: if I don't do this now, I work for someone else forever. So he started Climbing Trees 15 years ago. Performance marketing. SEO. Paid media. Ethical from the beginning, but it took him years to realise that ethics wasn't a marketing angle - it was the actual strategy.
Oliver took a different route to the same place. He was a touring musician in a ska-reggae band for years. Then he joined windeln.de as CMO from the very start - watched it scale, watched it prepare for IPO, felt Goldman Sachs money change the pressure in the room. When he realised the IPO timeline wasn't compatible with having a family and staying sane, he left. Founded The Boutique Agency in Munich in 2015. Performance marketing. SEA. The same discipline, different country.
What they discovered - independently, then together - is that turning away business is harder than taking it. Alex has turned down approximately £1 million worth of pitches over three years. Gambling clients. Fast fashion. Fossil fuel companies. Industries they didn't want to amplify. Oliver has a code of ethics that excludes entire sectors, regardless of financial pressure.
About Supo:
You either make money or make a difference. The lie everyone believes. - Clare Sweeney, Keepace Consulting
Season 5 · Episode 5
Tuesday, June 2, 2026 • Duration 31:49
There's a lie we've all been told. You either make money or make a difference. Pick one. Clare Sweeney spent years living that false choice until she couldn't anymore.
For years, Clare worked in commercial - CRM, FMCG, brand development. Senior Client Services Director. She was good at it. But in 2012, a friend's son was given a life-limiting diagnosis. Medical companies weren't interested. The disease didn't fit the commercial model. So Clare volunteered for a year to help set up a charity.
That year changed everything. When she returned to agency, she couldn't feel the same way. She didn't care whether FMCG organizations were selling more products at inflated prices. She wanted impact. And she realised: the lie wasn't true. Profit and purpose aren't enemies. They multiply.
Clare founded Keepace Consulting - a crossover practice connecting commercial skills with charity sector impact. She's proof the boundaries are artificial. That commercial marketing transforms how charities raise income. That partnerships between sectors don't compete - they compound.
But here's what made the real difference: at age ten, Clare had a moment of clarity. She suddenly realised adults weren't operating from some higher plane of certainty. They were just big kids - still making it up and winging it every single day. No magic age where you suddenly know your stuff. Just people, improvising, doing their best.
That insight removed the fear of not being qualified enough. It gave her permission to build something that didn't fit into either category neatly.
This episode tackles the false choice keeping both sectors separated and struggling. It's about why commercial skills look different in a charity boardroom, not worse. Why efficiency isn't a dirty word in the not-for-profit space. Why connection, not loyalty, drives giving.
About Supo:
provides people-first intelligence software for professional services firms, helping businesses maximize profit and motivate their people through powerful, AI-enabled business intelligence dashboards. By connecting over 500+ platforms and providing real-time data analysis, helps firms make better data-driven decisions about their profit, projects, and people.
Product + personality. That's what wins pitches! - Lennon Kelly, M3
Season 5 · Episode 4
Tuesday, May 26, 2026 • Duration 31:58
They pitched against ten other agencies for West Midlands Metro. They beat Midlands and national agencies for MG Motor UK. And they did it all from Shropshire and Birmingham. Lennon Kelly helped make that happen - and he had Coca-Cola, Unilever and Nokia on his CV when he chose to do it.
Lennon Kelly is Client Services Director at M3, a West Midlands agency that's grown from £4 million to over £6.5 million, expanding to Manchester, Dubai, Cardiff and Bristol. But when Lennon joined in 2019, M3 was already punching above its weight with global brands like MG and Harley-Davidson on the roster. What he saw wasn't a regional limitation - he saw a unique proposition that others had missed.
Most people assume you need to be in London to work at the highest level. Lennon spent his formative years proving that wrong. At 28, just a year into agency life, he was put in boardrooms with Unilever. He worked on Nokia's 2310 relaunch. He got exposure to GSK's medical research alongside Aquafresh campaigns. And Coca-Cola - the biggest brand in the world - taught him something he's never forgotten: the responsibility is huge, and it makes you push yourself.
But here's what Lennon discovered working with those global brands: there's a lot of people in higher positions who fail upwards. You're a small part in a very big machine. You don't necessarily get the recognition. And whilst the fringe benefits were great - Premier League games, golf championships, seeing your work wrapped around his dad's Everton burger - he wanted to make more of a difference.
So when M3 showed him their vision, he bet his career on it. Regional talent. World-class training from people who'd left London in their 30s for families and houses, bringing that expertise back to the Midlands. And a team that cared enough about hiring him to send what felt like a cast of thousands to the interview.
The MG Motor UK pitch happened over Zoom during Covid. Lennon hates Zoom pitches - you don't get the one-on-one, you don't get the theatre. But they went big anyway. Two separate creative teams. Care packages sent to the client. Rehearsed to the hill. Paid campaigns targeting them with reinforcing messages. Product plus personality. And the feedback? "We could feel you in the room over Zoom."
People trust people, not logos - Stef Lait, Sphere of Influence
Season 5 · Episode 3
Tuesday, May 19, 2026 • Duration 27:45
Agencies spend millions on paid media every year, yet the most powerful channel they have often sits unused. Not a platform. Not an ad format. But the people at the top of the business. Founder-led and executive-led influence isn't about becoming a creator. It's about trust, credibility, and showing up where decisions are made.
Stef Lait is Founding Director at Sphere of Influence, a human-first, insights-led B2B influencer marketing agency. She spent 10+ years working in PR, social media, and influencer marketing at OST before taking the plunge to launch her own practice. And in that decade, she watched influence shift from being a transactional relationship with external creators to something that comes from within - employee advocates, founder-led advocacy, people who represent the brand because they are the brand.
But here's what Stef kept seeing: some agencies doing it brilliantly, founders building genuine trust and visibility. And many others ignoring the opportunity entirely, treating influence as something you outsource rather than something you embody. The Edelman Trust Barometer has shown for years that brand trust continues to diminish. Voices matter more. People don't trust logos. They trust people. They trust faces.
So why aren't more agency founders stepping up? Stef asks the uncomfortable question: what are you afraid of? If you want your teams to step outside their comfort zones and take risks, you need to be willing to do the same. Lead by example. Get upfront. Especially in the beginning when you're not a well-known brand yet, having someone who is the face of your agency isn't optional - it's essential.
This episode tackles the tension every agency leader faces: how do you build founder-led influence when it feels unnatural, uncomfortable, or simply not "who you are"? And what's the cost of staying invisible when business is happening in DMs, on LinkedIn, and in conversations you're not part of?
About Supo:
Supo provides people-first intelligence software for professional services firms, helping businesses maximise profit and motivate their people through powerful, AI-enabled business intelligence dashboards. By connecting over 500+ platforms and providing real-time data analysis, helps firms make better data-driven decisions about their profit, projects, and people.
"AI is not a technology challenge. It's a people challenge" - Jonathan Healey, IDHL
Season 5 · Episode 2
Wednesday, May 13, 2026 • Duration 28:57
Some careers are built by starting companies. Others are built by staying, evolving, and taking responsibility when it matters. Jonathan Healey has led through acquisition, growth, and reinvention - and at each stage, his role has changed. This episode is about the moments that forced him to redefine himself.
Jonathan Healey is Group Technology Director at IDHL, a role he stepped into after being MD for over a decade. But his journey started far from Yorkshire boardrooms. He began in South Africa during Y2K, driving 10,000 miles in seven weeks installing servers for a bank, trying to avoid millennium chaos. He worked on what was then the southern hemisphere's largest consumer portal - 2 million subscribers, 400,000 daily active mailboxes. Facebook didn't exist yet. Gmail didn't exist yet. And somehow, he ended up leading that dev team.
Then in 2007, Jonathan and his wife made a decision that changed everything. They met some South Africans at a leadership conference in Germany who said they were moving to the UK to start a church. Jonathan and his wife thought: we'd love to do that. Five days in a bed and breakfast in York, suitcases in hand, starting their lives over. He was 28. They built a church community before he built a business. He joined an agency straight away - had to eat - and 18 years later, he's still with that organisation, though it's evolved and changed dramatically.
There's a correlation between risk and faith that runs through Jonathan's story. Leaving security in South Africa to start a church in Yorkshire. Staying when the founder sold the business and becoming MD of a loss-making agency at 33. Stepping away from MD after a decade to focus on AI and technology strategy when most people would cling to the familiar role. Each moment required faith - not religious faith exclusively, but faith that the bigger goal, the bigger reward, the bigger outcome was worth the leap.
Now as Group Technology Director, Jonathan leads technology strategy and AI innovation across IDHL. And his central conviction? The whole AI thing is not a technology challenge. It's a people challenge. Tools matter. But democratising knowledge, building culture, understanding that humans will use technology more than ever - that's what determines whether AI becomes opportunity or distraction.
What buyers really look for in agencies - Jeremy Williams, The Agency Coach
Season 5 · Episode 1
Wednesday, March 4, 2026 • Duration 28:46
Every agency owner dreams of the exit. The moment the deal closes, the burnout ends, and freedom begins. But here's the truth nobody tells you: most agencies will never get there. Not because they lack talent, but because they're building blind.
Welcome to That Moment: Study Edition - a new format where industry leaders share frameworks you can actually use. This isn't philosophy. It's the laminated checklist you stick in your notebook, on your fridge, inside your bathroom cabinet door. The daily sense check of whether what you're doing is actually pivotal in moving toward the goal.
Jeremy Williams is the agency coach who sold his B2B marketing agency for £11 million. He and his business partner set out with a plan from day one - fix a broken agency, turn it around, and execute the exit. They did. Now Jeremy coaches agencies through the same journey, and today he's sharing his Magnificent Seven - the seven things every agency must nail if they want a buyer to write the check.
This isn't for lifestyle agencies content with steady revenue and flexible schedules. This is for growers looking to scale, duplicators building multiple offices, and exiters who've invested everything and need to realize that strategic valuation. If your agency is your biggest investment, your net worth, and you've borrowed money or spent blood, sweat and tears building it - this framework is your roadmap.
The power of seven isn't accidental. Seven days of the week. Seven ages of man. Seven narrative plots. There's something about human psychology that can hold seven different things to remember. It's catchy. It's memorable. And according to Jeremy, it works.
About Supo:
Supo provides people-first intelligence software for professional services firms, helping businesses maximise profit and motivate their people through powerful, AI-enabled business intelligence dashboards. By connecting over 500+ platforms and providing real-time data analysis, Supo helps firms make better data-driven decisions about their profit, projects, and people.
What happens when the wrong path keeps teaching you the right lessons - Rob Sherwood, The Digital Maze
Season 4 · Episode 5
Wednesday, February 18, 2026 • Duration 29:25
What happens when you go from hating marketing to becoming a Growth Director by accident? Rob Sherwood from The Digital Maze knows the answer - and it's nothing like what career advisors tell you.
Most people think successful careers are planned. Rob's wasn't. He studied business management and marketing at Nottingham Trent because the psychological element interested him. His placement year? Tasks so simple he spent six months watching the clock, using his mum's "motivational mountain" - a family tool passed down from his diplomat grandfather - just to survive until it ended. He graduated convinced marketing wasn't for him.
So he pivoted to sales. Got into telecoms bid management at a massive Japanese tech company. Cultural clash between slow-paced lifers and an ambitious 20-something who wanted to travel. He left, spent five and a half months in Southeast Asia (strategic timing - long enough for the experience, short enough not to hurt his CV), came back to another telecoms role. Younger company, boozy Friday lunches, but a bloated sales team where every prospect had already been contacted. Then Covid hit. April 2020. Redundancy.
That's when Rob tried his own thing. Amazon FBA. He followed tutorials to the letter, found a gap in weighted fitness hula hoops - good demand, poor listings, decent pricing. Ordered 1,000 units. Sold out in two months without paid ads. Ordered 4,000 more with better branding. The factory shut for Christmas. His competitors made tens of thousands whilst he sat out of stock. When his shipment finally arrived, every single hoop was broken. The factory had lied about QA. He lost everything.
A friend had offered Rob an agency role before - back when he returned from traveling. He'd turned it down because he wanted London life, not Nottingham. But after the hula hoop disaster, after Covid redundancies, after discovering marketing placements and telecoms sales both felt wrong, Rob reached out again. The timing was perfect. The agency had just bounced back from Covid cuts. And suddenly, working with ambitious brands on PPC, SEO, and web development - it all clicked.
Now as Growth Director at , heads up sales, oversees brand marketing strategy, and supports teams and clients to identify new opportunities - whilst remembering exactly what it felt like to be completely lost.
"It wasn't that it wasn't enough. It was just too much" - Byron de Carvalho, Be Guided Agency
Season 4 · Episode 4
Wednesday, February 4, 2026 • Duration 31:40
How do you walk away from a JSE-listed business with 350 employees and start over solo in London? Byron de Carvalho from Be Guided Agency knows the answer - and it's not what you'd expect.
Most founders dream of the exit Byron chose to abandon. A ghost kitchen empire spanning South Africa. Netflix directing credits. Over 100 restaurant brands operating from his commercial kitchens. The kind of success that looks perfect on LinkedIn. Except Byron was drowning in it. "It wasn't that it wasn't enough," he admits. "It was just too much."
The pivot from feeding film crews to building brands wasn't strategic repositioning - it was survival instinct meeting creative evolution. When Cape Town's 2015 drought devastated his film catering business (the government literally told people to shower once a week), Byron transformed 350 stranded employees into the infrastructure for South Africa's first major ghost kitchen operation. But watching startup after startup fail despite profitable delivery models, he discovered what was actually missing: the branding that connects human problems to business solutions.
Now based in London but living in Valencia, Byron runs Be Guided Agency with a philosophy that makes traditional branding agencies uncomfortable: underdogs become standouts when they stop trying to fit in. He works at the inception phase - the messy R&D stage where founders are still figuring out what they're actually solving - not the polished rebrand phase. And he's built his entire business around three non-negotiables: what he's good at (sales), what he's passionate about (startups), and what keeps him creative (branding). Everything else gets delegated or ignored.
This episode tackles the existential question every successful founder eventually faces: when do you walk away from what's working? And how do you build a business that serves your life instead of consuming it?
The Uncomfortable Truths About Breaking Formulas:
The Ghost Kitchen Revelation: Startups had cheap kitchen space and wholesale food pricing but still failed - the missing ingredient wasn't operational, it was branding that answered "what are you actually solving?"
You message your dream client and they actually hire you! - Daisy Whitehouse, Down at the Social
Season 4 · Episode 3
Wednesday, January 28, 2026 • Duration 38:26
What if landing your dream client was as simple as telling them they're your dream client? In this refreshingly candid episode of That Moment, host Jim Johnson sits down with Daisy Whitehouse, who proved that sometimes the boldest move is just being honest about what you want. Thirteen years ago, she started a Manchester PR agency with nothing but belief. She once messaged the MD of J.W. Lees saying they were her dream client. Years later, he remembered - and hired her for the Boddingtons campaign.
When Daisy launched Down at the Social in 2009, Manchester's PR scene was dominated by 4-5 big agencies who rarely worked outside the city. Media City was a wasteland with no shops, no bars, and recruitment was brutal because nobody wanted to travel there. But Daisy spotted something the establishment missed: social media was exploding, hospitality was booming in Manchester, and every agency was still arguing about who should own those new channels whilst selling the same old press release formula.
Her philosophy - "PR with a purpose beats PR for PR's sake" - sounds simple until you understand what it costs. She's walked away from vanity projects that wouldn't solve actual business problems, challenged clients who wanted newspaper coverage just to say they got it, and built a reputation for being uncomfortably direct about what works and what doesn't. Fourteen years in, she's now using TikTok trends to tell bakery clients which products to make.
This episode tackles the tension every service business founder faces: when do you chase revenue, and when do you stay true to the work that matters? And why does building lasting client relationships require something most agencies won't give - actual time spent understanding their business?
The Uncomfortable Truths About Building an Agency:
The Dream Client DM: Why a simple "you're my dream client" message to William Lees led to the Boddingtons campaign - and what made him remember her years later.
The Manchester Barrier: How northern agencies still fight perception they can't deliver national work - and why clients expect things "considerably cheaper" then get surprised.
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Supo provides people-first intelligence software for professional services firms, helping businesses maximize profit and motivate their people through powerful, AI-enabled business intelligence dashboards. By connecting over 500+ platforms and providing real-time data analysis, Supo helps firms make better data-driven decisions about their profit, projects, and people.
Climbing Trees is a performance ads and SEO agency based in Colchester, Essex, driven to ethically deliver results for companies that will shape the future world. Founded by Alex Holliman in 2010, Climbing Trees specialises in data-driven growth for B2B organisations, e-commerce brands, and purpose-led organisations including Greenpeace and Olympus Cameras. As a B Corp certified agency with the King's Award for Sustainable Business, Climbing Trees integrates sustainability into every decision - from who they work with to how they measure impact. Their methodology seamlessly combines performance discipline with ethical practice, proving that growth and good can coexist.
The Boutique Agency is an award-winning performance marketing agency based in Munich, founded by Oliver Zenglein in 2015. Specialising in SEA, SEO, and paid social, The Boutique Agency helps B2B, e-commerce, travel, and purpose-driven organisations achieve profitable and sustainable growth. With a team of over 40 specialists, The Boutique Agency is B Corp certified and operates with core values of passion, transparency, appreciation, and responsibility. They've established a code of ethics that guides which clients and industries they'll work with, demonstrating that performance marketing and purpose-driven business aren't mutually exclusive.
Keepace Consulting is a cross-sector fundraising consultancy founded by Clare Sweeney. Specialising in connecting commercial expertise with charity and heritage sectors, Keepace works with organisations across culture, heritage, music and social impact to build sustainable income models that honour mission whilst respecting commercial discipline. With 25+ years spanning both worlds, Clare brings proven strategies in legacy fundraising and corporate partnerships. She lightens the load and adds passion and creativity to fundraising - her infectious energy and nurturing approach help fundraisers maximise their potential. Keepace exists to prove that profit and purpose multiply.
Ready to discover why the choice between profit and purpose is a lie - and what happens when you stop believing it? This episode is about why the best work happens when sectors stop pretending they're enemies.
Now M3 is going through B Corp certification - a laborious process that's unpicked every seam of the business. But it's given them a platform for accelerated growth that wouldn't have been possible without changing the culture, not just the processes. The vision Lennon heard in those first few months? It's being realised.
About Supo:
Supo provides people-first intelligence software for professional services firms, helping businesses maximize profit and motivate their people through powerful, AI-enabled business intelligence dashboards. By connecting over 500+ platforms and providing real-time data analysis, Supo helps firms make better data-driven decisions about their profit, projects, and people.
M3 is a fully integrated agency based in the West Midlands with offices in Manchester, Dubai, Cardiff and Bristol. Specialising in automotive, travel, leisure and tourism sectors, M3 has grown from £4 million to over £6.5 million by proving that regional location doesn't limit global ambition. With clients including MG Motor UK, West Midlands Metro, and Aston Villa, M3 combines world-class creative talent with the insight and connection that comes from being outside the London bubble. Currently pursuing B Corp certification, M3 is committed to sustainable growth, local communities, and building a culture where people can deliver their best work.
Sphere of Influence is a human-first, insights-led B2B influencer marketing agency. Born out of a love for meeting new people, collaboration, and making real, measurable impact for businesses, Sphere helps brands and agencies explore or scale their B2B influencer marketing efforts while managing risks. After 15+ years working both brand-side and agency-side in PR, social media, and influencer marketing, Stef Lait launched Sphere to solve the resource and budget challenges businesses face when exploring emerging marketing sectors. Whether you're dipping your toe in influencer waters or ready to scale your campaign, Sphere manages the entire process from beginning to end - strategically, authentically, and with measurable results.
Ready to discover why the most powerful channel you have isn't a platform - it's you? This episode isn't about becoming a creator. It's about leading by example and showing up where trust is built.
This episode tackles the uncomfortable question every agency leader faces: when do you stay and evolve, and when do you leave? And what does it cost to redefine yourself when you've spent years mastering one role?
About Supo:
Supo provides people-first intelligence software for professional services firms, helping businesses maximise profit and motivate their people through powerful, AI-enabled business intelligence dashboards. By connecting over 500+ platforms and providing real-time data analysis, Supo helps firms make better data-driven decisions about their profit, projects, and people.
IDHL partners with organisations where growth is complex and marketing carries real commercial weight. For 25 years, they've helped brands decide what to prioritise, where to invest, and how to connect demand, experience, and conversion into systems built for growth. Through IDHL Labs, their technology incubator, they test and apply AI and automation in real-world conditions - developing tools with clear guardrails so work becomes more efficient and performance improves in measurable ways. The focus stays on commercials and continuous improvement: results you can see, measure, and sustain.
Jeremy Williams sold his B2B marketing agency for £11 million and spent three years navigating the earn-out period. Now he coaches agency owners through growth, scale, and exit strategies, helping them build businesses that buyers actually want to acquire. His Magnificent Seven framework distills the essential principles that determine whether an agency achieves a strategic exit or simply fades. Jeremy works with growers, scalers, and exiters who are intentional about building valuable, saleable businesses.
Ready to discover whether you're building toward exit or just building blind? This Study Edition isn't about dreaming of the payday - it's about the seven daily disciplines that make the payday possible.
The Digital Maze
Rob
This episode tackles the uncomfortable truth about careers: sometimes the answer isn't planning better. It's being brave enough to admit what isn't working and staying open to what might.
About Supo:
Supo provides people-first intelligence software for professional services firms, helping businesses maximise profit and motivate their people through powerful, AI-enabled business intelligence dashboards. By connecting over 500+ platforms and providing real-time data analysis, Supo helps firms make better data-driven decisions about their profit, projects, and people.
The Digital Maze is a performance marketing agency based in Derby, supporting ambitious brands nationwide. Specialising in PPC, SEO, and web design & development, the agency works across sectors from Home & Garden and Food & Beverage to professional services. The Digital Maze focuses on delivering exceptional agency experience through strategic marketing that increases leads, sales, and business growth. The agency also runs Marketing Mastered - quarterly events, monthly newsletters, and a community for Derby's marketing scene to meet, learn, and level up.
Ready to discover why winding careers aren't failures, they're education? This episode isn't about planning better - it's about the self-belief required to admit what isn't working and stay open to what might finally click.
The Cling Wrap Epiphany: Watching his grandmother buy plastic film from a VeryMock infomercial taught teenage Byron everything about branding - they weren't buying cling wrap, they were buying being noticed.
The Exit Strategy Failure:Byron's biggest regret wasn't building too big - it was staying three years past his exit date because he got greedy.
The Self-Sufficiency Moat: When a film producer complained about crew needing vans and assistants, Byron bought trucks, generators, lighting, and toilets - self-sufficiency became his competitive advantage.
About Supo:
Supo provides people-first intelligence software for professional services firms, helping businesses maximise profit and motivate their people through powerful, AI-enabled business intelligence dashboards. By connecting over 500+ platforms and providing real-time data analysis, Supo helps firms make better data-driven decisions about their profit, projects, and people.
Be Guided works with tech and SaaS startups at inception phase - before product is defined, before positioning is clear, before founders know what they're solving. Operating between London and Valencia, the agency positions itself as the guide in the hero's journey: your customer is the hero, not you. Be Guided combines Byron's experience building multi-million pound businesses with his film and storytelling background, bridging founder anxiety and brand strategy. The agency specialises in uncovering the "last problem" - not what's in your product, but where it gets your customer.
The Snobbery Problem: When The North Face wouldn't use a Cumbria agency because journalists were in London - and one founder who bucked that trend.
The Media City Gamble: Moving into an office "in a wasteland" with no infrastructure whilst established agencies stayed comfortable in the city centre.
No Tories, No Vapes: The business model built on cultural fit and values alignment - not just whoever pays well.
The Influencer Evolution: From food bloggers everyone hated to TikTok creators driving frozen meal sales so successfully that new retail opportunities opened within weeks.
About Supo:
Supo provides people-first intelligence software for professional services firms, helping businesses maximise profit and motivate their people through powerful, AI-enabled business intelligence dashboards. By connecting over 500+ platforms and providing real-time data analysis, Supo helps firms make better data-driven decisions about their profit, projects, and people.
Down at the Social is a Manchester-based PR and social media agency specializing in making newsworthy brands famous through campaigns that put "bums on seats and move products off shelves." Their approach blends traditional PR with social media strategy, content creation, and event management - always grounded in understanding client businesses deeply rather than chasing vanity metrics. Named the third fastest-growing agency in the North, they've built their reputation on being uncomfortably direct, culturally selective (no Tories, no vapes), and committed to long-term relationships over quick wins.
