Episode Details

Do you really need to have a big agency experience to truly be successful as an agency owner?

In this episode, we'll cover:

• What it's like working at a big agency.
• Why a CCO would leave a large, publicly traded agency.
• Does size matter?
• How you can determine your purpose and use it to build your brand.

For anyone who has questions or doubts in their own abilities to startup a digital agency and run better than the big dogs, you'll have to check out this interview. My guest, Kerri Konik, has worked at some pretty huge agencies, and left her latest as Chief Creative Officer in order to start her own agency. She tells us what it's like at the big agencies and why she left to do her own thing.

The grass isn't any greener at the big agencies… it's greener on the side that you water:)

After years of working at big agencies Kerri started her agency, Brandscape Atelier, five years ago because she felt like she wasn't making much of an impact on her clients' businesses.

Like anything else, there's pros and cons, of course. First and foremost the resources are top-notch. You have a team full of people who are experts in their specific area - people don't wear more than one hat. This means, you can learn a lot and get exposure to the big picture. However, big agencies tend to sound very glamorous when in actuality, they are not. Sure a big agency can be very fast paced and they land 2-3 year agency of record contracts, however there are too many layers to be effective. A typical client/agency meeting often included 18-20 people… making execution very inefficient.

Kerri left because she felt like she wasn't making much of an impact on her clients' businesses. She started Brandscape Atelier (translation: "artist workshop") to bring sophisticated, big agency strategies to small businesses who are looking to grow.

No it does not. You don't need a huge team to do amazing work. Kerri's agency operates with just six core team members and they bring in subject matter specialists as needed. They are in their 5th year and Kerri has no plans to get too big. She feels it's too difficult to be nimble when you are too big.

More benefits of staying small:

• You make decisions based on the long term. Large corporations look at making growth decisions based on the short term, which doesn't have lasting effects for sustainability.
• You can turn down the wrong clients or wrong jobs that distract from your long term goals.
• You can make build your brand equity by defining your purpose. Why you do what you do.

Brandscape Atelier works with startups, small businesses and entrepreneurs that are looking to grow and be competitive with bigger brands. They have a pretty specific criteria on who they will (and will not) work with, including:

1. Businesses that are focused and clear. They want to work with clients who want to make a big impact in their industry.
2. Businesses the agency views as viable and sellable.
3. Businesses the agency can bring to life by bringing the owner's unique and genuine personality into the mix.

Set yourself up for a WIN by being selective in your prospecting. It's hard when you're starting out - sometimes you are hungry enough to take on any work that is thrown your way. If you can avoid making decisions based on short term gain, you will reap long term benefits.

Remember: There's no su