Real conversations with agency owners.

Karl O'Brien spent eight years running a Dublin digital marketing agency before pivoting into software. Storehero is now the AI growth coach for ecommerce brands and agencies, with billions of dollars of revenue passing through the platform annually and customers across 15 countries (60% of them agencies).

Jake Thompson runs Outwork, a video content and performance marketing agency in Holywood, County Down. After nine years as a freelance videographer, he built a productised offer (30 pieces of video creative in a day), wrapped Meta ads around it, then added back-end management to turn one-off projects into longer-term client relationships.

Kathryn Byberg runs Little Leaf, the world's only specialist PR and communications agency for sexual wellness. Founded at the start of COVID and now a remote team of 14 across the UK, Europe, the US and Canada, working with sex toy brands, lubricant brands, retailers and educators across the US and UK.

Fergal Hughes runs FH Design out of Magherafelt as the Lean Brand Designer. After his first studio, Shady Dolphin, closed during COVID and his father passed suddenly, he went solo, learned Lean from his uncle's SOP business, and built a niche almost nobody else has claimed: lean branding for manufacturers.

David Kieran started Marketing For Me out of his attic in Dundalk in 2016, going door to door selling websites when other digital marketers refused to leave their laptops. Nine years later he is the founder and MD of Zoma, a 15-person full-service agency, front of shirt sponsor of Dundalk FC, and exploring a US office and an AI sub-brand.

Pete Lynagh runs HAUL Agency out of Melbourne, a marketing and personal branding agency for the transport and logistics industry. Two years ago he rebranded from a generalist agency and went all in on one vertical. In this episode we talk about why niching down is a commercial advantage, the four-quadrant content model that keeps clients, staff, and new talent engaged, and where AI is pulling the agency next.

Elizabeth and Anthony Heaney started Squint Creative from their apartment during COVID lockdown in 2020, while both working 12-hour shifts at a diagnostics company. Five years later they run one of the most distinctive CGI and fake out of home studios in the country, working with Primark, Boost and Visit Belfast. In this episode we talk about building a business on the side, running one with your spouse, and how AI is reshaping the CGI workflow.

Aedin O'Neill runs Grow Web, a boutique PPC and paid media agency in Belfast. She made a deliberate choice to stay specialist: 80% performance, 20% brand. No full-service drift. In this episode we talk about why specialism is a competitive advantage, the daily fight for brand control against Meta and Google, and the advantage of running a business with a sibling.

Mark Kelso co-founded Glaze Digital, a Shopify Plus partner in the top 1.5% globally. We talk about what happened when they matched the commercial side of the business to the technical excellence that was already there. 47% revenue growth and 110% profit growth in 13 months.

Cathal O'Reilly built Rooftop Twenty Two from his bedroom in 2020 to a 14-person agency in Dublin. We talk about the moment he stopped being a freelancer with a team and started running an actual business.