Owning an Agency is an Extreme Sport, with Karley Cunningham | Ep #700

Smart Agency Masterclass with Jason Swenk: Podcast for Digital Marketing Agencies

Is the fear of failure the driving force that keeps you striving towards your goals? For too many agency owners, the relentless stress of this life corrodes their drive, fueling an unhealthy obsession with avoiding defeat at all costs. Putting together a great team and taking the time to stop and figure things out is often the only way to get out of that trap.

Today’s guest managed to do this by implementing the lessons learned from the bike trails. She took the discipline and important insights learned from sports and translated them into business. As a result, she was able to improve her results and grow her agency. Tune in for insights on finding freedom and flow in business without being rooted in fear.

Karley Cunningham is the founder, creative strategist, and growth accelerator of Big Bold Brand Inc., a marketing agency that works with innovators, disruptors, and changemakers who seek a strategic business advantage and desire bold differentiation. Her team helps these innovators sort out their businesses and build great brands.

In this episode, we’ll discuss:

• How a purposeful plan will help you prevent burnout.

• Plan to thrive, not to survive.

• Avoid operating from a place of fear.

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Prevent Burnout with a Purposeful Plan: Taking a Sports Approach to Agency Growth

Karley, a former pro-level mountain biker and passionate sports enthusiast, attributes the most significant impact of sports in her life to the structure it provides. As a creative thinker prone to distraction, she values the discipline and routine that sports have instilled in her, enabling her to focus and succeed.

For her, it’s been easier to absorb business lessons by drawing parallels between sports and business, which is how she’s gotten to important shifts like taking a rest week every six to seven weeks of the year to catch up, think about the agency’s vision, and breathe. Like navigating a challenging trail in the mountains, running an agency requires determination, resilience, and a deep sense of purpose.

However, the most important thing you can do to prevent burnout is to have a plan. Many agency owners let the day-to-day consume them until they feel the only way out of the constant stress is to get out of the business altogether and sell the agency. At this point, they need a clear plan detailing the short-term and long-term goals they’re aiming for that will provide a direction and strategy.

Additionally, Karley’s advice to agency owners is to ensure the journey is as fulfilling as the destination. Just like in outdoor adventures where the climb must be worth the descent, agency owners should find joy and fulfillment in the process of growing their business. By integrating elements that excite and motivate them into their plans, agency owners can maintain their passion and drive toward success. In this sense, she recommends agency owners to "plan to thrive, not survive" as a key mindset to adopt in order to achieve success and growth in their businesses.

Plan to Thrive: Teamwork and Collaboration for Agency Success

Just like preparing for a challenging adventure like hiking the Grand Canyon takes planning ahead and anticipating challenges in order to thrive in the face of adversity. Agency owners should remember that, just like hiking a mountain, doing it all by yourself can prove to be very difficult and even boring.

Having a strong team and a supportive network can make all the difference in your journey. By surrounding yourself with a team of smart and capable individuals, you can leverage their strengths, make better decisions, and achieve greater success as a collective unit. For Karley, watching her team thrive is very rewarding and something you can only get through collaboration, teamwork, and shared decision-making in overcoming challenges and celebrating victories together.

Ditching the Fear Mindset Operating from a Place of Passion

Right now, the next stage for Karley is to prepare to sell her core methodology, which she was able to develop and systemize during the pandemic. As she prepares to turn it into a licensable system, she is admittedly stepping into a scary part of the process, a prospect that both excites and scares her. Despite her apprehension, she is determined not to let fear be the driving force behind her efforts.

Due to the many stresses of agency life, owners can end up fueled by the fear of failure, which is a horrible way to live. Karley encourages agency owners to be aware of what the dangers are but avoid running from a place of fear and instead try to hold on to the enjoyment of the process. To get to this place, think about surrounding yourself with people who know how to navigate those dangers and build a team with the skills to get you out of any situation. By doing so, you can operate from a place of passion and trust in their abilities to succeed.

And if you do ultimately fail, then it can serve as experience for the next adventure. In the end, there are no lives at stake. The agency may die but you’re still here to keep going.

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