How do you build a culture that people believe in - and behave differently because of?

Alex Willcocks is Founder and Managing Director of Engage, a 60-person digital agency. He’s grown the business over the past 18 years with a relentless focus on people, culture and performance. More recently, he transitioned the business to employee ownership.

In this episode, Alex shares how he:

• Created three values that are deliberately impossible to copy into any other business
• Uses those values as an anchor for performance and to shape how people think and act
• Built a detailed competency framework where behaviours map directly back to each value at every level
• Reframes performance improvement plans as a way to support people back to their best, not manage them out
• Introduced employee representatives on the board to improve decisions and remove a “them and us” dynamic
• Runs the “Elympics” to drive energy, wellbeing and connection - while raising money for local charities

Alex shows what it looks like when culture is consistent over time, and how clarity, ownership and shared standards compound into real performance.

How do you keep culture sharp, standards high and people engaged as an agency grows?

Jessica Hargreaves Paczek is CEO of Pretty Green, the creative comms agency behind global fame-making campaigns. She leads a 70-person team and has helped build an agency that’s been named a Best Place to Work for four years in a row.


In this episode, Jess shares how she:

• Uses EOS to give everyone clear accountabilities, quarterly priorities and a strong sense of where they fit
• Treats people, purpose and performance as inseparable (rather than seeing culture as a side project)
• Has turned their values into behaviours, giving teams practical permission to take smart risks and give clearer feedback
• Invests heavily in team feedback, from CEO one-to-ones to internal focus groups that surface issues leadership might otherwise miss
• Brings talent, onboarding, retention and social impact close together through a heavily resourced people function
• Runs the ‘CanCanLion’ Awards, to recognise and reward outstanding ‘less ordinary’ and creative work

Jess offers a thoughtful look at what it takes to build a high-performing agency culture - more clarity, more listening, more repetition and a willingness to keep tightening the system as the business evolves.

How do you build an agency group that’s more than the sum of its parts?

Tina Judic is Co-Founder and Chairman of the independent agency network Tomorrow Group. She founded the search agency, Found, 17 years ago and has since built this into a group of five agencies.

In this episode, Tina shares how she:

• Stepped aside from running her own agency to lead at group level, overseeing and empowering MDs across the businesses
• Protects the distinct culture of each agency while aligning them to deliver greater group-wide impact
• Spun out the data team into a standalone business with its own brand - and learnt some hard lessons along the way
• Acquired agencies and learned why protecting rhythm and culture matters, deliberately keeping each one independent
• Created group-wide roles across AI, delivery and growth to connect the businesses and drive consistency
• Anchors impact around four core traits across the group - curiosity, drive, honesty and empathy

Tina candidly explains what it really takes to move from running one agency to leading a group of businesses that thrive together.

Welcome to Human Powered, the new podcast about creating a high-performing agency or consultancy business.

In the first episode, our host, Trenton Moss, explains why he's launching the podcast in conjunction with his bestselling book, also called Human Powered.

How do you align an entire business around a set of outcomes?

Zoë Blogg is Managing Director of the search marketing and digital PR agency Reboot. She took over the business from its founders just six months ago.

In this episode, Zoë shares how she:

• Shifted from Operations Director, focused on fixing everything, to leading the entire business
• Runs two weekly sprint cycles with the Senior Leadership Team, focused on outcomes tied to annual OKRs
• Shares weekly OKR progress with the entire team, so everyone understands how the business is performing
• Works to an annual plan - but no longer plans further ahead due to rapid market shifts
• Uses the 9-box grid to track performance and potential, and to monitor people’s progress over time
• Runs a weekly client-skills session for all client-facing team members

Zoë leads Reboot on a 4-day working week, which has driven clear gains in productivity, utilisation, creativity, revenue and profit.

How do you launch and scale a business with an average employee age of 24?

Alex Bodini is Co-Founder & Group CEO at Spin, a creative-first social agency. Over 9 years, he's grown the business to 75 people.

In this episode, Alex shares how he:

• Uses the High Challenge, High Support framework to drive supportive performance growth
• Takes on the role of 'Chief Repeating Officer' when introducing new concepts to the business
• Has invested in a 'professionalising the business' initiative for the past 2 years, bringing in senior talent to shape structures and processes
• Shifted the business from being a stepping-stone employer to a destination employer
• Focuses on creating enough headroom for all their talent to continue growing
• Acquired other agencies and worked to integrate their operations and cultures

Alex uses the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) to guide everything they do, from setting Rocks to running Level 10 Meetings, and assessing the team regularly with the People Analyser.

How do you rapidly scale a profitable agency in just two years?

Vicky Hope is Co-Founder & CEO at LOOP Agencies. In only two years, they’ve grown to 15 people and are on track to double in size over the next year.

In this episode, Vicky shares how she:

• Used half their original funding to pre-book a Christmas party for a team that didn’t yet exist - giving them something to aim for
• Resigned a disrespectful client in the early days, even though that client was funding the business
• Encourages brilliant work by challenging everyone to be bored with the status quo and excited by tackling hard problems
• Awards spot bonuses privately to acknowledge the small, behind-the-scenes actions that go above and beyond
• Transitioned to an employee-owned business model (EOT) after just two years
• Is already building the next level of leadership to enable succession planning, creating an exit path for herself and her co-founder

Vicky embeds the mantra "It won’t fail because of me" throughout the business, ensuring everyone understands their role in the company’s success.

How do you create a strong culture and community with a global remote team?

Ranzie Anthony is co-founder and CEO of Athlon, a global design & technology company. He’s been running the business for 14 years, with a team of 100 people across 4 continents.

In this episode, Ranzie shares how he:

• Overcame cultural, language, time zone, and process differences to build a high-performing global team
• Brings the team together to build cultural bonds and create enduring memories
• Rewards and recognises positive behaviour whenever someone does something great
• Sets a one-team culture, treating everyone equally, regardless of location or role
• Fosters a sense of community where people care for each other and go the extra mile
• Encourages team members to embrace change so they have maximum impact on the business over time

Ranzie believes strongly in a remote-first and global culture. It leads to better wellbeing for the team and a greater understanding of life in different parts of the world.