Lesson from 15 years leading an agency. | Willow & Blake

Today marks fifteen years of W&B. 

My gut reaction is to downplay what an achievement that is. Or make a joke about how old I am. But instead of being self deprecating I’m stopping to recognise what an achievement it is. 

Fifteen years ago I was 23 and I’d just started W&B as an online magazine with my two best friends. Today W&B is a full service agency providing creative ideas, words and designs to brands all over the world. 

 We’re responsible for the creation of over $1 billion worth of brands. Many of them are female-owned start ups and scale ups. A lot that are now household names. 

We’re not an agency that’s focused on awards or ego-driven results. We build brands as if they are our own. Which means we care—probably too much. 

We don’t have a house style but we do have a tone we’re known for. Our clients come to us because they want something human, something real, something that could only come from the brains of creative people.

We donate two pro bono projects a year. And these are often the most fulfilling jobs. 

We’ve delivered end-to-end campaigns including putting a breast-feeding mum on a billboard and shooting campaigns remotely through COVID.

We don’t work with companies that pull fossil fuels out of the ground, promote gambling or smoking.

We do work with clients that have obscure and big ideas. Brands that are challenging the norm or have a niche. We are one of the only agencies to truly champion copy and tone of voice. 

Why I do what I do is because I believe brands can shape culture. And I am forever enamoured with story telling.

After fifteen years I’m still learning everyday and making it up as I go. But I have learnt a few things:

The hustle never stops. 

My role has changed as the agency has grown but the one thing that’s consistent is you are always learning on the job, pivoting and making shit happen. My instinct is to say if I can do it, you can too. But the reality is owning a business or agency is not for everyone. It’s hard and it's stressful.

Creative ideas (and people) need space to breathe.

Putting creatives in an open plan office and telling them to smash it out is a sure fire way to get sub par ideas back. Let the creatives work how they need to work.

Over communicate. The good, the bad and the ugly. No one can read your mind.

Say what it is you need to say. Even better write it down. To be clear is to be kind. This goes for interactions with your team and clients.

Slack will not save you time. Mute it.

I could spend the whole day on Slack or with ‘busy’ work. Set aside time for high value tasks.

Connection is everything. Don’t get too busy for office banter.

I went through a period where I intentionally pulled back from interacting with my team. I would eat lunch in meetings or at my desk. I would not go to the bathroom because I was too busy. It was sad. Now I actively make time for office banter. It’s often the highlight of my day.

Risk it for the biscuit.

Clients come to us for ideas they can’t get through Chat GPT. The ideas inside our brains that only the brave will put on paper.

Snacks are important for team morale.

Feed the people. Including yourself.