Ready to build an agency or consultancy you’re proud of?
You’re in the right place.
In each episode, you’ll hear exclusive insights from agency and consultancy leaders who’ve built thriving businesses.
Discover how they create high-performing teams and build high-performing and sustainable businesses. You can implement their suggestions in your business and see real results.
Hosted by Trenton Moss, leadership coach, exited agency founder and author of the bestselling book, Human Powered.
Building a business where everyone thinks like an owner - with Alex Willcocks
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.
17 Mar 2026
Building a Best Place to Work - with Jessica Hargreaves Paczek
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.
24 Feb 2026
Growing fast without losing humility - with Chris Pearce
How do you grow 37% in a tough market without letting culture, trust or performance slip?
Chris Pearce is Managing Director of Greenpark, the global digital content agency. He’s been running the business for the past 18 months, leading a team of 250 people across six countries during a period of rapid growth.
In this episode, Chris shares how he:
Defines high performance using the trust equation - credibility, reliability and intimacy
Recognises that leaders cast a shadow - and that people copy what you do, not what you say
Knows that impact intended and impact felt are rarely the same
Uses multi-channel repetition to keep values front of mind across a remote, global team
Resists panic hiring during rapid growth, even when teams are stretched and momentum is high
Invests heavily in operational rigour, recognising that growth can easily mask deeper problems
Chris offers a grounded perspective on scaling at pace - and on why humility and trust matter most when momentum is high.
Podcast Authority Score: 18 / 100
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