In this Bee Formless™ Flow Driven CEO conversation, I connected with Frances (Frankie) Milvydas, Founder of In The Making, a communications agency built around creativity, relationships and helping brands make a meaningful impact.

Having spent much of my own career in brand, communications and business transformation, I particularly enjoyed exploring an industry we both know well, including its relentless pursuit of growth and the pressure to keep chasing the next opportunity.

When Frankie started In The Making in 2021, she wasn't planning to build an agency with multiple offices and a growing team. She wanted greater freedom over her time, the work she took on and the people she worked with.

What she calls her happy accident quickly became something much bigger.

Five years later, Frankie describes having lived nine lives in five years, including a frightening period when client retainers reduced, projects were delayed and she was carrying the highest payroll the business had ever experienced.

That moment changed how she approached growth, risk and the responsibility of leadership.

We explored why she's become more deliberate about who she chooses to work with, the importance of trusting her intuition and why long-term client relationships can be a more meaningful measure of business success than constantly pursuing new business.

Our conversation also moved into the changing world of brand and PR, including Frankie's concept of brand listening and why AI is creating new opportunities for communications professionals to become guardians of brand positioning, reputation and the stories being told about businesses.

And through it all, Frankie reminded us that we can take our work seriously without allowing it to become our entire lives.

THE SHAPE SHIFT IN MOTION

What changes when we stop measuring success solely by how much we grow and start considering the relationships, energy and experiences we're creating along the way?

LEARN: DIAGNOSE • UNDERSTAND • SUBTRACT • CHALLENGE

✨ Challenge traditional measures of agency success and the assumption that more clients, revenue and headcount always mean a better business.

✨ Recognise the personal and commercial cost of saying yes to opportunities that don't feel aligned.

UNLEARN: REIMAGINE • RESHAPE • CREATE

✨ Rethink growth through client retention, incremental revenue and relationships built on mutual respect.

✨ Reimagine PR as an integral part of business strategy, brand positioning and reputation rather than a communications activity added at the end.

RELEARN: TEST • IMPLEMENT • EMBODY

✨ Trust your intuition while remaining commercially deliberate about the opportunities you pursue.

✨ Develop a practice of brand listening, understanding how your business is being represented across traditional media, digital channels and AI platforms.

ACTIVE RECOVERY: INTEGRATE • RESTORE • EVOLVE

✨ Give yourself permission to step away from the never-ending to-do list without carrying the guilt.

✨ Create a culture where people can support one another, deliver exceptional work and genuinely enjoy the experience.

🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/frances-milvydas-927a5136/

📸 https://www.instagram.com/inthemakingagency/

💭 Are you building a business around the life and relationships you want, or continually adjusting your life to accommodate the business?

If you're at a critical inflection point, book a Strategic Shape Shift Alignment Call to explore what's shifting and what comes next.

🔗 https://calendly.com/beeformless/discovery

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