How do you scale an agency in an industry you’ve never worked in?

Anant Sharma is CEO & Founder at Matter of Form, a design consultancy that works primarily with luxury brands. Over the past 15 years, he’s grown the business to a $10m turnover.

In this episode, Anant shares how he:

• Evolved from being a busy fool with a growth-at-all-costs mentality to fostering a safe, calm culture for his team
• Runs a ‘Know Your Client’ initiative to ensure his team is always aligned with clients’ business goals
• Bought a Design Thinking School so his team could double down on L&D and contribute to teaching
• Invests in business support roles, allowing him to focus on what matters most
• Offers executive coaching to all senior team members
• Uses self-deprecation to encourage everyone to be their true selves

Anant aspires for Matter of Form to be a place where people can transform, allowing them to buy into the company and making it a memorable, important part of their career journey.

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 can you make a genuine and positive difference to the entire sector you operate within?

Sam Gregory is co-CEO of the PR agency Tangerine, leading a team of 110 people. She took over the business in 2011 and has overseen significant growth since then.

In this episode, Sam shares how she:

• Puts entrepreneurial spirit and courageous thinking at the heart of everything they do
• Embeds a culture of bold, brave, and creative work aligned with clients' business objectives
• Prioritises a clear vision and overarching business plan as her number one focus
• Maintains full transparency internally with their business plans, decision-making and financials
• Strongly believes in the benefits of their Employee Ownership model
• Actively recruits apprentices to access raw young talent and keep the business at the cutting edge

Sam is dedicated to creating a workplace where everyone feels genuinely valued. And it’s working - last year, Tangerine was featured in Campaign’s Top 100 Best Places to Work.