How do you build an agency where people don't just work – they genuinely want to belong?

Julie Oxberry is Co-Founder of Household, the brand experience design agency in London and New York. 22 years after launching the business, she shares how culture is built through trust, communications and giving creative people the freedom to do their best work.


In this episode, Julie shares how she:

• Builds belonging through deliberate rituals, from weekly agency-wide meetings to fast-paced Pecha Kucha sessions that help people get to know each other
• Uses transparency, shared ownership and B Corp principles to create a culture built on trust rather than hierarchy
• Links everyone’s objectives directly back to the agency's growth plan, ensuring performance is measured through both results and values
• Believes creativity thrives when people have clear commercial boundaries, fast decision-making and the freedom to move without micromanagement
• Applies the idea of creating "fans, not customers" internally, building a team that stays committed because it understands and believes in the business
• Learnt that leadership means communicating before every answer is known and stepping back so others can step forward

Julie offers a thoughtful perspective on building an enduring creative business - showing that trust, transparency and a genuine sense of belonging create a stronger business than control ever can.

How do you evolve a founder-led agency into a truly global business - without losing the entrepreneurial spirit that made it successful?

Toby Southgate is Global CEO of We Are Social, the socially-led creative agency. Having taken over from the founders, he now leads 1200 people across 16 offices worldwide, helping the business mature into its next stage of growth while protecting the culture that fuelled its success.


In this episode, Toby shares how he:

• Turned 16 independently operating offices into one connected global agency through structure, communication and shared leadership
• Introduced the idea of a global constituency, so everyone sees themselves as part of something much bigger than just their local team
• Believes leaders should communicate change relentlessly, explaining not just what's happening but why it matters
• Protects teams by absorbing commercial pressure rather than passing it down through the organisation
• Preserves an entrepreneurial mindset by giving teams space to adapt inside clear behavioural frameworks
• Embeds culture throughout the employee journey instead of relying on values written on office walls

Toby offers a thoughtful perspective on leading after founders, building trust through transparency and creating an organisation where people feel connected, supported and able to do their best work.

How do you scale a consultancy without becoming the bottleneck yourself?

Ben Tye is CEO of Gate One, the growth transformation consultancy within Havas. Alongside leading a 300-person business across three continents, he also works as a psychotherapist - giving him a unique perspective on leadership, organisational change and human behaviour.


In this episode, Ben shares how he:

• Explains why giving someone your complete attention is often more valuable than offering a quick solution
• Uses psychotherapy principles to uncover what sits beneath resistance, conflict and indecision inside leadership teams
• Trains managers to coach rather than rescue, reducing dependency and encouraging genuine accountability
• Organises a growing consultancy around “bases” that give people both a sense of belonging and a platform to grow from
• Transitioned Gate One from founder-led decision-making to distributed leadership with clearer ownership across the business
• Learnt that the hardest leadership shift is letting teams solve problems without stepping in to fix them

Ben offers a thoughtful perspective on what leaders need to unlearn as their organisations grow - and why curiosity often beats certainty.