How do you step into your first CEO role, make difficult restructuring decisions whilst merging two businesses and still build trust quickly?

Rebecca Crook is CEO of MSQ DX, the digital impact company. She leads a 150-person business across the UK and Spain as part of the wider 550-person global MSQ DX group.

In this episode, Rebecca shares how she:

• Learned that first-time CEOs should throw away their perfect 100-day plan and spend far longer listening than acting
• Redefined high performance around client commercial outcomes - and not utilisation, delivery milestones or agency output
• Built trust during a major merger through radical transparency, open access and a genuine “Ask Me Anything” culture
• Created unusually high engagement with internal comms with optional all-hands deep dives, team-led sessions and practical forums
• Hired an AI Collaboration Director to align the business around an AI strategy for its people
• Uses office culture deliberately to accelerate learning - especially for younger talent who benefit from informal day-to-day exposure

Rebecca offers a candid look at leading through uncertainty, making difficult calls early and why trust is the operating system behind meaningful change.

How do you transform a 1600-person global agency without leaving your people behind?

Annabelle Walters is Global Chief People Officer at Jellyfish, leading the people and talent strategy across 30 offices in 22 countries. She’s helping reshape performance, culture and leadership while preparing the business for an AI-driven future.

In this episode, Annabelle shares how she:

• Defines high performance around impact - and not visibility, busyness or activity
• Pushes leaders to talk openly about change, rather than letting uncertainty fill the gaps
• Treats AI adoption as a shared responsibility between the business and individual employees
• Rebuilt performance management to connect individual goals to wider business outcomes
• Explains why removing line managers created distance between leaders and their people
• Uses radical transparency, frequent town halls and open dialogue to keep a global business aligned

Annabelle offers a candid perspective on how to lead people through large-scale transformation and prepare teams for an AI-shaped future.

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.

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.

How do you rapidly scale a profitable agency in just two years?

Vicky Hope is Co-Founder & CEO at LOOP Agencies. In only two years, they’ve grown to 15 people and are on track to double in size over the next year.

In this episode, Vicky shares how she:

• Used half their original funding to pre-book a Christmas party for a team that didn’t yet exist - giving them something to aim for
• Resigned a disrespectful client in the early days, even though that client was funding the business
• Encourages brilliant work by challenging everyone to be bored with the status quo and excited by tackling hard problems
• Awards spot bonuses privately to acknowledge the small, behind-the-scenes actions that go above and beyond
• Transitioned to an employee-owned business model (EOT) after just two years
• Is already building the next level of leadership to enable succession planning, creating an exit path for herself and her co-founder

Vicky embeds the mantra "It won’t fail because of me" throughout the business, ensuring everyone understands their role in the company’s success.

How do you create a strong culture and community with a global remote team?

Ranzie Anthony is co-founder and CEO of Athlon, a global design & technology company. He’s been running the business for 14 years, with a team of 100 people across 4 continents.

In this episode, Ranzie shares how he:

• Overcame cultural, language, time zone, and process differences to build a high-performing global team
• Brings the team together to build cultural bonds and create enduring memories
• Rewards and recognises positive behaviour whenever someone does something great
• Sets a one-team culture, treating everyone equally, regardless of location or role
• Fosters a sense of community where people care for each other and go the extra mile
• Encourages team members to embrace change so they have maximum impact on the business over time

Ranzie believes strongly in a remote-first and global culture. It leads to better wellbeing for the team and a greater understanding of life in different parts of the world.

How do you create a performance culture whilst maintaining warmth and affection?

Ian Finch is founder and CEO of Mando Group, a digital consultancy that makes technology work for everyone. He’s been running the business for 27 years.

In this episode, Ian shares how he:

• Moved away from decision-making led by informal watercooler moments to being highly metric-driven
• Uses the VMOST framework to cascade business goals into team, department and individual goals
• Profiled his superheroes internally and built out values and core competencies from their behaviour
• Realised that his workaholic tendencies and high expectations meant that his team couldn’t thrive
• Uses NLP coaching with his team so they come up with the answers themselves and get into a performance state
• Moved away from having a ‘duty obligation’ by realising that just because he can do something, it doesn't mean he should do it

Ian candidly shares the story of his major burnout and having to step away from running the business for 3 months. He gradually reintegrated and transformed his leadership style to become an enabler to his team.

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.