After dedicating 25 years to the fast-paced public relations industry across New York and San Francisco, John McCartney realized his career had plateaued and he was no longer feeling challenged. When his agency faced headwinds at the beginning of 2020, John found himself at a definitive fork in the road: dust off his resume to work for another agency, or take the terrifying leap to chart his own path.

He chose the latter, founding JMAC PR. But John didn't just want to build another PR firm; he wanted to completely overhaul toxic agency culture. Driven by the philosophy that "we work to live, we don't live to work," John built his boutique agency with workplace wellness embedded directly into its DNA. Today, he joins us to talk about his incredible journey from a small-town reporter to a successful agency founder who puts the mental health and well-being of his team above the traditional corporate grind.

In this episode, we cover:

• The Bronx Foundation: How growing up in a single-parent household with a mother who worked seven days a week as a bank teller and at a bakery instilled a relentless work ethic and grounded perspective.
• The Leap of Faith: The fear of leaving behind the security of a consistent corporate paycheck to start a business from scratch, and why John decided it was worth the risk to live a life without regrets.
• Redefining Agency Culture: Why John refuses to be a boss who demands 20-hour workdays. Instead, he hired a fractional HR director and a transformational consultant to meet one-on-one with his team, ensuring every employee feels seen, heard, and supported both personally and professionally.
• The Reality of Founder Income: The "rude awakening" of shifting from guaranteed, predictable corporate pay to structuring an S-Corp, balancing an owner's draw with a "reasonable salary," and navigating the tight financial realities of business ownership.
• Choosing Happiness Over Success: Why John actively prioritizes his mental and physical health through 10 minutes of daily meditation, two-mile walks, and therapy, proving that true success is actually found in peace and balance.

John's ultimate advice for taking the leap? Figure out what brings you joy and what you are good at, then just jump in. The worst-case scenario is that it doesn't work out and you go back to working for someone else—but you owe it to yourself to try.

Where to find John McCartney:

• Website: jmacpr.com
• LinkedIn: John McCartney
• Email: john@jmacpr.com

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101 Ways Out explores how thoughtful, capable people step away from inherited definitions of success and begin designing lives rooted in freedom, meaning, and joy.

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