Why I Walked Away From the Agency Model and What Comes Next
In 2025, I officially stepped away from the traditional agency model.
Not because I failed at it.
Not because demand slowed.
Not because the work stopped coming in.
In fact, the opposite is true.
I have built a strong track record in SEO, SEM, GEO, and digital growth strategy. I continue to receive job offers. I continue to receive referrals. Businesses still reach out asking for guidance, execution, and help solving hard problems.
But over time, something became impossible to ignore.
What I actually do best is not marketing.
What I do best is growing businesses.
Those two things overlap, but they are not the same.
Caring Too Much Has Always Been My Weakness
One of my biggest professional weaknesses is that I care deeply about the businesses I work with.
I have never believed in the phrase “that is not my department.”
When marketing works, operations feel pressure.
When demand increases, systems strain.
When leads flood in, teams scramble.
When processes break, revenue leaks.
I notice those things immediately, and I cannot ignore them.
Experience Across Industries Taught Me How Businesses Really Grow
This mindset goes back to 2005, when I was being paid to set up cloud based systems for general contractors and architects. Long before digital transformation became a buzzword, it was already a necessity.
Since then, I have worked across nearly every type of business environment you can imagine. Solo operators. Mid sized companies trying to scale. Enterprises with hundreds of employees. Founder led businesses. Private equity influenced organizations. Family businesses. SaaS companies. Regulated industries.
But my perspective did not come only from consulting or employment. I have also owned businesses. I have built companies from the ground up, operated them, and sold them. From a truck transport and logistics business to web marketing services and digital growth work, I have lived both sides of the table. That experience changed how I think, how I execute, and how I measure value.
When you have been responsible for payroll, risk, customer satisfaction, and the operational reality behind revenue, you stop treating growth like a set of tactics. You start treating it like a system.
That exposure changes how you see things.
You begin to understand why some businesses stay stuck as one person operations, while others grow into organizations with dozens or hundreds of employees.
Marketing Success Creates Operational Problems
Here is the reality most agencies never talk about.
Good marketing creates problems.
When demand increases, intake systems break. CRMs fail to keep up. Manual processes bottleneck. Teams are unprepared. Fulfillment struggles. Leadership reacts instead of planning.
I have seen this cycle repeat for almost two decades.
Because I am not wired to stop at surface level metrics, my work naturally expanded beyond marketing. I found myself designing workflows, rebuilding CRMs, creating automation, improving data pipelines, and working alongside developers and operations teams.
That curiosity led to something unexpected.
I began building software and SaaS tools for businesses as a direct response to the operational problems that marketing success exposed. Not as side projects, but as real revenue generating solutions.
Why the Agency Model Was Never the Right Fit
I resisted becoming a traditional agency for a reason.
Agencies optimize for billable hours, retainers, scope boundaries, and deliverables. Their success is measured by utilization and churn tolerance.
I optimize for revenue growth, system stability, long term leverage, and compounding results.
Those two approaches are fundamentally misaligned.
The agency model is also heavily diluted. It groups true operators with template sellers. It commoditizes outcomes. It ties value to services instead of impact.
Over time, I found myself having the same conversation repeatedly.
I would drive results that continued producing revenue years after I left, yet my upside ended the moment the engagement ended.
Eventually, I had to ask an honest question.
Did I truly benefit from the value I was creating?
I Am Not Leaving Marketing I Am Changing the Model
I am not walking away from digital marketing.
I still love strategy, search behavior, psychology, conversion architecture, front end systems, AI assisted workflows, product design, and collaborating with developers to build better tools.
What I am walking away from is selling outcomes without ownership.
My model has changed.
I now work with businesses where partnership and ownership are part of the conversation. I look for alignment with founders and leadership teams who understand long term value creation.
I know without hesitation that I deliver growth. Experience sharpens pattern recognition. Time teaches selectivity.
At this stage of my career, I know exactly which industries fit my strengths, which operators are aligned, and which situations are worth long term investment.
From Service Provider to Growth Partner
This shift is not about ego. It is about alignment.
When incentives align, decisions improve. Execution tightens. Innovation accelerates. Trust compounds. Results scale.
I no longer want to be a line item on a budget. I want to be embedded where outcomes matter.
That means fewer engagements. Deeper involvement. Shared upside. Longer horizons.
Gratitude and the Next Chapter
I want to take a moment to say thank you.
Thank you to the people who have believed in me, trusted me, hired me, partnered with me, and referred me over the years. Thank you to the businesses I have worked with across every stage of growth. Many of you gave me the opportunity to solve hard problems, build meaningful systems, and help create real momentum.
I do not take that lightly.
Now, I look forward to this new chapter with partners I have been working with and meeting. I am excited about building alongside people who want to create lasting value, where success is shared, incentives are aligned, and results are built to compound.
And with that, the journey continues.
