Prologue
25 years? 25 years!
25 years ago—when Agenda started—I was just starting too. My senior year of high school. Mind firmly planted on catching a major case of senioritis as well as what my future might bring at college the following year. I was an aspiring pre-med with grandiose visions of becoming a fancy doctor to rival my father one day.
So that worked out.
But actually it did. It taught me a really valuable lesson about the nonlinearity of life. That things taking a different path and turning out not as you may have dreamed or imagined can end up being pretty amazing.
What actually happened
So I graduated college, not pre-med. Moved to New York. Had some jobs in the agency world. Got my MBA. I was then lucky enough to find the wonderful world of branding, spending the next 10ish years pushing myself to the brink in order to work my way up at some of the top branding firms in the world.
I would do anything asked of me. Fly anywhere. “You need me in London tomorrow…when does the flight leave?” But I had a young family and a rapidly growing sense of guilt about the role I was playing in it. I also realized that much of the work I was doing was more numerically fulfilling for my company than it was strategically and creatively fulfilling for me.
Fortunately, the pandemic (not something you always hear) through its twists and turns and “wow, what just happened” moments provided me the opportunity to step back and truly decide what I wanted for the next chapter of my career.
After lots and lots of post-its and workshopping myself, it came down to two words. Choice. Flexibility. Rather than hard-charging at goals on a very linear path I had set for myself years ago at a completely different stage of my life, it was finally time to embrace nonlinearity yet again.
Your Agenda, Our Agenda
I met Victor and Dan, my partners, via a trusted client and friend. What began more social then got serious. So I workshopped the heck out of them to see what they were all about. What did they want? What might we do together? And, through it all, I found optimism, kindness, respect…and opportunity.
Now years in, it's been one of the most incredible learning experiences of my career. Certainly one of the most fulfilling journeys I've ever taken with a group of people that I really trust and care for. Some new friends, some old ones, but always together.
If nothing else, Agenda has provided me the once-in-a-career opportunity to do the things I'd always wanted to do but never really had the chance to. It started with setting a vision. Building a team that could fulfill it. Creating a culture that embraced the choice and flexibility so many in the agency world lack. And then winning the trust of partners who could see, feel and therefore believe in what we are doing.
But what next?
Agenda 2050
2050 is kinda scary. I’ll be pretty old. Probably (hopefully) thinking about retirement. But there are a few things I/we need to accomplish before then. Things I probably don’t even know or don’t exist right now.
So how do you plan for that? By setting a bar for yourself and the team around you that ensures no matter what comes, we’ll be ready. We will be…
The most honest agency in the world. When you get a scope from us you know our heart will be in it. You’ll know it's something that we will do A+ work on, otherwise we would have just said “no, you should find another partner for that.” It will be priced fairly and accurately for the value you'll receive and you'll get our absolute best effort toward achieving your ambition.
The agency with the most awesome ideas per capita. When you work with us, you'll know we're not only thinking about the project we signed up to do. We're thinking about your business more broadly as well as what it would take to stand out in your category, surprise people and create moments of delight for everyone your brand touches. We'll bring these to you free of charge because we're invested in our partnership and sincerely care.
The agency that redefines what client success means. We often say that we find ourselves to be uncommonly close to each other…and to our clients. It's true. So many clients start as clients and then become friends. But it's more than that. We talk to them about their personal and professional aspirations and sincerely do all we can to help make them reality. Not because it's going to make us rich and famous, but because it means something to us. It's how we know we've succeeded.
…and we’ll grow and thrive and all that too (I hope) but if we do these things with intention and consistency, I’ll be good.
Happy to hand the keys to the next generation as soon as they are ready…so I can pursue my new, next nonlinear turn in life, satisfied.
