“All of my successes massively outpace my capabilities. Like when you meet me, you're like, ‘I can't believe that guy did all the shit that he did’. Because I look homeless and I'm not really as bright as I pretend to be. I'm not self-deprecating—it's a fact. My success outpaces my capability because I found other people that were more capable than me." Kasim Aslam is the CEO of Solutions 8, co-founder of Driven Mastermind, and co-host of the Perpetual Traffic podcast. He has built four multi-million dollar agencies and had two exits, one of which was an eight-figure deal. Kasim's success in t ..read more

“Candidate expectations have certainly accelerated. There's a difference today versus 10 years ago in terms of what people's expectations are and how fast other processes are going. And so moving quickly is an advantage in a hiring process—and figuring out how to move quickly without sacrificing on the process is a little bit of an art.” In this episode, our very own Gray McKenzie discusses the process of hiring the right people for an agency. He shares his recent experience of hiring an Integrator and COO for ZenPilot, and all the small and big decisions that shaped the recruitment process. G ..read more

"I think the hardest thing that all HubSpot agencies are trying to solve for is… 500 product updates this year. How do you keep it all straight? How do you share that knowledge? How much knowledge do you have to know as a team, to what level? One thing that I practice and preach is: not everybody's going to know everything, but that collectively as a team and as an agency, we've got people in certain areas that are experts in those areas that we can rely on." Adam Sharrow is the founder of Process Pro Consulting, a HubSpot Diamond Partner agency specializing in technical implementation, optimi ..read more

We’ve got an announcement to share about the future of the podcast. ? Don’t forget to follow and rate us on your preferred podcast platforms. We’re also on YouTube: @ZenPilot ..read more

“In today's day and age people are scared to be measured. But your athletes, they love it because that's how they grew up. How do you know who are the best players on the team? You look at the box score, you look at the stat sheet. So I like bringing a sports mentality to everything I do.” Casey Cavell is a serial entrepreneur. He’s built a $40,000,000 portfolio from a $9,000 investment by founding, buying, or investing in dozens of small businesses over the last two decades. He also has personal experience with the kind of burnout that results from the business growing and relying too heavil ..read more

“I had bought into this idea that you had to sacrifice everything you had to kill yourself for growth. And it cost me dearly. I made some really poor decisions.” Carlos Hidalgo is co-founder & CEO of Digital Exhaust, a Utah-based data-driven, AI-enabled agency with a belief that "growth is a state of being, not just a goal to be achieved". But he's also a man with a dramatic story of putting his business ahead of his other life priorities—and learning some very hard lessons from that. This episode of Agency Journey will be a perfect reality check for agency owners, and an opportunity to ..read more

“I have long seen myself as: I’m a very good marketer. I'm a very good communicator. I'm a good content creator. That's my lane. I know how to drive in that lane very, very well. And this has been a challenge for me to say: how do I become the best president, owner of a services business? Versus the best marketer anybody knows.” Ali Schwanke is founder and CEO of Simple Strat—a Diamond HubSpot Solutions Partner and premium B2B content marketing agency. You may know them from the HubSpot Hacks YouTube channel, the #1 unofficial source of HubSpot tutorials with over 20k subscribers to the chan ..read more

“If you don't like managing people, one of the things to consider is: do you want to run an agency? The management portion will never go away. But it also doesn't have to be so hard.” Karl Sakas, agency advisor and founder of Sakas & Company, has served as “agency therapist” for over 600 clients in 36 countries. He was also our recent guest on Agency Journey. His fourth time on the show! You can guess why we had Karl on so many times—his insights are always on point. If you want to work less and earn more, and be a better leader for your agency through cultivating personal relationships ..read more

“We all consider ourselves humble experts. So we all know that we're good at what we do, but ego does not get in the way around our workplace.” Arianne Foulks, CEO and founder of Aeolidia, a one-stop shop agency for creative ecommerce brands with 20+ years of market presence, was our recent guest on Agency Journey. If you want to build an efficient, adaptable agency that builds strong relationships with clients and employees—this episode will be perfect for you. Episode Insights: ? Transitioning from a solo operation to managing a 20-person creative team ? The philosophy of nurturing a 'hum ..read more

[This is a special feature of Gray's recent appearance on Perpetual Traffic—reposted on the Agency Journey feed so you don't miss this informative discussion!] Kasim chats with Gray MacKenzie, the co-founder of ZenPilot, a company that helps agencies master project management. Gray reveals why project management is more than just software, and how to create effective processes and habits. He also shares how to set up your scorecard, track your client health, and deliver an awesome experience for your team and clients. Plus, he gives you the three secrets to project management success and how t ..read more