From Solo to Agency and Back Again with Jules Taggart

One of the reasons I do this podcast is to keep it real about what it’s like to run a service business, either as a solopreneur or with a team. Today, we have our first guest on the Exits and Evolutions series: Jules Taggart. She’s gone from being a solo business owner to an agency owner and is back to being solo again.

If you’ve ever wondered about the highs and lows of building an agency, you’ll want to listen to this episode where Jules shares the success and stress of it all.

As soon as I decided to do this series, I knew I wanted to invite Jules to share her story as I’ve always appreciated her candor at every step of her business journey.

She’s a fractional CMO and founder of Wayward Kind. In our conversation, she shares how she built an agency and transitioned back to a solo business.

Whether you own an agency or not, Jules’ story offers lessons about the pressure of profitability, hiring the right people, and the importance of relationships to our success.

Here’s what we covered in our conversation:

• The financial and mental health challenges of agency ownership and the importance of considering profitability and the impact on your team.
• Hiring the right people is crucial for an agency’s success, and it is important to assess the profitability of each client engagement.
• How she intentionally built her agency and made hiring decisions as she tripled the size of her team. 
• How and when Jules decided to shut down her agency and what she considered as part of the decision-making process.
• How she told her team and clients, and how everyone received it.
• The interesting ways her role changed when she moved from agency owner to fractional CMO. 
• Our thoughts on if you should hire someone to do sales for your agency or not, along with the different types of sales processes. 
• The critical importance of a personal brand and your client’s relationships as you navigate major changes in your business.

About Jules

Jules Taggart is the founder and CEO of Wayward Kind, a digital marketing collective that is certified by B Corp. She is a human-centered marketing strategist and fractional CMO who helps organizations grow by deeply understanding their clients and creating meaningful, personalized opportunities to engage with the brand.

For the last twenty years, Jules has worked with companies like Google and Costco, major universities, and international nonprofit organizations to help them better understand their customers, how they make decisions, and why they buy.

Jules works to increase visibility for purpose-driven organizations that are designing a more just future and making significant contributions to race, class, and gender equity.

She earned an MBA from the University of Missouri – Kansas City and a BA in Communications from the University of Missouri – Columbia. Jules is a lifelong learner and reads an average of 150 books a year! Jules is an active member of Entrepreneurs Organization, B Corp, We The Change and Rotary International.

Links for this Episode:

• Wayward Kind
• B Lab Global