#110: Stop Hiding Behind Client Work (If You Want to Scale)
Most agency owners don’t struggle with delivery.
They struggle with visibility.
I’ve seen it over and over again founders who are brilliant operators, incredible at agency scaling, systems, and client results but completely invisible in the market.
In this episode, I sat down with Kelly Schuknecht, Chief Elevation Officer at Two Mile High Marketing, to talk about what happens when you move from “behind the scenes” to building a thought leadership platform that fuels client acquisition and long term profitability.
Her story is a masterclass in clarity, speed, and positioning.
Let’s break it down.
The Real Risk of Staying Invisible
Kelly spent 20 years as what she calls “the person behind the person.”
She was the operator.The executor.The one turning vision into reality.
Sound familiar?
Many agency owners build their companies the same way. They’re phenomenal at:
Operations
Delivery
Systems
Team management
But they avoid being the face of the brand.
The problem?
In today’s market, invisibility kills growth.
Your competitors aren’t just competing on services. They’re competing on authority.
And authority drives:
Higher close rates
Better inbound leads
Premium pricing
Stronger positioning
Increased profitability
If your brand isn’t visible, you’re forced to compete on price and referrals.
That’s not scalable client acquisition.
Why Clarity Beats Strategy
One of the most important lessons Kelly shared was how she found clarity in the early days of her agency.
Originally, she planned to start a fractional CMO firm.
But she hesitated.
Why?
Because the market was saturated.
And more importantly, she saw firsthand that many fractional CMOs delivered strategy decks without real implementation or transformation.
Instead of pushing forward blindly, she did something smarter:
She talked to people.
Not to pitch.Not to sell.
But to clarify.
Through conversations, she realized she didn’t want to be “another marketing provider.” She wanted to build a thought leadership agency that helped entrepreneurs get speaking gigs, podcast interviews, LinkedIn visibility, and books.
That clarity accelerated growth.
Within a year, she replaced her corporate income.
The takeaway for agency owners:
Speed matters. But clarity matters more.
If you’re unclear about:
Your positioning
Your offer
Your ideal client
The transformation you provide
You’ll waste time hiring the wrong people and chasing the wrong clients.
The Hiring Mistake Almost Every Early Agency Makes
Kelly’s first year included rapid hiring and rapid firing.
Why?
Because she was hired based on tasks, not structure.
This is where most agencies get into trouble.
Instead of asking:
“Who do I need?”
You should ask:
“What structure creates value for the client?”
Here’s the structure she ultimately landed on:
The Pod Model
Account Manager (Client facing, strategic)
Support Specialist (Research, execution support)
Each account manager owns client relationships.Each support specialist handles research and tactical tasks.
This created:
Clear ownership
Better communication
Scalability
Predictable capacity
The Step by Step Hiring Workflow
Define what the client actually values.
Identify the leading indicators that create that value.
Assign ownership of those indicators to a specific role.
Build support beneath that role.
Track capacity before hiring.
Hire slightly before pain becomes critical.
This prevents:
Burnout
Chaos
Profit erosion
It also protects profitability during agency scaling.
Decision Speed: The Hidden Growth Lever
One of the most powerful insights from this conversation?
Kelly made decisions fast.
Not perfectly.
Fast.
New founders often overthink.
They wait for:
The perfect website
The perfect hire
The perfect brand
The perfect offer
But most decisions are reversible.
Kelly replaced her income in 12 months because she didn’t sit still.
She launched before she felt ready.She hired before she felt comfortable.She spoke publicly despite fearing it.
And that created momentum.
In agency growth, feedback is oxygen.
The faster you act, the faster you get feedback.
The faster you get feedback, the faster you improve.
From Operator to Authority: The Thought Leadership Shift
The biggest personal transformation Kelly described wasn’t revenue.
It was an identity.
She had to move from:
“I build the platform for other people.”
To:
“I am the platform.”
That required:
Public speaking
Publishing
Visibility
Consistency
Her first major speaking engagement? 300 people at WordCamp US.
Terrifying.
But the second one, 50 people, felt easy.
Exposure builds confidence.
And confidence builds authority.
How Agency Owners Can Start Building Thought Leadership Today
You don’t need a full agency team to start.
Here’s the simple starter roadmap.
Step 1: Post on LinkedIn Weekly
Start with once per week.
Talk about:
Client lessons
Operational insights
Mistakes you’ve made
Systems that improved profitability
Consistency beats volume.
Step 2: Get on Podcasts
Podcasts refine your messaging.
They reveal:
What people are curious about
What you explain clearly
What you take for granted
That feedback sharpens your positioning.
Step 3: Apply to Speak
Even small events matter.
Start local.Start a niche.
But start.
Authority compounds.
Emotional Intelligence: The Underrated Hiring Filter
One fascinating hiring lesson Kelly shared was about “vibe alignment.”
Her best team members weren’t just skilled.
They could:
Understand client tone
Read audience fit
Match positioning to opportunity
Interpret nuance
That’s emotional intelligence.
And in client facing roles, it often matters more than raw experience.
When building your team, evaluate:
Can they read between the lines?
Do they understand audience nuance?
Can they represent your brand accurately?
Hard skills can be trained.
Taste and intuition are harder.
The Big Picture: Visibility Fuels Agency Scaling
At a certain point, operations alone won’t grow your agency.
You need authority.
Thought leadership accelerates:
Client acquisition
Pricing power
Referral velocity
Recruiting
Partnerships
And most importantly, it separates you from competitors who only market their services.
If you want sustainable profitability, you need more than execution.
You need presence.
Final Takeaway
Agency owners often believe:
“I’ll focus on thought leadership once we’re bigger.”
But the truth?
Thought leadership is what helps you get bigger.
Clarity.Speed.Structure.Visibility.
Those are the levers.
And if you’re still behind the scenes, it might be time to step forward.
If you want to go deeper, you can run the full version at agencyuplift.co/mini. Even if you never book a call, the clarity alone is worth it.
