An Agency Story
First hand interviews of creative, digital, advertising, and marketing agency owners that have walked the talk of running an agency business. These are riveting stories of the thrill of starting up, hardships faced, and the keys to a successful business from agency owners around the world.
An Agency Story
Learn Once, Solve Forever - Norbella
Company: Norbella
Guest: Stephanie Noris
Year Started: 2009
Employees: 1-10
Running an agency means solving problems every day, but what if one lesson could make most of them easier? In this episode, Stephanie Norris of Norbella shares how mastering tough conversations, focusing on people, and tackling root challenges have shaped her 16-year journey in business.
Key Takeaways
- Why learning to have difficult conversations solves more problems than any process or tool
- The pursuit of happy people and great work
- How focusing on team growth and culture leads to stronger client results
- Why chasing shortcuts often backfires
Hear details for an agency planning workshop event November 10th and 11th 2025. Visit anagencystory.com to learn more.
Welcome to An Agency Story podcast where owners and experts share the real journey, the early struggles, the breakthrough moments, and everything in between. I'm your host Russel Dubree, former eight figure agency owner, turn Business coach. Sold my agency and now helps agency leaders create their ideal business. Every agency has a story, and this is your front row seat. This is an agency story. Welcome to the show today, everyone. I have Stephanie Norris with Norbella with us here today. Thank you so much for joining us today, Stephanie.
Stephanie:Thank you, Russell. I'm very happy to be here.
Russel:Happy to have you. And kick us off right outta the gate. What does Norbella do and who do you do it for?
Stephanie:Norbella is a full service media agency and we are in Boston and we work with a variety of clients. I would say that we're industry, um, agnostic and channel agnostic as a media agency, but we do attend to get a lot of business in the B2B tech space, CPGA bit in retail and quite a bit in pharma healthcare.
Russel:Beautiful. And Boston. I have never been to Boston, but for our fans out there that may find Boston one kind of a low key underground thing that's like, you gotta do this. If you go to Boston,
Stephanie:I would say if you're. Sports fan, sports fan, you've gotta go to a game. Because we're a huge sports town. Um, the restaurant scene has moved along nicely. So even though I work in Boston, I live in Rhode Island much of the time, and Providence has always sort of been the nemesis in the restaurant scene to Boston. But Boston's come a long way. Um, and there's a ton of history in Boston, so there's lots to do on the touristy front. Um, it's a great city.
Russel:I've heard this. I'm a history major myself, so I'm a little disappointed in myself that I haven't actually been to, um, yeah. City with such great history in our country. So, yeah. All right. Well, I didn't know there's this little rivalry between Boston and Providence, but good to know. We'll have to for some folks out there. Yes. That can. Make their comparisons.
Stephanie:Definitely, if you make your way to Boston, um, Providence is only an hour away, so you should hit Providence.
Russel:Wow. See, look at this. Learning geography and history all the same. Very cool. Great start. Well, I want to hear all the things you're doing in the agency soon enough, but before we get there, I want to hear how young Steph came up in the world. What was she doing with her life? Who did she wanna be when she grew up? What did that look like?
Stephanie:I don't think that I knew as a young child, I would say that I was, uh, the black lamb of my family. I was, uh, one of four and I was the mischievous one for certain. So I was always looking for an adventure and, uh. You know, I think from an early age got a travel bug, um, where I got to go, you know, on a first international trip in high school. And from there it was, oh, I need to move to New York City. You know, I need to do this, do that after college. And so I think was always seeking something a little bit different and bigger for myself. But making my way into the advertising world, I had a semester abroad in London and actually part of the curriculum was seeing about 50 plays over the course of a semester. Oh my. Even though I was in a business program and really not knowing what the direction was gonna be, but when that happened, I said, you know, I need to go to New York. I need to, um. Live in a city that's got lots of culture and art and maybe somehow I could bring my business studies to the art world in some way. And I ended up actually meeting an agency owner on an Amtrak on my way to New York for my first interview, and he said, come see my agency. I'm gonna give you a tour and I'm gonna make you fall in love with advertising.
Russel:Wow. Yeah. That's, that's fairly like a prolific moment here, I feel like, of, uh, on your way to an interview and, um, and yet we're, we're setting the course in, in a different direction here.
Stephanie:Yeah. So, um, he let me. Shadow for a day at his agency and I quickly started to pivot the direction that I wanted to take. And um, when I saved up for a summer and moved to New York without a job, I quickly started just looking at agency jobs, not knowing exactly how I was gonna fall into the world, but ended up being an admin for a couple of media guys at Saatchi and Saatchi. And they taught me everything they knew. And that was sort of what propelled. My career on the media side of, of the advertising world.
Russel:Okay. I mean, we're already setting a path here, you know, seem, no, not shy to adventure. Really appreciate the hustle and bustle and kind of gotta be where the happening's going on. So when did the spark come about? Was it younger or later? You know, we'll eventually set us on this idea of that you wanted to start your own business or have your own agency.
Stephanie:Yeah, that part was interesting. So I was a heads down just working really hard, uh, media. In New York. I wouldn't say expert. I mean it was my younger years, but learned a really, you know, strong work ethic in New York. And after a few years, ended up moving back closer to home in Boston and, um. You know, during the recession in two, back in 2009, we were seeing a lot of agencies struggle and one of the agency I was working at was a little bit smaller and they were starting to struggle and one of the people that I had brought on who was pretty senior, he was like, I'm just gonna go off on my own. We were watching our team be profitable and the rest of the agency was suffering. And we just started talking about, Hey, do we, do we think about doing this together potentially? And, uh, that was what we ended up doing. I mean, they were having layoffs. It was a really difficult time and it was a difficult decision to make, but at the same time, we were seeing there was an opportunity within our space, in our lane in advertising. And so. We spent a weekend doing a business plan, a SWOT analysis, and realizing there was an opportunity there. Lots of, uh, small to midsize creative agencies without media capabilities. And so that was how we started.
Russel:A bit like a business built over a weekend or was it actually basically,
Stephanie:basically then it was just how do go owners and figure out how separate ourselves, but be available.
Russel:Okay. Okay. So you really started off with a kind of a white labeled first approach.
Stephanie:Exactly. Yep.
Russel:Okay, okay. Um, very cool. Not dissimilar. I think our business was kinda started in the same manner of, it was a Friday idea and Monday we were, uh, figuring out how we could go to businesses and sell websites. So sometimes I think the best intentions are happen when they're just spur of the moment.
Stephanie:Yeah. And I guess the only, um, clarifying point that I guess I should make is I had some relationships with a couple of our clients that were media only clients, and I had great relationships with them. I think I was concerned that I would be leaving them in the dust. So, you know, took them to dinner and they said, well, we're still gonna need media. Uh, we're still gonna need help. So let's talk about how we could do this diplomatically and follow you, um, on your venture. And so that. Need starting a business much easier knowing that we're gonna have paying clients the gate.
Russel:We all need a little bit of that comfort for them rather than going straight from zero. Uh, lucky for me too, at the time when I started mine, I was not employed, so it was like nothing to lose. I definitely encounter folks that run the gamut from they need to walk their income. So it's, they're almost not a single gap from switching from the corporate world to starting their business to, yeah, people that just jump off the cliff and they'll figure it out later and then obviously everything in between. But what do you remember about the early days? Like what were you thinking, what were you feeling?
Stephanie:There was a lot of excitement. The way that it ended up happening is there ended up being four of us that were a media department within this agency, and so. Pulling the four of us out of the agency, and again, did it all diplomatically. We found creative ways so that it didn't actually hurt the other agency all that much. And so the relationship stayed very positive there. But I was on a war path to just figure out how I could learn as much as possible. I had never run my own company. Um, I started reaching out to other agency owners, small agency owners in Boston and taking them to dinner and just saying. Tell me everything you did wrong. Tell me, tell me where you screwed up. Um, tell me what not to do. And, um, they told me to calm down and, uh, they were a great support system and they were so generous in their knowledge. So that was happening, but then at the same time, it was, you know, networking with those agencies. And there's a ton of excitement around having this autonomy. How do things and to just an environment that.
Russel:You sound like a very outgoing person. Just the, the idea of going around and interviewing and I mean, that's smart. Um, for sure. Would you say that's indicative of your personality or is that more driven by the adrenaline of running a business?
Stephanie:Um, I would say I'm an extrovert. I definitely get energy from people. I have times where I need to take a break. But yes, I would say that it's indicative of who I am. I'm pretty social.
Russel:What was the partnership like aspect? I mean, I know a lot of folks like it because if you've got someone to collaborate with, and then sometimes, right, it, it can be difficult as you're trying to set a vision and establish a path and you've got a, two brains are a little harder to do that. And one, how do you describe your partnership in the early days?
Stephanie:Yeah, so, um, we are no longer partners, but we ended amicably. I would say in the early days, yes, there was some give and take I would say, on everything that we wanted to do. I was the minority owner because I had the relationships, um, with the clients that were gonna be coming over for one, but also it was sort of decided that I was gonna be the networker because of how. You know, operate and deal with people, um, as well as some of the established relationships that I had in the market that I thought would be beneficial to the business. And we both came to an agreement on that. I would say that, uh. It was very comforting to have somebody else in it with you. I would say all four of us, even though the other two weren't partners, it was just nice to not be doing it alone. Um, I would say that anytime there was something concerning, we shared in that and anytime something was great and exciting, we shared in that. And so not just being a solo operator made it a lot easier.
Russel:I can totally see that. How long did the partnership last, or when did that eventually, uh, dissipate?
Stephanie:That was probably only three or four years in. Okay. And we're coming up on 16 years and we're still good friends to this day. I think that we started growing rapidly for small agency. We were hiring regularly and I don't think he was as comfortable because again, and I think I mentioned this early on, his goal at first was to go off on his own, but he was envisioning more of a freelance model. Mm-hmm. And I think that I was in growth mode, but also had a flame under my butt. Like, if I'm not out there helping us grow, we could be dying, you know? And I'm now responsible for. Number of employees and that motivated me to continue staying out there. And I think, you know, we sort of came to an agreement that he wanted something different. He was getting married and was moving out west, but. Early on it was great. And again, we're good friends and our separation was very amicable.
Russel:Always glad to hear a good amicable partnership, goes separate ways or if, if it's not working out. But it sounds like, you know, I think one of the most important things, it seems like when I talk with folks that are in partnerships is just having those open conversations about what does each side want and how the business can or can't. Provide that for each of the partners in the business and be willing to take those, those leaps or that having those tough conversations when it's not mapping out. It sounds like you were able to have those and that's why you're still friends and able to talk about it in, in the way you are today.
Stephanie:Yeah, for sure. I mean, and as much as I do that it's beyond a full-time job, you know, and that's not for everybody. It's not for every, owning a business, running a business is not for everybody. It's you have your days and nights where you're up all night and making really difficult decisions. And I think at the end of the day, it ended up being a lifestyle decision. So
Russel:yeah. And at what point, and maybe it has or hasn't happened yet, did you get to where you're like, you know what? I think I've got this thing figured out or a little bit past that anxiety stage and into, I think this whole thing is gonna be all right.
Stephanie:Ooh, that's a good question. Um, I feel like it's always a little bit of a rollercoaster rides, you know? Um,
Russel:for sure.
Stephanie:Yeah. But I think that. You, well, I'm gonna answer the question two different ways. I hit a point where I think just through experience and having been on the ride for a while, you get used to those valleys and climbing those hills and the excitement. So. Eventually the emotional side of it, teeters off of it. And I think too, that I did hit a point where I probably had made a decent amount of money and I just said, I'm, I'm comfortable. This is not a lifestyle thing. I don't think I'm gonna ever gonna have to work for somebody else. You know? So that when you hit that point too, that just gives you some comfort where you're sort of like, okay, I've done, well, you know. I know I'm okay, you know, so maybe my ego will be bruised, but at the end of the day, I'm gonna be able to afford my home and my mortgage and feeding my children inevitably.
Russel:Yeah,
Stephanie:definitely. So,
Russel:okay. Which breeds some other curiosities on my end. When you look back at your own journey, and it sounds like you've interacted with and talked with a lot of agency owners. You're basically describing a place that not a lot of folks get to or are not there yet, what do you think your secret sauce was that, you know, allowed you to be successful to get to that point?
Stephanie:Um, I think a lot of it was grit, hard work, and I look at success different ways. I think that, you know, learning how to manage and lead was something that I succeeded in over time. I wasn't perfect at it early on because I was a stress case early on. Success in, in. Reputation and knowing that, you know, there are a lot of people out there in the market that had good things to say about us. And when that starts coming back to you, it's so fulfilling and it gives you a new sense of confidence that you know, you can kind of keep marching forward and continuing to try to grow and evolve and challenge yourself and challenge your team. If that answers the question a couple of ways.
Russel:No secret to the secret or no, right or wrong to the secret sauce. Okay. No secret to the secret sauce. Um, you know, and, and I think that is an often key indicator is for folks, and I don't know where the chip is always, but when the focus is a lot more on providing just exceptional results, and even if the business is a little chaotic and a little stressful around the peripheral, then I think some folks are able to kind of put that aside because job number one is. Doing massive success for the clients. And if you can start to work through that and figure that out, then it seems like it, it tends to work out well for agencies on the backside.
Stephanie:I think there were years where I was actually more focused on the success of our team because I think that when I didn't focus on the numbers my husband used to say to me. You don't even know your financial.
Russel:Mm-hmm.
Stephanie:Because I was so focused on our team being the best they could be and being happy because when those two things happened, it just flowed into how we were working with our clients. And so I just think that both are equally important because I see a lot of environments, I see a lot of agencies that are quote unquote successful, but you know, they've got a track record of burning people out or not treating people well. And so. You wanna be able to bring the two together. And I think that I learned those lessons over the years. I don't think I was perfect at any of it. I think we're always good at doing good service, but um, you know, you gotta work on the internal stuff too.
Russel:Yeah, for sure. The theme there, I'm, I'm hearing you say, is happy people do great work. A big believer in that itself, especially in the creative strategic space. We, we need our people to be, we fire in all cylinders to do the best work. And I mean, as you shared, it's not something that can happen overnight. It's not an easy process to learn. Is there anything you can think back of that, you know, really helped you facilitate or really create that environment of happy people?
Stephanie:Yeah, I think, um. We had little task forces and we still do, but we were always trying to get creative about how to come together and have fun for one. But I think too, just showing people that we were investing in them, whether it was how we were teaching them or exposing them through conferences or whatever it might be, they felt that investment and they, I think they were appreciative of it. And I'm not gonna say for 16 years, we always had happy people. That was not the case. You know, we learned some lessons along the way, but I think that we've done a lot, even from a benefit perspective, um, as well. And just making sure that we're giving people the flexibility. Post COVID obviously flipped a lot of companies on their heads and how they work, and so. I had to get over my old school mentality of, you know, we have to get back to the office. And I let that go and I was more about, are we doing good work? Are people happy? And that continued to happen. And so I've, I've got us to a point where people are coming in, we're encouraging them a couple of days a week, and. You know, there are days that people just can't come in for whatever reason, for personal reason. We're okay with it. We do a lot of things like college tuition reimbursement and unlimited vacation. Just lots of things that allow people flexibility or help them in their lives, and I think that ultimately that's what people appreciate too.
Russel:Absolutely. I mean, I'm, as you're sharing this, I, I'm just pictured in this head of, maybe one of the more important things, especially once you get some team members within your agency is, is this teeter-totter of, are we doing good work and are people happy? And if we can keep that balanced, um, generally things should be running pretty smooth, but no different than maybe you said some agencies out there that might tip the scale to. Pushing for the work side, but it pushes the happy people out of balance. Or, uh, I've seen environments where the people are probably a little too happy and taking their eye off the ball of the work. So that is just a constant tension that we're trying to balance here in the, in the agency space.
Stephanie:Yeah, I do, I agree with that wholeheartedly.
Russel:I mean, obviously, you know, You talk about learning and nobody gets this thing perfect. It's just too complicated of a business to be in, when, especially when we bring in the factor of all things people. Where do you feel like. You just as an individual, as a person, where did you get your knowledge from? Was it just on the job or were there resources out there that you found more extremely helpful or things you participated in? Where were you helping guide your own professional and personal development as you're growing your agency? I.
Stephanie:Um, well, so through in the earlier years, I was still focused on media and obviously my job changed and evolved, I would say every couple of years where I took on responsibility shifted and it continues to, actually this year I'm spending differently than I have in the past. Um, so early on. I would say that again, it was talking to other agencies, learning how to collaborate with them. It was a different way of working than what I had before where I had always been in full service agencies, but then as a leader and a manager. I leaned in a lot to yes, conversations with people. Thinking back on what I enjoyed or didn't enjoy with my previous managers, as well as reading a lot. Um, I don't do it as much as I used to, but business books, leadership books, management books. Harvard Business Review articles. Oh yes.
Russel:Get old Harvard Business. Yeah,
Stephanie:those are good. Quick five, 10 minute reads, and you can share them with people. And so we would do a lot of things too, like we started doing, and we still do them probably only about once a year now, but we do executive offsites where we learn and share from each other, and we really dig in on how the company's doing and how we're working together. And we all learn from that. When you have that much time with people, you are really gonna be able to see into the details of what's going on at your company. And so we continue to make sure we're spending the appropriate amount of time talking about not just what's happening in the day to day, but the bigger picture.
Russel:What's your favorite, like if you had to think of like, Hey, this, this book really shaped my thoughts on business or as a leader. What's that book for you? Hmm.
Stephanie:Um, there's a few one that I'm thinking of because I just mentioned the offsites. Um, it, it's kind of hokey. It's called the Five Dysfunctions of a Team.
Russel:Oh yeah, that's a good one.
Stephanie:Yeah. Yeah, it's a good one. And it, I feel like it really taught us how to communicate and hold each other accountable and lots of other things. So we all read it and would have discussions around it. And then, starting with Why by Simon Sinek is Oh yes. Is definitely one, um, daring to lead by Brene Brown are probably the ones that pop into my head. And then, like I said, again, those HBR. Are always invaluable. Um. So I don't do it as much. Oh, there was a book by, um, the CEO of Zappos when Zappos was a really big deal back in the day.
Russel:Oh. Uh, guide to Happiness or something. Yeah. Delivering Happiness. Delivering Happiness.
Stephanie:That was a great one. Yeah. Yes. Um, for both internal and external and customer service and all of that. That was another one that I think I bought. So I would buy these books for the agency, you know, encouraging people to read, not holding them to it. But, um, anything I was excited about there, I would always share with everyone.
Russel:All great books. I haven't read The Daring to Lead by Brene Brown, but, uh, I hear so much about her and see so much of her other content. I feel like I need to get that one on the list.
Stephanie:Yeah, she's great. She's great.
Russel:I love five dysfunctions of a team. I mean, it proves that not all books have to be drawn out and heavily research driven, right? It can be just a little fable, I think is how it refers to itself of some stories about some important concepts in business. And, it just speaks to us at a more simpler level, but doesn't lessen the impact by any means.
Stephanie:Absolutely. Like I said, it's a little hokey in the Fable format, but, uh, so you can giggle through it, but at the same time, big lessons to be learned.
Russel:Yeah, I'm curious your thought, I mean, right. You hear it so much in the world, right? You know that a lot of, you know, successful people say how important reading is. Um, and I, I never quite know myself. Is that a causality or a correlation? Right? You know, do people that tend to read a lot, do they do something else that actually gives them more successful traits? Or is it the actual knowledge gained and learned from reading? What are your thoughts there?
Stephanie:I think it's probably the knowledge gained from learning. I, you know, it definitely through that reading with each book or each article, it would open my eyes to something and it would allow me to at least test something out. The way that I'm managing or communicating, you know, I would say I don't have a lot of superpowers, but one of my superpowers that I learned, and I actually love coaching people, is on difficult conversations. I can have any difficult, I can have a difficult conversation with virtually anybody, and it's not an easy thing. It's like flexing a muscle. You have to work that muscle and learn how to gain the confidence to get your points across and communicate, and that was definitely something that I learned. Through reading and testing and trying and practicing, and have I mastered it? Not necessarily, but I feel pretty confident in that area.
Russel:Oh, now, now, now this is getting into some juicy stuff from what I'm concerned. Um, just because the idea of, I read and, uh, I guess rest of the world might not think this is juicy, but I really love simple solutions or solutions that solve a lot of other problems. So something just like that, like you're saying, like if I can just learn to have. Difficult conversations and get good at that. How many problems does that solve? All right. That solves teams problems. That solves problems with clients, that that solves sales problems, solves marriage
Stephanie:problems. It's about, you know, too, yeah, it's about good communication and direct honest communication and learning how to sandwich the tough stuff with softer stuff so that people receive the message well. You know, I don't know if I would call it an art, but it's something that needs to be practiced and thought through for
Russel:sure. I would absolutely call it, I would call it an art. I think it's an an art form and, and to the point it covers every facet of life really. Even if you get your fast food order messed up at McDonald's, it helps you navigate that situation.
Stephanie:Right? Yeah.
Russel:Yeah. We took a similar approach and I guess a somewhat similar concept. Um, so we were sitting around one day. And the designers were, you know, designers in an agency always seemed to struggle with this idea of how they get feedback and what they have to do with it and how they interpret it. So our designers were wanting to create this really intricate, I would say, feedback process so that they could corral this of feedback we were getting and, and took a step back and looked and said, I think we're going too far with this. What if we just got good at the art of feedback. We wouldn't have to create all this process and infrastructure around it. And so we went down that path and we actually really adopted, I dunno if you've read Radical Candor, um, but we adopted that. Kind of framework and process and started doing a lot of training, reading and discussions around that, and as to be a foundational layer to solve a lot of things in our business.
Stephanie:I am familiar with radical candor, and it's actually one of the things that we talked about a lot. I know you're saying Reddit, but wasn't there also a video on it? I don't remember. Oh,
Russel:I'm sure there is. I, yeah. I feel like everybody makes that there's like a 10 minute, um, overview video. Not different than the Power of Why by Simon Sinek that tell folks if you don't wanna read the book, go watch the 10 minute talk at least.
Stephanie:Yeah. Um, it was a bunch of years back, but it was definitely something that we talked about. And I agree with you and you know, it's funny too, not to stereotype, but with different types of roles. Creatives. They're known for not taking feedback well, because it's their art, it's their craft. It's coming from their passion. You know? It's not like a lot of what we deal with, which is maybe numbers, so we could critique based on facts in some cases. Obviously when we're talking management, we're talking about something completely different. But I would say that that must have been tricky for you, trying to navigate feedback to creative minded people. Um, from my experience there, they take it pretty personally.
Russel:Yeah. And this notion, right, and I get this side of it's the part of, you know, for us in web development, but it's the most visual part. So it's the most. Attribute that everyone does feel like they can speak to and comment to. So they probably do tend to get more feedback than nobody's commenting necessarily on the backend code as much or anything along those lines. I think what really to the point of what you're saying just as much is, is important in the art of giving good feedback at the art of receiving feedback. Well, and one of the big things that we focused on was that feedback is never. Statements. It is always a collaboration and a conversation. So you might hear a thing and rather than react to the statement, right, it's your also your job to interpret what you heard and or, and repeat that back to the person and either or reframe or ask some questions around what they're hearing, right? Not just, not just assume that the feedback is what the feedback is, but again, yeah, make the process more collaborative. So I just think that that thought process and going down that path and just learning different ways we can do that. Never got perfect, as you've said before, but, uh, certainly helped people along that path.
Stephanie:Yeah, I love that. And, uh, again, it comes down to good communication. And the other thing I would say is one thing I had to learn over the years was how to respond and not react.
Russel:Um mm. Mm-hmm. Because
Stephanie:I definitely, I can be fiery and I've grown a lot in that way, but I, that was definitely one of my flaws early on. Was overreacting probably, rather than taking a deep breath and responding.
Russel:Yeah. Well I have no doubt that comes with some life maturity. You know, again, I do think this is a business that if we are doing great work, people are putting themselves out there and it certainly creates more of an environment where we're gonna have some feelings and some reactions. But I think that is also important to create great work, is to push the boundaries. You gotta, as you shared, be willing to have some hard conversations. Right.
Stephanie:Exactly.
Russel:Well that was a path. Didn't know we'd go down, but that was a pretty fun part of the conversation. Something you shared earlier that I think is a pretty critical, I want you say, components in the agency owner's journey is getting a grasp on finances. And I can't remember where you said you got to in that part of your journey, but at some point that's a obstacle that has to be overcome or at least tackled. Have you tackled that? And what did that look like for you?
Stephanie:I've tackled it from a high level perspective. I'm very fortunate in that when we started the agency, I had a friend of a friend as a part-time CFO, and with media, there's so much processed from a billing perspective that we ultimately ended up needing someone full-time because we're processing hundreds of bills a month. Um, and then. He just is a great guy that had tons of business acumen and has worn many different hats working for small companies, not agencies in the past. So that was new for him, but he understood technology, he understood it stuff. He understood HR stuff. So he had worn many hats before and that was very beneficial. So it was an easy decision to bring him on. So he led the way. My husband definitely was always poking his nose and things back in the day, and so I know enough to be dangerous now, but it's not something that I still obsess over. It's something that I keep an eye on and I know where we always are without. Digging deeply into the numbers and analyzing the numbers weekly or monthly.
Russel:Okay. And that makes sense. I mean, I guess, right. Just by the nature of the type of agency you are, you had to have an in-house financial guidance in some capacity almost from the get go, which I think a lot of other agencies in other realms, when they start out, they, don't have a lot of transactions, invoicing, or expenses that are otherwise. And so there isn't that need. But that sounds like that was. Serendipitously beneficial part of just having that resource and guidance almost from the get go.
Stephanie:Yeah, very, very lucky to have him. He's, I consider him a right hand man in business. There isn't much that I don't run by him, and he understands our industry really, really well now. So he's an asset.
Russel:So yeah, find somebody that knows numbers really, really well, that they can help you along that journey or yeah, guide you through that process. Well, such a great conversation so far. I'm just curious in how you're looking at the future of the agency. What is the next, I think you said 16 years. What does the next 16 years look like? How, how do you fit into that picture?
Stephanie:I don't think it's gonna be 16 years. I'm 54. I've been doing this a long time, so I'm loving where we are. We we're a well-oiled machine. My job now is most. How do we get word out there about us? How do we forge new partnerships, networking, conferences, and poking my head in with clients. But my team is so great about keeping our clients happy. So aside from me doing these mini, I don't even wanna call them report cards, but check-ins. I'm not involved in the day to day. The one thing that we're. Obsessing over a bit right now is everything ai, like everybody else is. So we're making sure that we're keeping an eye on everything that's emerging when it comes to advertising and media, how we can be using the tools, assessing the tools. Anything new that's coming out, it's gonna be interesting because I think a lot of things will shake out, but how is it ultimately going to help us do better work for our clients? I don't wanna just look at it as an efficiency tool. I want us to be able to get smarter from it. And so that's an area that we're focused on a lot I shared with you, which is going to be, I don't know when this is gonna be published, but. One of my very senior people that has been with me for a long time is gonna be leaving at the end of the summer. With that brings opportunity, um, for other people. So I've got some folks that are amazing, a couple that I'm elevating that will be contributing to filling his shoes. So it's not a role that I feel like we need to replace. Instead, it's opening opportunities for other people as a smaller agency. That is one challenge sometimes is sort of like, how are people gonna grow? Where are they gonna go?
Russel:Mm-hmm.
Stephanie:In some cases, as you know, it requires people leaving and so it's that departure. But that is one thing that I'm focused on now is how are we covering all of our tracks there? How are we making sure the work is being distributed the right way? How are we making sure that we're checking all of the boxes and that nothing is being missed and that we're only gonna be better coming out of this change? So. That's kind of all of the short term stuff. As far as the long term goes. You know, I, I wanna be a little bit better known in other markets. I'd like to continue forging new, uh, relationships and partnerships. So again, as I said, that's one of the things that I'm doing is just getting out there and meeting a lot of people, um, which is something I love to do. So it certainly isn't anything I can complain about. I've been doing it the last six months. I'm ready for a little vacay, but I'll be ready to get back to it again in the fall. Um, and. How long will I be at it? It's difficult to say. I've got a couple girls in college. Um, I'm starting to think about what might be next for me, and so I don't know if I will map out in the next few years a successor situation or an acquisition or something, but it's something that I need to think about and keep an open mind to. I've been doing this a long time and I wanna see what's next for me too down the road. So, entertaining lots of different things.
Russel:Yeah. I mean, clearly you're kind of in a. I don't think I'd say the word at a crossroads here, but you're at a, you're at a precipice in the business where it sounds like you're doing the things that really cater to your strengths and talents, and the business doesn't need you in the day-to-day grind, and in a perfect place to just kind of ask yourself, really start to fill in those gaps of maybe what the future looks like. But we don't have to know this tomorrow. It can certainly be an expert or path, but I just wanna say congratulations to be where you're at in this. Imagine it's. I don't even know the words is just, uh, very comforting. I guess we'll just go back to the word comforting.
Stephanie:Yeah. That, and there's a lot of reflection, especially when you have a change, like what we're going through now. It's, I don't wanna say it feels like the end of an era, but having some of the originals. Leave feels different for me. It's an emotional thing that I'm going through for sure. You know? Yeah. And it sort of forces you to think about what's next for you too, when somebody else is moving on. So,
Russel:yeah, that is true. And it's a season,
Stephanie:yeah.
Russel:Not an era, but a, a season season.
Stephanie:I like, I like that.
Russel:I always did, appreciate that. It's devastating. It sometimes felt when a long time team member was leaving. It's, it's exactly what you said of it was also neat to see the people step up and that. Right. You know, sometimes a very senior person cast a bigger shadow. People just rely on them to do certain things and then you see where other people can Yeah. Step up and bloom and, and that's a fun thing to watch as well.
Stephanie:Oh, definitely. As much as it's bittersweet, there's a little bit of sadness there. People are jazzed about what's next for them. They're psyched, you know, to have opportunities to lead. They're psyched to have opportunities, to have more responsibility. And I feel like it, um, actually, you know, re-energizes the agency.
Russel:A new, new opportunity for innovation and as you were sharing there earlier, AI and Yeah, certainly the hot topic and all things agency now. Yeah. Um, but we and my wife were having conversation other night over wine and the debate was, does AI make us smarter? Does it make us more stupid? And I think both, well, I mean, right. It's, I think it's my personal take. You can share what you think is, is exactly what smart people are using to make themselves smarter and people that. I won't say aren't smart, but people that aren't using it in that way probably are using it as almost a handicap or a crutch in a unhealthy way, I guess you could say.
Stephanie:Yeah. And I don't wanna call those people out as being lazy, but yeah, there's a lot to be learned there. It's in a really exciting time. It's a little scary at times, you know, there's some uncertainty that comes with it, but there's also opportunity that comes with it.
Russel:I tend to be in the camp. It's another evolutionary tool, not necessarily different than the website internet. And once everything settles down about it, we'll adapt to it and we'll figure out how to best use it or not. Best use it to, uh, just like we have you done with the internet. Well. Thank you so much for being so transparent in your story. I'll ask you one last big question, are entrepreneurs born or are they made?
Stephanie:Oh, I think, can I say both? Can I say both and explain why
Russel:this one, this one time? No, uh, most people say
Stephanie:both. Um, you know, I think the skills of an entrepreneur. Some of it is born. Like I said, I've always looked at myself as a little more adventurous and a risk taker. I don't know that everybody has that in them. I'm a little competitive, I'm a little resilient and I think that some of those things you're just. Born with potentially. But some things have to be learned like, and I would say there's a gray area with leadership, right? Like I admitted I might have had some of that in me innately, but I also needed to learn some of it. You know, networking isn't something I don't think that you are. Born to network and it's, I don't think that that's necessarily innate. Maybe it is a little bit, but I think it's a little bit of a skill too. Problem solving, things like that. There's some things have to be learned and practiced and those muscles that you flex and some things you're probably born with and made to do, so.
Russel:Great answer. Thanks. Love it. I'm gonna just sum that up to say, you can have some raw traits here and there, but ultimately, if you're gonna make good use of them, that they've gotta be polished, you've gotta add onto them, you've gotta learn, and then ultimately, who cares if they're born or made at that point,
Stephanie:right? Yeah, I like that. That was a much more concise way to say what I said.
Russel:Hey, 50% of my job is just summarizing what folks say and, repeating it back to them. So there is a trait I've had to polish in my realm. Well,
Stephanie:you're good at it. You're good.
Russel:Well, thank you. Alright, well if you wanna know more about Nor Bella, where can they go?
Stephanie:You can go to nobel.com, which is N-O-R-B-E-L-L-A, do com. The other place I would look to find sort of what's going on, real time. We're posting pretty frequently on LinkedIn about what we've got going on, where I am, where I'm traveling or, or things going on at the agency.
Russel:Alright, well if I'm not following you already, I'll have to make sure I'm paying attention to all those travels. But once again, thank you so much Steph, for sharing so many wonderful parts of your journey so far and really just walking away with the power of learning and bringing on new skills and, and all these subar I would say when you're thinking about, uh, everything you have to learn and know and, and just making that a continuous journey and really appreciate you taking the time to share all your wonderful insights with us today.
Stephanie:Thanks so much. I really enjoyed the conversation.
Russel:Thank you for listening to an agency story podcast where every story helps you write your own, subscribe, share, and join us again for more real stories, lessons learned, and breakthroughs ahead. What's next? You'll want to visit an agency story.com/podcast and follow us on Instagram at an agency story for the latest updates.
Stephanie:I used to write goofy poems and send them out to the agency. If something happened, I would write a poem about it. Like I had this girl that was really mad that somebody drank her milk, and so I wrote a poem that started whole milk. 1%, 2%. Something, whatever. But anyway, I don't know that I'm giving the story justice, but I used to take funny little things that happened in the agency, write poems about them and send them off.
Russel:That's amazing. That is so cool. Um, I mean, how did you even come up with the idea for that?
Stephanie:I think just maybe when there's a frustrating situation or a funny situation, like just trying to bring it back to humor and not take it all so seriously to give people a giggle, you know? I don't know.
Russel:Yes. I need a copy of one of these poems. I
Stephanie:will. I will send you one. I will send you one. I absolutely will.
Russel:That'll be great. Gotta dig it