An Agency Story

Rule Breaking and Tear Making: A Culture Transformation - Scott Social

• Russel Dubree / Chelsea Flower • Episode 166

Share episode

Company: Scott Social

Guest: Chelsea Flower

Year Started: 2018

Employees: 1-10

What does it take to turn a disconnected, overwhelmed team into a unified, creative powerhouse? In this episode, Chelsea Flower, Founder of Scott Social, shares the pivotal mindset shifts, leadership breakthroughs, and culture changes that doubled her agency’s clients and transformed her team from stressed and siloed to connected and thriving.

Key Takeaways

  • Why investing time, not just money, into your team leads to exponential transformation
  • How clarity reduces stress, boosts creativity, and creates space for better leadership
  • Why culture is more than a buzzword and how it became the engine behind Scott Social’s growth
  • How retreats, shared experiences, and belonging drove stronger performance and doubled their client base

Want a more clarity and control for your agency in 2026? An Agency Story has three coaching spots available for 2026. Let’s see if one of those spots is right for you. Visit AnAgencyStory.com and click “Let’s Talk.”

Russel:

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, turned 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 Chelsea Flower with Scott Social here today. Thank you so much for gracing us with your presence today, miss Chelsea.

Chelsea:

I have been looking forward to this.

Russel:

I, I don't, are you being, are you being sarcastic right now? No. Okay. Just checking. Well. I don't know. Gosh, where do we even start? I, we, we know each other. Uh, I'm sure we'll, we'll uncover that throughout the episode, but I guess maybe just start how everybody else starts. Tell us what Scott's Social does and who you do it for.

Chelsea:

Yeah, so Scott Social is a boutique social media agency. We're based in Phoenix and the state of Washington. We offer organic, social paid ads, influencer marketing, and styled photo shoots. Primarily the businesses we work for, target a millennial female audience. So a lot of Taylor Swift memes. Um, if you're a Swifty,

Russel:

I mean, I don't know, like how big of a fan do you have to be to be considered a swifty? Because I mean, I listen to the music and I hear a lot about Taylor Swift, so I don't know, am I a swifty or not?

Chelsea:

You might be, because I used to say I wasn't a swifty, but when her new album came out and I knew every word within the first week, I said, actually, yeah, I don't know if I can uh, be allegations on this one. I may be a swifty. So Russell, you might be too, you know, a lot. You

Russel:

know, I will, uh, I'll enjoy that. I will consider myself part of the club.

Chelsea:

Yeah.

Russel:

Alright, so this will be a swift conversation amongst Swifties. Well, I know we're gonna talk a lot about agency and maybe even dabble in some Taylor Swift as we go throughout this. But I wanna start with young Chelsea. Who was she? Who did she want to be when she grew up? Tell us all about young Chelsea.

Chelsea:

Yeah, young Chelsea had a. Problem with listening to the rules. I was consistently getting in trouble in class for disobeying rules that I felt this is very

Russel:

surprising. Already. We're, we've already blown my mind. I know

Chelsea:

it's surprising. Um, probably most notably are in the first grade, my teacher said, Hey, the adult scissors are. Not for any student's use. You cannot use these. And I said, okay, got it. So all of them cannot use those scissors, but I can. So of course I landed in the principal's office. That was a very common thing throughout my childhood. I always felt above the rules at the same time as I was starting businesses left and right, which meant my parents paid for all the supplies I needed and were my only customers. So they got double hit on the business front.

Russel:

That happens.

Chelsea:

Yeah. But then in high school I started to study entrepreneurship and take part in business plan competitions. Went to college, joined a startup. Um, we won number one app in the world for a business plan competition in Spain, which was really cool. Um, what was

Russel:

the, what was the app?

Chelsea:

It was, for lack of a better word, it was the Airbnb of storage. It failed within a month. We won best app in the world and hey, that's how startups go. But shortly after that, my dad was in a pretty serious accident. He is a home builder. He was up on some scaffolding and fell pretty far onto his head, onto concrete, and my mom looked over and he was sitting, laying in in a puddle of his blood. He wasn't breathing, so she started yelling for help even though they were in. Just the middle of nowhere in Idaho. There was one restaurant next door. The only people eating there were off-duty firefighters, so they came over and led her through.

Russel:

That's pretty fortuitous to what, not to interrupt a very, very tragic event here, but, uh, I mean, who better could be eating next door?

Chelsea:

Yep.

Russel:

That, that's, that's gotta be a sign of something here.

Chelsea:

I know. It's, it's true. Um, so yeah, they helped my mom give him CPR, they called a life flight and he was flown to the hospital. And this was about, gosh, maybe two weeks before I was supposed to leave for college in a different state. And so I really sat with myself thinking. What I even feel good about myself going to college right now when my dad almost died and still is not really in the clear. And I remember him just crying and saying, Chelsea, you gotta go like you. You are meant for so much. You have to go to college. So I ended up going, and in the back of my mind this whole time, I just have my dad's story in the back of my head. And when I ended up going to work in agencies, the first agency I worked at. Sometimes it almost felt like we were scamming the businesses we were working for. We would post a stock image and then pay for likes. We would pay for followers, and it never. I mean, of course, fake likes and followers, you're not contributing to the bottom line at all.

Russel:

Now was that, was that instant skeevy to you or was that, you know, was this just how it's done and, you know, I'm just gonna participate? How did you look at that, you know, being your first job out of Yep. College essentially,

Chelsea:

my, I was shocked that this is the industry that I chose because I, at that time thought, wow, so all marketing is. A scam. Like it's what a I study for if this is what we're doing. We also were doing some marketing for a rehab center who I believe is still in business today. I will not put them on blast, but they had a bunch of fake reviews, um, one of which was from dog, the Bounty Hunter, which was obviously fake, but I also questioned whether they were actually helping people or not. Mm-hmm. And so I ethically was. Really not feeling good about the situation. And the feeling I had this whole time was, you know, I, I watched my dad almost die for the small business that he owned, and yet this is what then I was contributing back to small businesses was fake results. It just, everything felt. Just against each other.

Russel:

Why? Why, why? That's a, yep. Yeah. I could totally understand that.

Chelsea:

Yes. And meanwhile, I had always had the dream of owning my business or a business in general. Um, and actually in college I did dream of starting an agency of my own, but I had a mentor at the time laugh when I asked how soon I could start a business end. My boss at this agency I was working at always said, Hey, you know, we're a good team. I do the sales and you do the social. I don't think you could do what I do and vice versa. And so I was just hearing all this feedback from people I trusted that I couldn't own a business

Russel:

right. If we go back to young Chelsea, though, this sounds like a prime statement to make to you because of telling you a rule that, uh, it doesn't seem like you're gonna follow

Chelsea:

that is actually know,

Russel:

we know where this goes a little bit, but

Chelsea:

Yep. You know exactly where this is going. Um, in a sense it. When I did finally quit at the agency and started Scott Social, it felt like channeling that first grade, Chelsea, that was reaching for the adult scissors, even though she was told over and over again that those were not for you. And, um, I still had a lot of fear though, I think as most do, and I also felt bad about quitting. I think like a lot of people do also. Um, but I love. Travel, traveling. So I booked a non-refundable trip to Hawaii, even though I was out of vacation time. So that two weeks before my trip I would have to quit and two weeks before my trip I said, oh wow. I either quit today or I don't go to Hawaii. So I quit, put in my two weeks, and then I went to Hawaii and that's where I officially started Scott Social.

Russel:

I hope this story inspires someone right now. Right? Just, not only even just start a business, but if there's anything you've been putting off or you feel reluctant to do, go book something that forces you to make a decision. I, I lo, I love this approach. The power of a have to can never be underestimated.

Chelsea:

Yep. So I know that's a lot of backstory. It's adult scissors. It's my dad almost dying. It's this failed app I was a part of, but it all, every single piece was so paramount to just having day one at Scott Social. It all just added up in this puzzle that that allowed me to do that, which is really cool to look back on.

Russel:

Just taking us on an emotional rollercoaster here, Chelsea. Let's, uh, I'm sure the listeners appreciate that one thing you did gloss over, I think in your, in your story, and I'm just curious how much you feel like that impacted you now that you've got this experience on your belt is, I think you and I, I can't remember exactly, but you said you studied entrepreneurship in high school, and I know you had a somewhat unique high school experience. How good was that for you? And when you think about that, how much did that shape you?

Chelsea:

It changed everything for me. I, in high school, actually thought I wanted to go into the medical field, and so I went to a STEM plus high school. That's science, technology, engineering, and math. The plus is entrepreneurship. I went there for the science piece. I wanted to, I don't even know what I wanted to do in the medical field. I just, I had Grey's Anatomy swarming in my head and that's, yeah, what my goal was. But I had a teacher sit me down and say. I know this is what you want to do, or at least what you think you want to do right now, but please come to an entrepreneurship class just for one day. I think you're going to love it. And if you don't, you can go back to your other classes. And I went for one day and same day dropped out of all of my medical science classes and went full entrepreneurship. So for around half of the day. I was doing entrepreneurship in high school and by my second year I was doing almost business entrepreneurship. All day. All day. Yeah.

Russel:

Wow.

Chelsea:

Mm-hmm.

Russel:

What? What? I mean, I feel like this needs to be all school in some form of class, and not necessarily always business and entrepreneurship, but yeah. Anything you can think of like, oh man, I learned this when I was like 16 years old that I still live by today.

Chelsea:

Yep. It's true. And what's sad is that the school ended up getting shut down because. The district didn't like that it was different. Um, the kids there weren't getting the best test scores, but we were building robots and starting businesses and doing really cool things and I've been able to follow a lot of the students since. And a lot of'em are doing the exact things they studied in high school, which just isn't common. But yeah, doing business plan competitions. Really set me up well because I was used to standing in front of a room of, of judges, of entrepreneurs and business owners and pitching my ideas and answering questions on a whim, which today I would just say is a sales call. Really, it's not much different, but I was doing that in high school, which was really a cool experience.

Russel:

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, whether you realize it or not, or whether it's the same use case that you're gonna have in lidar, like you're saying, a pitch competition being similar to a sales call. You know, you were, you were building the skillset. So this, this just seems like the most orchestrated path of person could almost be on for a business owner. So all right, so you step away and you start your business. Mm-hmm. And how were the first few years, how would you describe the early days of starting your business?

Chelsea:

Yeah, the first few years I had no aspiration of really building an agency because of where I just came from at the time. I said, yeah, agencies are kind of a scam and no one likes working at them. I'm not going to be the person that creates this in the world. And so I freelanced. I traveled to over 20 countries while working. It was a really fun couple of years, and then I started to. Realized that that want to not start an agency was more based in fear than anything else. It was the fear that I wouldn't be able to create something better, or the fear that I wouldn't be able to deliver on the results that I actually wanted to. And so acknowledging that was step one. But then step two is, well, now what? Now that I know that this is something I'm afraid of, how do I actually get over this? And um, Russell, you're going to love this, but. Um, it's, it's coaches and just people who have walked the path I am trying to walk now. That pulled me out of that fear just to have a sounding board and people to talk to and relate to, and that is really what pulled me out of that fear quite a.

Russel:

I mean, I am biased, but if I just speak from my own experience, I feel like almost very similar story of just starting a business at such a young age. We, we, it's a challenge no matter how you slice it, when you're trying to figure your life out and yourself out and, and how that fits into business. Just how even more important that mentorship, coaching, and things could be. And I certainly was lucky enough to have that. In my own experience as well. And uh, so I'm always just glad to hear that, uh, that folks find that for themselves. So what drew you to that as a, something you needed or something that would be helpful to you? Because if I'm honest, we got our first coach from a cold call that were like, what the hell? We Yeah, sure. We'll give it a shot. Um, but yeah, I'm curious how you.

Chelsea:

Yeah, it was actually a friend who was also a freelancer. Um, her name's Diana, and we used to work together often from coffee shops, and she reached out to a coach and the coach said, I can't work with you yet. Here is a to-do list before we can actually work together. You have to realize we were pure freelancers. There was no agency, and so it would've been hard for a coach. Give guidance without a few pillars. And she sent this to-do list to me and I said, well, I'm gonna do that too. Let's do it together. I've never liked the idea of being told no. I like. Every option being something that's available to me, whether I would choose it or not. I don't like limitations. And so knowing that I would at that time be denied by a business coach was deeply unsettling to me. So I went through this entire checklist. Um, Russel, we could pick this apart in a session some time of what that means about me, but not today, Russel.

Russel:

Fair enough.

Chelsea:

Um, and yeah, I ended up working with that coach for a bit and she helped me figure out how to track my financials. I mean, how to actually run a sales call, how to have a structure with that, how to put together a proposal. It was such basic things, but I had barely any experience in the realm of marketing, let alone entrepreneurship. And so I. She was there when I needed her. Definitely.

Russel:

And something I see quite a bit, right, is, you know, most everyone that enters the agency in whatever capacity where they start out, similar to you, kind of a glorified freelancer or just an outright freelancer, um, they're good at their craft and their trade, but there's, as you now learned at this point, there's. 8 million other things. It seems like you also have to be good at business and sometimes just getting those fundamentals, some knowledge around those fundamentals. Just a slight better reframing, polishing a way to do those. What now seems like probably simple concepts to you, I can see where that can be a Kickstarter as it sounds like it was in your case.

Chelsea:

Yes. It, it really was. It's wild now to think back to not having financials. I wasn't tracking any of my numbers. That's so crazy. But at the time, that was a light bulb moment of, oh wow, I need to have a Google Sheets, I need to have a QuickBooks account. I need to be tracking this. Um, and yeah, working with her was great. After that, I worked with a coach. I did a retreat program and that gave me a lot of hard truths. I was probably the first time I had a coach be really honest with me in a way that was uncomfortable.

Russel:

Mm-hmm.

Chelsea:

I was talking about my agency to a room of people. There were four coaches in the room and four business owners, and they asked me if I had social media for my social media agency and I said, funny story, no we don't. And my coach looked at me deadpan and said, that's not funny. And I was like, oh my gosh, this is embarrassing. Um, and you already know I started my socials the next week because just when you have that kind of honesty and, it was great working with her, but that was always meant to be a short term partnership. From there I was looking for a longer term partner, which is where I found you and, um, I wanted to work with you because of your approach. With managing a team. It just in the way that I've always wanted to grow an agency, which is one that's transparent and empathetic and really prioritizes the person. I could tell that that was your approach too. And I think after working with you now today, that's something that does set us apart is. The way that we get to interact as a team. It's nothing like I've experienced it. Any of the agencies I worked or interned up,

Russel:

you built your most ideal place to work. You crafted your that for yourself, it sounds like.

Chelsea:

Yeah, it's in progress, of course, but I am proud of where that is now, and fear of growing an agency has dissipated now because I see that instead of being afraid of hurting. My team, team, I can be a part of the reason that they grow and learn and get to experience work-life balance and everything that I didn't get in my first two agencies. Yeah.

Russel:

Yeah, I love that. And you've done tremendous work on that. Uh, by the way, and I wanna kind of peel back that onion because I think that could be really just beneficial to, you know, folks listening and what that journey's been like for you and the different things and significant investments I know you've made in your business in that front. Um, but just, just to talk about what I know is some of that transformation from where your business at today. We met a little over a year ago. I'm just curious, how would you have described where your business was at then and just how you were thinking about it.

Chelsea:

Yeah. Um, around a year ago while I felt that we were a team, looking back, there was myself and then there was my team. They were separate, and even my team felt very siloed. I did a lot of just interviewing and listening and hearing from my team how they were feeling, and they felt like there wasn't transparency in Scott's social. For example, when a client left, they didn't know if it was something they did or why the client was just gone. They didn't know where Scott's social was headed. They didn't know how the economy was going to affect us or not. They had so much uncertainty with Scott Social. Um, they felt that there wasn't collaboration much as a team and as a remote company. I can see where that comes from, but they felt really lonely and siloed because we weren't interacting. I don't even think we had team calls at the time and they didn't say this. Directly, but I could tell that while I, I try to always listen to the team. I wasn't taking the time to actually ask them questions and fully listen.

Russel:

Hmm. Would you say that was more, you knew it was an important thing to listen, but you didn't really maybe know what. We were supposed to do with that or how to respond to that or anything like that? It just, you know, not different than a lot of things. I feel like I've done an agency where I was doing the motions, but I probably didn't really know why, uh, I was actually doing those motions.

Chelsea:

That's exactly it. And I also don't think I had the toolbox to ask good questions to effectively listen. That's something I hadn't flexed before.

Russel:

And I also, and to the extent you feel comfortable sharing here, that in addition to just not having the work environment that you knew you wanted to create and build, that you weren't wholly comfortable about the business performance itself. In revenue. I mean, if we're being fully transparent here, you were looking for some side income to get you through some turbulent waters.

Chelsea:

I at the time would've equated that to a number of things, but I think it actually did stem from the team just not performing as well as they could have because of the way I was managing them and leading them. There's a lot of factors there, but it seemed like when I started investing more in the team, not just resources and retreats, but investing my time into the team, that is where things really. For us, it kind of seemed like numbers were, um, a side effect of just a team that genuinely loves working together.

Russel:

Yeah.

Chelsea:

Mm-hmm.

Russel:

Which, which obviously takes time not to beat old Chelsea up. Too bad, right. Any good investment takes time to come to light. And how would you just describe. I mean, fast forward, I just feel like you do from a lot of investments you've made in the work we've done together, even investments you've made outside of the work we've done together in terms of, um, how you've generated leads for your business and whatnot. But how would you just describe where the business is at today and how you're looking at it?

Chelsea:

Yeah. Where we're at today is I have vision now. I feel. Really hopeful and excited about where we're going, and I find that the team feels a lot of the same way. The team comes to me now with ideas for projects they want to work on that we have never talked about and shares status updates every week on these crazy projects. Um. It's just, it's, I find that they're just creatively fulfilled and they're collaborating as a team, and I don't have to initiate those projects or those conversations. They're just doing it now. And I guess I used to think that culture was just a buzzword, but now I see it. I see a strong team culture and. You can tell that the team genuinely loves and cares for each other. I see it in the way they speak to each other, encourage each other, and I also see it in the way that they have hard conversations with each other. Wow. Which is, that has been a recent development and that's been really cool as well.

Russel:

Well, I mean, I don't know how easy it is. Like one, I'm sure some folks might have been to the, gotten to a similar place you have and they're like, yes, that makes sense. And it's able to reflect on that. And some people might be saying, what's this magical world you speak of? Um, uh, Chelsea and this fairytale land? Um, but Right. I mean, just hearing that just makes me think of all them. Effects that that has to have in your business if the team can really knuckle down and take care of the customer and the delivery of the business, I imagine that has to have been able to free you up to do a lot of other things on the business to find other things that need significant investment in the business. Is that the case and what are some of those other things you're focused on?

Chelsea:

That definitely is the case. I mean, since these changes have been implemented, we've. Doubled our clientele, um, and our, yeah. Um, so a lot has changed there. I'd say a lot of my time now goes into figuring out how to Scott Social operate at this new level. So I, I try not to say that things are broken and be hard on myself'cause it's all just learning. But yeah, now I'm figuring out the new set of things, but luckily that's not the team. Um, I find that I've been freed up now to put a lot more attention into business development, into setting the vision for our company. I've been able to plan some retreats. For the team, which actually the team helps plan now as well, which is really nice. We've been able to start an intern program. An internship program, which Russell's daughter actually was able to take part in. Yes,

Russel:

yes. And by the way, if you're listening, not to overwhelm your application inbox for your internship program, but by far and away one of the best internship programs that I have seen. Which I think just speaks to just this culture you wanna create of heavily investing those people that come into your ecosystem. So if you got youngins at home or if you're a youngin at home, um, highly recommend you applying to Chelsea's internship program.

Chelsea:

Yes, please do it. Say Scott

Russel:

Socials. Scott Socials intern. This is no longer Chelsea's. This is Scott Socials.

Chelsea:

That is true. Yeah. We have a fall, spring, and summer program. Um, but yeah, I just, it's sometimes hard to look back over the past year and pinpoint what exactly I've been working on with my time. But if I do think back, yeah, we've done a lot. Um, really a lot.

Russel:

Well, and it feels like, um, maybe that when you think about it, and I totally empathize with this, for a lot of agencies, uh, when we're in survival mode, it's just hard to think about a bigger, better future. We're just literally doing just that, showing up every day and trying to survive. But when we get out of the space, when this clouds part and the sun comes out, um, that it really just changes, you know? Seeing in this, in your case, in other people's case, where it just changes how you think about the business, what you see as possible future, and to have more bandwidth, more time, more margin to work on things that you're passionate about. That that is, I mean, that's just a, that's a mountain or a snowball rolling down a hill of value. And it's just fun for me to get to sit here and just hear that take place for you.

Chelsea:

Yeah. Yeah. I think probably the biggest thing that's happened in the last year above all that is just clarity for the whole team. It's all just mental clarity. We all have space to work on. Of course, the client work, but we all have so much space to work on. Scott Social. It's not just me, it's the whole team. We have a lot of free time just to do big, innovative and fun projects.

Russel:

That's a word that I feel like it's thrown out a lot and, but it's a powerful word. Like how do you describe clarity?

Chelsea:

I remember hearing one time that the parts of your brain where stress and creativity are cannot both be firing at the same time because they're literally in different parts of your brain. And I think we can all relate back to that when we're stressed, we're not creative. It's so hard to be both. And so when we finally had the clouds part and stress went down, creativity shot up. And that is what clarity is for us. It's that the noise from stress has gone away. And so we can create our own noise, and it's a creative one. It's self-assigned projects. It's the projects that during the weekend when you're on a walk, you can't help but think about it even though you're not clocked in. It's those kinds of moments that I think clarity brings.

Russel:

Ah, the stuff you want to do, not that you feel you have to,

Chelsea:

yeah.

Russel:

Hmm. I like that. I like this answer. And very scientific as well, so it's gotta be, it's gotta be, right?

Chelsea:

Yeah. Yeah. Fact, check me please, everybody.

Russel:

Yeah. I dunno how many scientists we have listening to this podcast, but feel free to fact check. Yeah. You know, it's funny, that brings up a point. I know this is something we had discussed and worked on at one point, but I have to go soapbox here for a minute and just say how much I really don't like incentive pay inside most particular agencies format. Um, which, if we wanna go down the science route here for, um, that there's a really great book by. Dan Ariely, Predictably Irrational. He just does all kinds of studies that basically net out to say, humans are just wacky when it comes to money. Um, but what they found was that incentive pay tends to work very well for non-cognitive exercises. So widget making and just things that are just extremely repetitive and don't take a lot of cognitive function. Um, humans work really well for incentives in that, but when it comes to strategic thinking, to creative thinking too. Solving complex problems. They've actually proven that incentive pay decreases performance significantly and actually has the opposite effect. And I know you were, you talked a little bit about when we were talking about how do we create more of a robust incentive pay, but we, we decided to not do that and put that investment elsewhere. Where did that investment go and how has that panned out for you?

Chelsea:

Yeah. So instead of incentive pay, we put that money into better. Or more team retreats. So the team all lives in a different state, and so we rarely get to see each other in person. This year we ended up going to Port Angeles and Washington, and despite all the advice I received from agency owners, we did not do a single moment of work on this entire retreat except for a photo shoot. Which I found out from the team was actually one of their favorite parts because of the creativity. And they each got to own one part of the photo shoot. It was their creative vision. They directed it. Um, it was really fun just to watch them be creative director for part of the day. But we went whale watching, we went hiking. We watched all the Twilight movies. As you do when your company is mostly Gen Z, and I was in the kitchen of our shared Airbnb and I thought I heard someone crying and so I looked over and they were just crying from laughing so hard. Their faces were in their hands, they were crying, and that was just a really cool moment. I can't remember the last time I cried from laughing so hard. And so for them to be able to experience that on a work trip with their coworkers, that is, that to me might even be the biggest win of the year, is just seeing what that retreat was able to bring to them. And so, yeah, if I think incentive pay versus them away from their lives, go on a vacation with people who are now friends to. It doesn't really compare.

Russel:

You know, it's not to say that people are working just because they enjoy it and they don't need money in this transaction, right. Well, people need money to do jobs, but there's a point where that doesn't matter. So the real test, I guess, is if you thought, if you surveyed them and asked them whether they'd rather have a few extra bucks or rather have that experience, how do you think they'd answer that?

Chelsea:

You know, I'm not sure. I think most people would say that they want money. But I don't know after that retreat, what my team would say. But I know that what is best for the company and where they will see most happiness is through the retreat. I did have an agency owner suggest giving people a choice, but I think people would, choose money. But I, yeah, I don't think that is actually what's best in the long run.

Russel:

That brings up a good point. I mean, I, I imagine especially before they even gotta experience something like that, hands out, it'd say, everybody would say, take the money. They dunno what that, they dunno what they're giving up on the other side of that. But yeah, I would, I'd be curious to know what they'd say on the, on the backside of that. And which also brings up a good point, I think as good stewards is good leaders in the business. We absolutely need to take the input of what people want, but it's okay to also look at what they need and look at their long-term best interests. That is, that is actual, genuine care and leadership is looking ahead and it seems like you've got a number of different mechanisms, which you're actually taking that into account in terms of how you're leading and team.

Chelsea:

I hope so. After just seeing how that retreat went and that. Instead of incentive pay, we could have the option to do a second retreat throughout the year. Maybe it's smaller, maybe it's a bit different, but I think it's really important to just weigh those options. I think that as funds become available, a second retreat would be amazing for them. Um, our retreat was in September. It's now end of November. I don't know when this will air, but the momentum is still really going from that time together. I think two per year would be ideal just to have that consistent momentum.

Russel:

Can't wait to hear how the next one goes, but think just even another little nugget that stems from that is, you know, what you even said of having this together and not doing anything that has anything to do with business. Mm-hmm. And how important that can be. We're humans, we need reprieve. We need to sometimes feel like this hard thing we're doing isn't work, or that it isn't all dollars and cents in business. And so when we can sprinkle that in however we need or can sprinkle that in. It changes how people think about work probably, and especially in a world today where people don't have the greatest view of work and employers and given all the different things we see out there and the, the social medias.

Chelsea:

Absolutely. And I find too that with Gen Z. One thing that is so, so important to them is empathy. And a lot of Gen Z don't feel understood or listened to by not just leadership, but also their coworkers and so on. That retreat, especially in the long car rides they took together where I wasn't there, I know they talked a lot about just. Hard things in their life. They talked about traumas, they talked about what they're struggling with. And so now I and the team know that, okay, around the holidays, this team member's gonna be struggling a little more because they're going through something. And it allowed us to really better understand each other. And I know that can sound like kind of a crazy concept. I think for some generations to know that we might know about the team's traumas they've experienced and what's going on in their personal life, but at least with my team and what I've seen from Gen Z, they really feel listened to and I can lead them so much better. The team can assign tasks to their coworkers better, and that's the ROII wasn't anticipating from the retreat is just that better understanding of how to support each other so much better than before.

Russel:

It's like business poetry, I feel like, uh, that you just said, that, that's, that's an amazing insight and takeaway that, I don't know, it just sounds like it has such reciprocal effects more than, you know, a new tool or, you know, just something else that's, you might fall more into the transactional side of things.

Chelsea:

Yeah, and like I said, I did get advice that, okay, I should go over the our plans for Scott Social or talk about results or set the vision during this retreat. But I found when I started considering that, that I don't want that to be just one time per year. I want that to be consistent throughout the year on our weekly calls. I do think that that's important, yes, but not for the retreat. I think once a year to share the vision and inspire people and whatever else, it's not enough.

Russel:

Well, I mean, we're humans. We're emotional creatures. As much as we like to think we're all logical and linear like that, that if you wanna get people motivated, just start with excitement and start with connections and friendship and better coworker bonds. And that will have way more impact than the greatest oration of your vision and plans for the business could ever in one single instance. But, and really, it sounds like to your point, bake that into the everyday conversation and language of your business that's gonna resonate, that's gonna be heard, that's gonna have action taken upon it far more than some. Yeah. Graham stand at a few day retreat.

Chelsea:

Yep. Absolutely.

Russel:

Man, beautiful. Inspirational to me. Um, very, very much so. Chelsea, in, in this work you've done well, so just given where everything it stands today, obviously you have a lot more optimistic and outlook on the business, but what's the big plan with all this whatcha trying to achieve? What's the grand vision for Scott Social?

Chelsea:

Yeah, so our vision going into next year is to find even more clarity to the point of reaching just calm. While I am a go-getter, I love being busy. I love doing all the things, and I think that's true for a lot of our team too. I have seen what clarity brings, and I want even more of that. I don't wanna stop at the clarity we have now. I wanna keep going. So clarity

Russel:

sounds like your new drug.

Chelsea:

Yeah. Yeah. The new drug is calm. Um, yeah. So that, that's our word moving into next year, and the team is really excited about this as well. So we're starting to plan initiatives on what that looks like, but. I'd say that's our vision for right now. Um, it doesn't have a set ending place. It's more just a, I guess, a desired feeling that I think will elevate our business incredibly. I

Russel:

feel like the next time we do a, where are they now? Podcast. You're just gonna be in this zen-like state and you won't even say any words. You'll just be, it'll just be oozing. This nirvana of clarity, uh, about your presence that has become your new, your new focus, which I'm not saying is a bad thing at all. I think that's amazing.

Chelsea:

I hope that's how I'm feeling.

Russel:

I'll be witness to this. Yes. Um, well, very cool. Can't wait to see this all play out for you. Love the things you've set up, the business. Just really foundational approaches that, uh, that are gonna have a significant impact. So I guess one last big question for you, Chelsea, or entrepreneurs born, are they made?

Chelsea:

Oh gosh. I knew that you asked this question because I've listened to your podcast, but then I wasn't ready with an answer. Um, I think both. I think that you can be born with so many traits and talents that lead you to become an entrepreneur, like using the adult scissors and defying to find simple orders potentially. Um, but I think a lot of it is made to, I learn new things every single day, maybe more than I would even hope to learn sometimes than I think a lot of agency owners would. Say the same.

Russel:

Well, I will say, and our running joke is that, you know, when I use the Enneagram a lot with, in the businesses, I don't know if you're a one or a three. And by the way, just after this conversation, again, I'm still just as confused because, you know, ones tend to be very rule followers. Threes probably more not. Um, but then, um, oh, ones don't like to be told no either. Um. That that could also be, you could probably say that might be a trait of a three. So anyway, all to say, I'm just as confused on that. We'll continue to be my ending to unwrap but, If people wanna know more about Scott Social, where can they go?

Chelsea:

Go to scott social marketing.com or follow us on Instagram at Scott Social Marketing. You'll get to see the team there. We post a lot of content from our photo shoots and retreats, so if you'd like to just take a look at what we're up to, that's a great place to go.

Russel:

I promise you folks, you want to take a look. Scott Socialist photo shoots are wild. They're the epitome of creativity. You cannot be anything less than entertained and insightful in that process. So highly recommend that. Well, gosh, Chelsea, I hate to wrap this up, but it's been a pleasure to sit down and, and just go through the different parts of your story. Some I knew, some I didn't. And it's so amazing to hear what you've built, the hard work and investments you've made too. Get to this place that you're at, super proud of the work you do and can't wait to see more of it.

Chelsea:

Awesome. Thanks Russell.

Russel:

You're welcome. Thank you. 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.

Chelsea:

So around a year ago, a team member was trying to schedule something on my calendar, and another team member said, oh no, she can't. She has Pilates on that day. And I said, how do you know about my Pilates class? And she said, oh, your Google calendar. And I said, how do you have access to my Google calendar? Turns out every single thing I had done for the past three years was visible to my entire company, and I had no idea. And I will just say I put every single thing on my calendar. So whether it, it was a date night, a happy hour with friends, um, really anything at all. They've known my every move for the past three years. It's now private, but that was, uh, very embarrassing.

Russel:

I'm gonna pry further, but I can imagine sometimes the things I put on my calendar Yep. That, uh, you know, just, just shouldn't be public. That's, uh, that's a, that's a fair thing to happen.

Chelsea:

Yep. I don't need to give any more details. You can use your imagination on that one. Do your own calendar.

Russel:

Oh, that's funny. That's too funny.