Have you ever wondered how to strike that balance between managing your team and ensuring success for your clients? Today's featured guest is here to talk about what it actually takes to evolve from doing the work to building a team that can win without you.

The conversation cuts through common agency myths, like hiring better clients first or relying on RFPs, and instead exposes the real drivers of growth: team strength, leadership evolution, and structural leverage.

Matt Kovacs is the president of Blaze PR, a boutique agency for lifestyle brands hungry for a piece of the market share. Kovacs brings a grounded, operator-to-leader perspective shaped by years of building and scaling a lifestyle PR agency across industries like CPG, restaurants, and real estate. His focus is on people, systems, and the subtle shifts that move an agency from founder-reliant to team-driven.

In this episode, we'll discuss:

Which comes first, better clients or a better team?
The founder evolution from doer to developer of people
How Matt's team is integrating AI

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Sponsors and Resources

E2M Solutions: Today's episode of the Smart Agency Masterclass is sponsored by E2M Solutions, a web design, and development agency that has provided white-label services for the past 10 years to agencies all over the world. Check out e2msolutions.com/smartagency and get 10% off for the first three months of service.

Toggl: Most agencies are losing 15–30% of their profit every year: lack of time tracking, messy manual timesheets, scope creep, untracked revisions, and all those "quick" client requests that never get billed. Toggl has created a fast, interactive way to uncover exactly where your margins are leaking. Start your investigation now at toggl.com/smartagency and use the code SMARTAGENCY10 at checkout for a 10% off annual plans.

The Real Constraint: Founder-Centric Teams

Most founders believe their growth problem is external, more leads, bigger clients, better positioning.

But the real constraint is internal: everything still runs through them.

Matt describes the shift from doing everything to stepping back into leadership. In the early years, he was deeply embedded in delivery, client work, and execution. That's normal. But the shift could only happen once he changed his willingness to let go.

The turning point came when the agency had enough team strength and client quality to create space. That space allowed him to focus on mentoring, business development, and strategic oversight instead of execution.

This is where most founders stall.

They try to grow while staying embedded in delivery. The result is bottlenecks everywhere. Sales slows down. Team development stagnates. Clients remain dependent on the founder.

When this happens, growth doesn't break the bottleneck. It amplifies it.

The Misdiagnosis: "We Need Better Clients"

What should come first, better clients or a better team?

A common belief among agency owners is that landing bigger clients will solve their problems.

Kovacs challenges that directly: better clients come after a better team, not before.

Without a strong team, bigger clients actually make things worse. They increase pressure, expose gaps, and force the founder to stay involved at an even deeper level. Instead of elevating the agency, they trap it.

This is why agencies experience the "rollercoaster": win a big client, scramble to deliver, neglect everything else, then lose momentum.

The sequence is wrong. It should be Stronger team → better client experience → higher-quality clients.

Not the other way around.

And that shift requires a founder to stop thinking like an operator and start building like an architect.

The Hidden Cost of Not Evolving

If you stay stuck in delivery, your team never fully develops, clients remain tied to you, and eventually, growth slows.

This is where many agencies plateau between $1M–$3M.

They have revenue, but no real structure.

They're busy, but not scalable.

And the founder becomes the most expensive, and least scalable, resource in the business.

The Structural Shift: From Doer to Developer of People

Kovacs' approach to leadership is focused on understanding people.

For him, managing a team isn't one-size-fits-all. Some team members need daily interaction. Others need autonomy. Some respond to recognition. Others to responsibility.

This level of awareness is what separates managers from leaders.

But the deeper shift is this: the founder's job becomes developing people, not producing work.

For instance, he recently stepped back during a major pitch and allowed a junior team member to lead a critical part of it. She had developed deep expertise through personal interest, and instead of controlling the outcome, he created space for her to step up.

They won the account, but more importantly, this gesture strengthened the entire organization.

When founders hold onto control, they limit the ceiling of their team. When they create opportunities for others to lead, they expand capacity, without adding headcount.

The New Environment: AI Won't Save You

Matt explains how his team is integrating AI carefully, with guardrails, reviews, and intentional usage. It's a tool to enhance output, not replace thinking.

He understands that AI amplifies whatever system already exists.

If your agency is chaotic, AI makes it faster chaos.

If your agency is structured, AI becomes a force multiplier.

This is why some agencies will compress timelines, increase margins, and outpace competitors, while others fall further behind.

The difference isn't the tool. It's the operating model behind it.

Do You Want to Transform Your Agency from a Liability to an Asset?

Looking to dig deeper into your agency's potential? Check out our Agency Bluepri nt. Designed for agency owners like you, our Agency Blueprint helps you uncover growth opportunities, tackle obstacles, and craft a customized blueprint for your agency's success.

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