What hosting a podcast has taught me about building an independent agency

Opinion – The Indie Leader – AMI 

Adam Hopkinson shares insights from his interviews with media leaders who discuss navigating tech and shifting consumer behaviours, and how they’ve tried to do the right thing along the way.

When I launched my agency, PASHN, in 2022, ‘independent’ felt like a binary label. You either were, or you weren’t. But what actually defined the difference?

Four years and more than a hundred long-form conversations with founders and leaders across media, creative and tech later, the distinction feels clearer. What has become apparent is this: independence today is less about ownership structure and more about mindset, incentives and architecture. It’s not rebellion. It’s a responsibility.

Here’s what a selection of episodes of Let’s Do The Right Thing has taught me about building and sustaining an independent agency in 2026.

1. Independence is about incentives, not size 

Jonathan Durden’s reflections on founding PHD were instructive. Planning first. Client objectives before buying power. Neutrality over hidden margin structures. The lesson wasn’t anti-network. It was about alignment.

The most successful agencies we discussed, from JOINT to the7stars, have built business models with clean incentives. Transparent day rates. Planning-led thinking. Collaborative structures. Independence, in that context, means fewer conflicts between what’s good for the client and what’s good for the P&L.

That alignment builds trust. And trust compounds.

2. Culture is a commercial infrastructure 

Every founder talked about culture. None treated it as decoration.

PHD’s “look after ourselves” mantra wasn’t sentimentality; it was a retention strategy. Cactus codified collaboration and flexibility because it knew breathing the same air accelerates problem-solving. Conker reframed recruitment around empathy and long-term relationships.

Post-COVID, Clare Hutchinson, chief strategy officer at VCCP, described how workspace, data and human understanding must coexist.

What’s clear is this: culture isn’t HR garnish. It’s operating leverage. In a fragmented industry, culture determines speed. And speed determines competitiveness.

3. The industry is fragmenting, and that favours agility 

Bicycle noted that streaming didn’t just change viewing habits; it changed competitive tempo.

Regionalisation and decentralised talent pools are reshaping where work happens. Attention spans are shortening, forcing brevity and clarity, as Dan Cresta, co-founder at Nurture, observed.

In a world of splintered media consumption and dispersed teams, heavy structures struggle. That’s not a criticism of scale. Networks bring global consistency, procurement leverage and reach that independents can’t match. But when markets fragment, agility becomes a strategic advantage.

Independent agencies, by necessity, tend to design for speed rather than hierarchy. Fewer layers. Shorter decision chains. Direct founder involvement.

The agencies thriving now didn’t start as media arms of creative shops. They started as independent businesses with something distinct to say.

That’s significant.

4. Craft matters more when everything is faster 

In an era dominated by AI, automation and short-form content, several guests returned to the same word: craft.

A common thread was founders describing a restlessness inside their businesses; a refusal to default to advertising as the answer. Dan Cresta highlighted the balance between brevity and creativity in an attention economy.

Volume is cheap. Signal is not.

Independent agencies cannot win on the basis of output scale. They win by clarity of thinking and quality of execution. Craft is not nostalgia; it’s differentiation.

5. Leadership is emotional maturity under pressure 

Ex-CEO at Future Publishing and chair of Mind, Stevie Spring’s emphasis on emotional intelligence, resilience and ethical leadership wasn’t theoretical; it echoed through every founder story.

Running your own business removes the safety net. The pressure is real. The temptation to react emotionally is constant. The most effective leaders we spoke to weren’t the loudest. They were the calmest. They designed their lives as deliberately as their companies. Co-founder at PHD, Nick Horswell’s “design a life” philosophy captures this perfectly. 

Independence magnifies leadership character. There is nowhere to hide.

6. Inclusion is a competitive advantage

From Channel 4’s skills initiatives to Conker’s diversity-first recruitment approach to Mobsta’s advocacy for inclusive innovation, a consistent theme emerged: access and inclusion are not moral side projects. They are strategic imperatives.

Emerging markets and differentiating audiences require diverse thinking. Homogeneous teams miss nuance. Independent agencies have an opportunity here. Without legacy systems to unwind, they can build inclusive cultures from day one. That’s not about virtue signalling. It’s about future-proofing relevance.

7. Independence has evolved 

Perhaps the most interesting realisation from these conversations is that the term ‘independent’ itself has shifted.

Twenty years ago, independence often meant scale disadvantage. Today, many of the most interesting agencies start off as independent by design. Not as spin-offs. Not as satellite units. But as purpose-built businesses.

Independence now signals:

• Incentive alignment
• Structural agility
• Cultural clarity
• Client-first architecture
• Leadership accountability

It is a mindset and operating system. Networks aren’t going anywhere, and nor should they. The industry benefits from both scale and agility. But the independents that will succeed in 2026 are not succeeding because they are smaller. They are succeeding because they are structured to adapt.

Final reflection

When I started recording these conversations, I thought I was collecting advice. In reality, I was mapping patterns. The founders and leaders who are building enduring independent businesses share three traits:

1. They are deliberate about structure

2. They are obsessive about culture

3. And they are honest about incentives

Independence is not the absence of scale. It is the presence of clarity. And clarity, in a market this complex, might be the ultimate competitive advantage.

Now that PASHN has completed its MBO and is operating entirely on its own terms, the responsibility is ours. The benchmark has been set by our peers and our guests’ insights, and we intend to meet it.

Adam Hopkinson is the MD of PASHN. AMI members write regularly for The Media Leader in 2026 as part of our new Indie Leader series.