Want to know what it takes to build, scale, and sell your agency?
Retained Trust is a weekly podcast where host Karl Hughes goes deep with digital service business owners to uncover the habits, tactics, and strategies they’ve learned to grow successful companies. Along the way, you’ll hear about Karl’s journey running and acquiring niche digital agencies as he learns from guests with a variety of backgrounds and experience levels.
Recent Episodes
Oct. 21, 2025
Financial Precision: Chris Gwinn on Year One of Midwest CFO
In this episode of Retained Trust , host Karl Hughes reconnects with Chris Gwinn, founder of Midwest CFO, to explore what he's learned in the first year of building his fractional CFO firm. Chris shares how refining driver-ba...
Oct. 7, 2025
Jon Schroeder’s Path from Tech to Wellness
In this episode of Retained Trust, host Karl Hughes speaks with Jon Schroeder, founder and CEO of Joy Fluent. Jon shares the journey behind BrewJoy, a new plant-based product designed to prevent coffee-related teeth stains, a...
Sept. 23, 2025
Scaling Developer Trust with Jake Ward
In this episode of Retained Trust, host Karl Hughes speaks with Jake Ward, founder and CEO of Data Protocol, a platform supporting developer education and experience. Jake shares his path from public affairs to tech entrepren...
Sept. 9, 2025
From Acquisition to Agency CEO: Derek Delost’s DotYeti Journey
In this episode of Retained Trust, host Karl Hughes speaks with Derek Delost, who shares his path from digital marketing burnout to agency ownership through the acquisition of DotYeti. Derek explains why starting from scratch...
Sept. 2, 2025
Building Relationships, Not Just Pipelines: Christian Banach on Agency Growth
In this episode of Retained Trust, host Karl Hughes speaks with Christian Banach, a growth consultant for marketing agencies with a background that spans concert promotions, celebrity events, and enterprise sales. Christian s...
Aug. 26, 2025
Scaling Without Sacrifice: Jesse Gilmore on Redefining Agency Success
In this episode of Retained Trust, host Karl Hughes speaks with Jesse Gilmore, founder of Niche in Control and author of The Agency Owner’s Guide to Freedom . Jesse shares his journey from hustle-heavy entrepreneurship to cre...
Listen On
