Season 1
Sept. 9, 2025
EP.46 – 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
EP.45 – 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
EP.44 – 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...
Aug. 19, 2025
EP.43 - Freelancer to Multi-Brand Agency Leader with Greg Henry
In this episode of Retained Trust, host Karl Hughes talks with Greg Henry, founder of Push10, about his evolution from solo freelancer to leading multiple specialized agency brands. Greg shares how a focus on higher-quality c...
Aug. 12, 2025
EP.42 – The Service Ladder: Greg Hickman on Productization and Building Lean Agencies
In this episode of Retained Trust, host Karl Hughes speaks with Greg Hickman, founder of Alt Agency. Greg shares his journey from running a full-service marketing automation agency to building a lean education and consulting ...
Aug. 5, 2025
EP.41 – From Stuck to Scaling: Ross Brown on Helping Agencies Break Through
In this episode of Retained Trust, host Karl Hughes speaks with Ross Brown, founder of Flex Ops and former managing director of a fast-scaling influencer marketing agency. Ross shares lessons from helping agencies scale past ...
July 29, 2025
EP.40 - How to Exit Your Agency the Smart Way
In this solo episode of Retained Trust, host Karl Hughes walks through the real-world process of selling a digital marketing agency. Drawing on his experience as both a buyer and seller, Karl lays out the key financial concep...
July 22, 2025
EP. 39 - Diving Deep with Lana Rafaela
In this episode of Retained Trust, Karl Hughes speaks with Lana Rafaela, founder at Cherry Red Content, a boutique agency focused on tailored content marketing solutions for early-stage, bootstrapped startups. Lana shares her...
July 15, 2025
EP.38 - Building Agency Value with Manuel Weiss
In this episode of Retained Trust, Karl reunites in person with partner Manny to break down how they’ve scaled their agencies and the lessons they’re carrying forward. They discuss real growth numbers, sales call improvements...
July 8, 2025
EP.37 - JD Graffam on Building, Buying & Balancing Agencies and SaaS
In this episode of Retained Trust , host Karl Hughes talks with JD Graffam, founder of Simple Focus and operator of a portfolio of SaaS companies. JD shares how he grew from a small-town agency owner to running multiple busin...
July 1, 2025
EP.36 - Systems to Space with Louis Shulman
In this episode of Retained Trust, host Karl Hughes sits down with Louis Shulman, co-founder of Orbit, to explore how a content marketing agency evolved into a multi-pronged venture encompassing data analytics, automation tha...
June 24, 2025
EP.35 - The Exit Equation: Len Bruskiewitz on Preparing Your Business to Sell
In this episode of Retained Trust, host Karl Hughes speaks with Len Bruskiewitz, founder of Greater Heights Coaching, about how small business owners can better prepare for a successful exit. With decades of experience in tec...
June 17, 2025
EP.34 - Early Bets and Big Gains in Dev Marketing with Rebecca Mosner
In this episode of Retained Trust, host Karl Hughes talks with Rebecca Mosner, co-founder of Maximize Partners, about the agency’s journey from a developer-focused content marketplace to a high-touch consultancy. Rebecca shar...
June 10, 2025
EP.33 - Garrett Mehrguth on Scaling, Acquiring, and Staying Sharp
In this episode of Retained Trust, host Karl Hughes sits down with Garrett Mehrguth, founder of Directive and Abe, to unpack what it really takes to build, scale, and sustain a high-performing digital agency. Garrett shares w...
June 3, 2025
EP.32 - Mastering LinkedIn for Agency Growth with Aman Ghataura
In this episode of Retained Trust, host Karl Hughes speaks with Aman Ghataura, founder of The Media Engine, about his evolution from a number two in a digital agency to starting and scaling his own business. Aman shares how h...
May 27, 2025
EP.31 - John Doherty’s Journey to Sustainable Agency Growth
In this episode of Retained Trust, host Karl Hughes speaks with John Doherty, founder of EditorNinja. John recounts the winding path from running a marketplace agency to building a thriving productized editing service. The tw...
May 20, 2025
EP.30 - Marketing Without the Nonsense with Susan Tyson
In this episode of Retained Trust, host Karl Hughes speaks with Susan Tyson, a fractional CMO and author based in Chicago. Susan breaks down how small business owners can handle marketing strategy without fluff or jargon. Wit...
May 13, 2025
EP.29 - Leading & Growing with Trust with Patty Campagna
In this episode of Retained Trust, host Karl Hughes sits down with leadership coach and entrepreneur Patty Campagna to explore what makes entrepreneurial leadership unique—and challenging. Patty shares her journey from corpor...
May 6, 2025
EP. 28 - Writing With Purpose with Michael Drew
In this episode of Retained Trust , host Karl Hughes is joined by Michael Drew, founder of Book Retreat and a veteran of the publishing world with over 130 New York Times bestsellers under his belt. Michael opens up about his...
April 29, 2025
EP. 27 - Retained Trust | From Pipeline to Profit with Simon Severino
In this episode of Retained Trust, host Karl Hughes speaks with Simon Severino, founder of Strategy Sprints, about building scalable and sustainable agencies. Simon shares insights from his 22-year journey in go-to-market str...
April 22, 2025
EP.26 - Sales, Startups, and Staying Power with David Sliman
In this episode of Retained Trust, host Karl Hughes chats with David Sliman, founder of Sales Proformance Consulting and a veteran entrepreneur. David shares his journey from launching a direct mail franchise in 1999 to build...
April 15, 2025
EP.25 - Fear, Growth, and Leadership Alignment with Andy Hite
In this episode of Retained Trust, host Karl Hughes speaks with Andy Hite, founder of Scaling Minds, about the often invisible role fear plays in entrepreneurship. Drawing on his coaching experience with high-performing found...
April 8, 2025
EP.24 - Sweat-Proof Scaling: Agencies, Acquisitions, and Apparel with Jim Huffman
In this episode of Retained Trust, host Karl Hughes sits down with Jim Huffman—founder of GrowthHit and CEO of Neat—to discuss the journey from agency work to e-commerce entrepreneurship. Jim shares his pivot from finance int...
April 1, 2025
EP.23 - The Discipline of Growth: Tony Wilson on Keeping Agencies Financially Healthy
In this episode of Retained Trust , host Karl Hughes talks with Tony Wilson, founder of Accquip, a firm specializing in fractional CFO services for digital agencies. Together, they explore the financial missteps that can lead...