What Agencies Know About Human Nature That Every Founder Needs to Hear (And Can't Automate Away) ft. Andréa Jones & Natalia Kaplan

Scope creep. Client reliance. The quiet chaos of selling a service to a human being who doesn't always know what they want. Call them agency problems if you want, but if you've ever said yes to something and spent three weeks wondering why, this conversation is for you. Andréa Jones and Natalia Kaplan have both built agencies from the ground up, blown past their own limits, and come out the other side with very different businesses and a lot of earned wisdom.What you'll hear in this episode:Natalia's $50 campaign that got the Minister of Defence's attention (the location is not for the faint of heart, but the ROI absolutely is)Why Andréa won't quote a number on a sales call anymore, and the business partnership agreement that got her thereThe honest answer to whether any agency has actually locked down scope creep (spoiler: they haven't, and neither has anyone else)About My GuestsMeet Andréa Jones — your marketing shortcut in human form. As the founder of OnlineDrea and Creative Director at Uncommon Marketing Agency, she’s on a mission to help entrepreneurs do less, market smarter, and grow without the guilt trip of hustle culture. Her approach blends savvy strategy with playful creativity, helping business owners turn overwhelm into ease and chaos into clarity.With more than a decade of experience, Andréa has guided over 5,000 students through her courses, programs, and resources, helping them build systems that actually fit their lives so marketing feels doable and even fun.She’s also the host of the award-winning Mindful Marketing Podcast, where she breaks down timely trends and timeless strategies into bite-sized, actionable insights.Based in Niagara Falls, Canada, Andréa brings a grounded, refreshing perspective to modern marketing. Her mantra? Growth should feel good.https://onlinedrea.comuncommon.ca Natalia Kaplan is the founder and Managing Director of On Point Agency Inc., an award-winning Montréal-based creative marketing agency that helps brands become harder to ignore.Her path into marketing was not exactly traditional. With a background in psychology, a master’s in accounting, and an early career at L’Oréal Canada, Natalia built her approach around understanding both what makes people care and what makes a business actually work. Over the past decade, she has worked across beauty, tech, defence, wellness, digital platforms, and other industries where the message is not always easy to explain.Through On Point Agency, Natalia helps clients sharpen their positioning, build memorable campaigns, create content with a real point of view, and bring bold ideas into the real world. She is especially interested in the space between business strategy and creative risk, where brands stop sounding like everyone else and start becoming something people actually care about.You can see the agency's work at www.onpointagency.ca and find Natalia at https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalia-kaplan/Connect with Nikki on Instagram: instagram.com/iamnikkimck The Would Recommend Standard is a free guide to the five principles behind businesses people can't stop talking about. Grab it here: theopsshop.biz/wouldrecommend-standard A Spark Session is a 90-minute strategy session where you and Nikki dig into your client experience and figure out exactly where it's working and where it isn't. Book yours here: theopsshop.biz/sparksession