Speaker
I deliver keynotes (and sometimes breakouts) about marketing agency growth. I’ve spoken about growth at more than 100 events in 10 countries (and on a few webinars too).
I speak at events aimed at agency leaders, marketers and business development professionals.
My talks range from high level agency strategy and practical advice for agency leaders, to my personal experiences through agency growth, M&A and exits.
My newsletter gives an idea of the topics I tend to cover. Or, for some recent examples of talks:
- I gave the keynote at Prolific North's Growth to Gold event in Manchester, where I spoke about the strategic choices a marketing agency needs to make if it wants to grow quickly, using Rise at Seven as a case study. I've also joined a panel at Growth to Gold in Leeds
- I joined Coolr's Chief Growth Officer Karen Forbes; Seen Studios' MD Katie Mitchell; and TMW's Chief Growth Officer Steve Garside on a panel at The Drum Studios, for an event organised by HubSpot and Propeller. I spoke about business development tactics and the impact of AI on agencies
- I gave a keynote presentation at Agency Hackers' Pipeline conference in London, talking about how agency business development playbooks need to evolve; I've also given webinar talks for Agency Hackers (most recently one about ghosting)
- I spoke to Joe Glover about how to grow a marketing agency on a webinar for The Marketing Meetup (which was my third webinar for Joe - hopefully not my last!)
- I talked on the main stage at the final Nottingham Digital Summit about how agencies benefit from making their clients the heroes of their stories
- I gave the keynote at the 15th Global Brand Conference, themed around "branding in a time of radical transformation", to an audience of academics from around the world - the talk was about how my former agency Rise at Seven's brand fuelled its rapid growth.
I’m also a recovering conference founder. My team and I grew SearchLeeds from 450 attendees in its first iteration, to more than 2,500 attendees at the first direct arena in its last...so I know what it's like!
Kenwright is, for my money, one of the most eloquent talkers on agency marketing in the industry. If you ever get a chance to chat to him or see him speak, take it. He’s one of those people who can talk about intelligent stuff in a very practical way using terms your Nana could understand.
Paul Stollery
Co-founder and Creative Director, Hard Numbers
Do you appear on panels?
Yes, as long as white males (like me) make up <50% of the panel line-up. I can recommend awesome speakers from different backgrounds if you're unsure who to approach. I host panels (and generally host events) pretty often too.
Do you speak at events outside of the UK?
Yes. I’ve spoken at events in 10 countries (many of which I've opened offices and expanded into, including the USA).
Can you help me grow my event?
Maybe. Get in touch. Events are often part of the marketing mix for agencies I'm working with.
Will you come on my Podcast?
I do appear on podcasts every now and then. This episode of Small Spark Theory is a good example of what I’m about (and it’s my favourite podcast, you should subscribe); or this episode of Higgle B2B where I spoke about agency exits.
Will you speak to my team at my company?
Yes, I do talks and training sessions for in-house teams.
Can I see a recording of a talk you've delivered?
There are lots on YouTube. Here are a couple of recent recordings.
Can I have your bio for my event?
"Stephen is a non-executive director and consultant for marketing agencies: he advises owners and senior leadership teams on agency growth and works directly with sales, marketing and client service leaders to make it happen.
He founded SEARCH-FIRST creative agency Rise at Seven in 2019 and served as Chief Commercial Officer, growing annual revenues to more than £7m; hiring 110 staff; opening offices in Sheffield, Manchester, London and New York; and winning more than 70 industry awards - about one every two weeks - before exiting after three years.
Stephen held board positions at £15m turnover/200-strong content production agency Ride Shotgun; digital marketing agency Branded3, which he helped to merge into £22m/250-strong data business Edit after its acquisition; and served on the Edit board as Sales and Marketing Director. He was also Head of Digital at £4.7bn turnover automotive retailer Pendragon PLC.
He’s delivered talks on more than 100 stages in 10 countries and founded SearchLeeds, a digital marketing conference that attracted more than 2,000 delegates to the first direct arena in its most recent edition. He’s one of Business Insider’s 42 Under 42 and The Drum once turned him into a Top Trump card."
Do you have a headshot I can use?
How else can I help?
Let's talk about what a non-exec director doesI need someone used to (fast) growth who can help me with my agency’s strategy and keep me and my senior team on track.
I may be able to help on a consultancy basisSomething in my agency's sales and/or marketing isn’t working and I don’t know why (or I do know why and I need someone who’s seen it before to sort it out).