What Happens When Success No Longer Feels Like Alignment?
As an agency founder, you're constantly making decisions—about clients, growth, strategy, and leadership. But amid the daily momentum of running a business, it’s easy to wake up one day and wonder: Is this the business I actually meant to build?
Misalignment doesn't always show up as failure. Often, it hides inside success that no longer feels good. A full roster of clients. Revenue growth. Press features. And still... something feels off.
This conversation is from an older episode of Agency Darlings™, where we spoke with Bonnie Wan—author of The Life Brief and two-time Chief Strategy Officer of the Year—about how agency leaders can reset and realign when growth starts to feel disconnected from purpose.
Le Chéile helps creative agencies like you realign your business and leadership to build sustainable, values-driven growth.
The Four Misalignment Traps Holding Founders Back
We see it all the time in the creative agency space. Founders who are outwardly thriving but inwardly stuck. Here are four common traps:
1. Chasing Revenue Instead of Intentional Growth
There’s a difference between scaling up and scaling smart. Revenue for revenue’s sake can leave you with bloated teams, misfit clients, and low margins. Intentional growth starts with defining what success looks like—on your own terms.
2. Ignoring Personal Values in Business Decisions
If you’ve ever said yes to a project that didn’t sit right—or found yourself building a company culture that doesn’t reflect your own values—you’re not alone. When your business doesn’t support your life, burnout follows.
3. Losing Creativity Under Industry Pressure
Clients want results. The industry wants innovation. And somewhere in between, you lose the spaciousness that creativity needs to thrive. When every hour is billable and every decision is urgent, your best ideas don’t stand a chance.
4. No Time for Deep Thinking or Self-Reflection
Strategic clarity doesn’t come from being constantly “on.” It comes from space—white space. Leaders need time to think, to reassess, and to make decisions from a place of intention, not reactivity.
Scaling Without Sacrificing Yourself
You can grow your agency without giving up what matters. But it requires a mindset shift: from chasing growth to designing alignment.
This means:
Defining success beyond client work and cash flow
Reconnecting to your creativity as a leader
Building in time for pause, reflection, and realignment
Making decisions not just for the business, but for your life
When you reconnect to your personal vision, everything else follows—from how you price and package your services to how you structure your team.
Define Success on Your Own Terms
Success doesn’t need to look like an 8-figure exit or a 30-person team. Maybe it looks like a profitable, values-driven studio that pays you well, respects your time, and makes space for your creativity. Maybe it looks like a new model entirely.
But you can’t design it if you’re afraid to ask the big questions.
If you’re feeling the tension between where your agency is and where you want it to be—this is your invitation to pause. Reflect. Get honest. And give yourself the clarity you need to build with intention.
Because the most successful founders aren’t just chasing growth—they’re aligned with it.
About the Author
Meredith Fennessy Witts,
Founder & Strategic Growth Advisor at Le Chéile
and Co-Host of Agency Darlings
With a background in financial and operational consulting and a successful track record of founding and scaling her own agency, Meredith brings deep expertise in strategic growth for indie creative and digital agencies.
Her company, Le Chéile, helps agencies scaling toward and beyond 1M+ in revenue to rightsize teams and payroll, increase founder pay, scale offers and packages and more. She helps clients to achieve their goals while clarifying their business strategy and finances.
She is a trusted authority on building mindful, profitable businesses—especially for underserved founders in the women, LGBTQ+, and BIPOC communities.