She lost her job.
Two years after being told, “You’re fine.”
And instead of polishing her resume
She built an agency.
15 months later:
Replaced her corporate income.
Built a team across 3 countries.
Clients rolling in.
No “perfect plan.”
Just movement.
In this episode, Kelly Schuknecht, Chief Elevation Officer at Two Mile High Marketing, breaks down what actually happened in year one.
And it wasn’t smooth.
She hired fast.
Fired fast.
Realized she had no clarity on roles.
Discovered that “waiting for certainty” was the fastest way to stall.
But here’s the part I couldn’t believe
For 20 years, she was “the person behind the person.”
The operator.
The executor.
The one making someone else look brilliant.
Then she forced herself onto a stage of 300 people at WordCamp.
(Her biggest fear: Public speaking.)
If you’re building an agency between $0–$3M, this conversation hits home.
We get into:
Why overthinking kills early stage momentum
The hiring mistake most new agency owners make (and how to fix it)
The soft skill she says you can’t train but must hire for
And how to start building thought leadership even if you’re tiny
This isn't a theory.
It’s what year one actually feels like when you go from employee to owner.
Catch the full episode on The Agency Uplift Podcast
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- Sean
P.S. Toward the end, she shares the exact mindset shift that took her from “supporting the visionary” to becoming the visionary. If you’ve spent years behind the scenes in your agency, that part will hit.