We tore apart our agency

Hey friend!

Last week, we stepped back to get brutally honest about what we’re building at Brick and how we’re building it.

I spent 6 days in Arizona with my co-founder, Tony (he’s based out there).

It wasn’t a holiday.
It wasn’t about chasing growth.
It was about sharpening what we’ve built at Brick and getting clear on what’s next.

We took a hard look at every part of Brick.
We rebuilt systems. Pressure-tested ideas.
Recommitted to the principles that have helped us build real momentum.

We also caught up with a few of our clients over beers, many of whom have been working with us for years, having grown their businesses into 8-figure powerhouses from scratch.

And it reminded us of something important.

This isn’t just an agency.
It’s a community.

Made up of ambitious brand owners, world-class marketers, and people who give a damn about doing meaningful work that actually moves the needle.

Scale for the sake of it? Not for us. We’re getting sharper on what truly drives results.

Here’s what we’re doubling down on this year:

1. Being small is our edge:

We’re not trying to build a 100-person agency or manage hundreds of accounts.

By staying intentionally lean, we can move faster, go deeper, and stay closer to the work.

That means no bloat, handoffs to junior teams, or fluff. Just focus, quality, and results.

2. Fewer clients. Higher standards:

We keep our client list short on purpose.

It allows us to do deeper work and push beyond what most agencies deliver.

We obsess over creative, strategy, media buying, and landing pages, because that’s what moves the needle.

It’s not just about doing more. It’s about doing it right.

3. No scale at the cost of quality:

We’ve seen how easy it is to chase growth and dilute the work. We’re not interested.

Growth only matters if the quality of output stays high.

We’d rather grow slowly and deliberately with the right brands than scale fast and lose what makes us effective.

4. No fluff. Just the truth:

We’re not here to validate internal opinions or make decks look good.

We’re here to solve real problems.

That means delivering uncomfortable truths, asking harder questions, and building systems that actually work.

Clients trust us because we don’t dance around what needs to be said.

5. Transparency by default:

We keep communication open and honest at all times.

There’s no behind-the-scenes decision-making or hidden agendas.

Whether it’s performance results, creative feedback, or internal systems, we put everything on the table.

That level of openness is how great partnerships thrive.

This off-site wasn’t just about internal alignment.
It was a recommitment to our vision.
To be the go-to partner for a small group of world-class brands.

Are we proud of what we’ve built?

Absolutely.

Not just because of the work, but because of the people we work with.

We’re not here to please everyone.

We’re here to help the right brands become category leaders and achieve meaningful, long-term growth.

The gap between good and exceptional is massive.

And we’re all in on living in that gap.

Thanks for being here,
-Toby.

P.S. If you’re building something ambitious and want to stay connected, or just chat through what’s working, I'm always happy to hear from you.

Just hit reply.