Why Adapting to Change Is the Secret to Longevity in Agency Life

<p>Forbes has called Nancy A. Shenker a “bad girl” because she selectively breaks rules and takes calculated risks to help companies innovate and grow. Nancy had worked as a CMO for big brands like MasterCard and Citibank when she ventured to start her own business, <a href="http://www.theonswitch.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TheONswitch</a>. That was more than 18 years ago and she credits her client side work for providing the insight needed when she first started. Those experiences are what contributed to her still being in the agency world today. In her conversation with Jason, they talked about how staying in business through the years has meant adapting to different challenges. They also touched on some of the lessons learned in more than 18 years of owning her business, and why people shouldn't underestimate experience and the wisdom that can come from it.</p> <h2>3 Golden Nuggets</h2> <ol> <li><strong>On adapting to changes.</strong> Nancy actually credits the hard times of the 2008 recession for preparing her for the pandemic. “When the economy takes a downturn, you're sort of stuck throwing all of this stuff overboard,” she recalls. When it came time for everyone to welcome the new digital and minimalistic model, she had <a href="https://jasonswenk.com/adapt-or-die/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">already adapted</a> to it years ago. “I've been co-working and managing a virtual team for the last decade, so I was good.” In her opinion, the pivoters were the ones surviving and thriving. It was a time to do market research, to find out how customers were behaving, but many went into a state of inertia.</li> <li><strong>Lessons learned over the years.</strong> After 18 years in the business, lesson number one for Nancy has been to always trust her gut. She doesn’t have a lot of regrets, but she always regrets moving forward with projects where she felt like something didn’t seem quite right. Another <a href= "https://jasonswenk.com/3-big-lessons/" target="_blank" rel= "noopener">important lesson</a>