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June 25, 2025 25 mins

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How does a print designer become the founder of a thriving strategic web agency? Spoiler: It wasn’t all smooth sailing. But this agency founder figured out how to stop being the bottleneck, leverage systems and AI, and make his agency way more profitable along the way. It all began by creating a digital brain for his agency.

In this episode, Shawn Johnston, owner of Forge and Smith, a Vancouver-based agency shares how he’s been building bespoke WordPress sites for 13+ years. He’ll share his story—and some seriously smart tips for agency owners looking to scale and create more freedom in their agency.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • Why documenting your processes is key to scaling

  • How to use AI to build a “digital brain” for your agency

  • How to step out of day-to-day work and empower your team

  • Tips for focusing your team on high-value, strategic work

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Sponsors and Resources

E2M Solutions: Today's episode of the Smart Agency Masterclass is sponsored by E2M Solutions, a web design, and development agency that has provided white-label services for the past 10 years to agencies all over the world. Check out e2msolutions.com/smartagency and get 10% off for the first three months of service.

From Print Design to Web Agency Owner

Like a lot of us, Shawn didn’t set out to build an agency. He started as a print designer back in 1996, cranking out newspaper ads when CSS came on the scene, sparking heated debate at the office over whether it would change the internet or not.

Shawn got curious, taught himself to code, and started building sites on the side.

What started as a hobby turned into freelancing… and when the 2008 housing collapse hit, he went all in. He hustled hard on Craigslist, building $1,500 WordPress sites and quickly

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