December 14, 2025 • 39 mins
Company: Digital HQ
Guest: Hillary Applegate
Year Started: 2020
Employees: 11-25
What if the key to improving your agency is stepping away from your business? In this conversation, Hillary Applegate, founder of Digital HQ, shares how distance reshaped her leadership, clarified what actually matters, and strengthened the way her team operates. Listeners will walk away with a fresh perspective on agency ownership, boundaries, and letting go.
Key Takeaways
- Why stepping away can reveal blind spots you’ll never see inside the day-to-day
- The mindset shift required to lead with more clarity and less stress
- Why flexible work it creates stronger teams
Want a more clarity and control for your agency in 2026? An Agency Story has three coaching spots available for 2026. Let’s see if one of those spots is right for you. Visit AnAgencyStory.com and click “Let’s Talk.”
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Russel (01:16):
Welcome to An Agency Story podcast where owners and
experts share the real journey,the early struggles, the
breakthrough moments, andeverything in between.
I'm your host Russel Dubree,former eight figure agency
owner, turn Business coach.
Sold my agency and now helpsagency leaders create their
ideal business.
Every agency has a story, andthis is your front row seat.
(01:38):
This is an agency story.
Welcome to the show today,everyone.
I have Hillary Applegate withDigital HQ with us here today.
Thank you so much for joining ustoday, Hillary.
Hillary (01:54):
Thanks for having me.
Russel (01:56):
Well, I'm excited to, let's get right to it.
Start us off.
Tell us what Digital HQ does andwho you do it for.
Hillary (02:02):
Yeah, so Digital HQ is a modern marketing and
communications agency.
We are entirely remote based.
We work with contractors andemployees all over the country
in the United States, and weservice clients across the
globe.
So, um, I've been doing thiswith Digital HQ since.
Pre pandemic 2020.
Russel (02:23):
Awesome.
Well, I want to hear more aboutthe vision and everything else
you're doing, and I imaginewe'll have some pretty cool
things to talk about.
But before we get all into allthings agency today, I want to
hear about Young Hillary'sstory.
Who was she and how was shecoming up in the world?
Hillary (02:40):
Oh man.
Well.
Born and raised in SiliconValley.
I used to drive past all of thetech giants that you know today
on my way to elementary schooland middle school and high
school and friends' houses.
I used to pass by eBay.
Nearly every day of my life,which to me, at that time when
you're a kid, you don't realizehow crazy that is to be in the
(03:03):
mecca of all of that.
So I was always surrounded byentrepreneurs and visionaries
and innovators, and it never,never crossed my mind.
You know, I talk about theschool that I went to, which was
a public school in the Bay Area,but we had.
Super cool new Apple computersand we were learning on that and
(03:25):
we were, you know, really justembracing technology as quickly
as it came because it was reallybeing built in our back door.
So that was the start of it.
We were talking a little bitearlier.
I wasn't the best student by anymeans.
I was the gal who was talking tofriends in classes and, wanting
to do the walk-a-thons and theschool bakery things and all
(03:48):
that.
I loved the social communityaspect of school a lot more than
I liked the science and the mathand whatnot.
Even though don't be, don't behating.
I was a chemistry ta.
Okay.
Yeah.
Still had it in me, but, um,
Russel (04:04):
I mean they say that that entrepreneurs typically
aren't the best students that,um, you know, you probably think
about it too.
Schools a very structuredenvironment.
Entrepreneurs are not verystructured, and that just seems
to be ill-fitting.
But I don't know how you look orthink about that.
You're like, yeah, that's, thatmakes total sense.
Hillary (04:20):
Oh, it's very on brand.
Yeah.
I think that the start ofDigital HQ and this vision that
I had was it kicked off when Iwas getting ready to graduate
from college.
I had read an article in Forbesfrom a guy who wrote a, you
know, 20 things that 20 yearolds should know.
And I was like, that's me.
What should I know?
And number six, seven, or eightwas.
(04:43):
Social media is not a job.
It is not going to be a career.
Do not pursue it.
It's not gonna exist in 10years.
And that was the moment.
What year was this,
Russel (04:51):
by the way?
Sorry.
Not to age or date ourselves.
2013.
Okay.
That's a, that's an interestingstatement from 2013, I feel
like, isn't
Hillary (04:57):
it
Russel (04:58):
though?
Hillary (04:58):
Isn't it though?
Because I saw that and I said,well.
I guess I know which field I'mgonna get into if this guy in
Forbes can say that, uh, becausesocial media was a very not very
respected field for a very longtime.
I think that it's still, I thinksocial media managers and
(05:21):
leaders are still, carving outas much budget as they possibly
can and fighting for everydollar.
But it was something that was.
So permeable in everyone'slives.
Everybody had a smartphone.
Everyone had a social mediaplatform.
And to think that was not gonnabe an avenue that was mission
critical was just silly to me.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Yeah.
And
Hillary (05:42):
so that behavior of.
Going against the grain or nottrying to conform, I think
really put me into that categoryof, yeah, no, like the best way
to get me to do something is totell me that it can't be done.
Russel (05:57):
Sounds very entrepreneurial as well.
This is all making a lot ofsense.
So how did your path lead up to,or, or what was the inspiration
for actually starting youragency?
Hillary (06:06):
So I had been working at an agency out of Phoenix for
several years, and when I wasoriginally hired there, I was
brought into the PR departmentand I was strictly accost.
It was one of those things wheresocial media had been, added on
as a freebie.
Yeah, we can handle your.
Facebook.
Yeah, we can do that for you.
No problem.
And then all of a sudden they'relike, well, we need someone to
(06:28):
do the work because we haveactual jobs that we need to do,
so let's go ahead and hiresomeone.
And it took me a couple monthsto really figure out that I had
been hired.
As a cost to realize, uh, thisis not a good position to be in
if I am just an expense.
So I need to figure out a way tomake this profitable for the
(06:48):
agency.
And I have very fond memories ofthat agency.
That was where I really got to.
Test and learn and growimmensely.
The leadership was verycomplimentary of me expanding my
wings and trying new things.
So when I said, Hey, I need togo out to the dealership.
We had a 10 dealer, uh, group,auto group out in California and
(07:12):
I said, I need to go out therefor the next quarterly meeting
and I need to pitch socialmedia.
And so I fly out to California.
And it is, you know, anautomotive quarterly meeting,
which is essentially a largeU-shape room in a hotel and
there's all these men there.
I don't think I saw one woman,all these guys there, and I got
(07:34):
in on the lunch break and I waslike, this is perfect.
This is all I need.
Just gimme.
15 minutes of attention and Ipresented what social media
could do for their brands, whatit would look like, how it would
impact performance and sales,and ultimately what that would
cost.
And I walked outta that roomwith a quarter million dollar
deal and I said, okay, here wego.
(07:55):
This is gonna be the first stepand us being able to actually
turn a profit and I can save myjob from Wow.
Any inevitable downfall.
Russel (08:05):
I mean, I thought you were, and I, I think I had a
guest on a show before that theyshowed up to something similar
like that and, and they made aninstant decision.
I'm not gonna pitch my business.
I'm gonna pitch myself and myown business.
But I thought that's what you'regoing, but.
You were saving your job, you'rebringing it back to the
business.
Hillary (08:21):
Yeah, bringing it back to the business.
And you know, the agency at thetime, my original clients were a
Spanish speaking gynecologistand auto.
That was pretty much therepertoire of clients that I was
working on.
And I had come from a backgroundof higher education and
nonprofit, so we were alreadygetting into a little bit of an
eclectic mix there.
And then from there, the agencygrowth that was able to happen,
(08:44):
it was a little bit of alignmentof stars.
They had great creative, theyhad great.
Strategy, and we were inPhoenix, which is not
necessarily like a stellaradvertising market that you
would think of.
So there was a lot of ability topunch above our weight, and we
ended up securing some reallyincredible clients, food and
beverage clients, franchiseclients, healthcare clients,
(09:04):
casino and gaming clients,government clients.
So I.
We did win was Virgin Hotel andCasino.
So the progression of careerthere was just immense.
And I am forever grateful forthe agency.
But as we got to the, end as thebillings for social media were,
(09:26):
million plus, I was like, man, Iwould do this a little bit
differently if I could do itmyself.
And you know, there was a, alittle bit of foresight too,
looking into the future on, Iknew that I wanted to have kids.
I knew that I wanted to.
Have flexibility in my life.
And I knew that if there wasever gonna be a time to give it
(09:47):
the good old college try, it wasnow or never.
And that's when I made the leap.
Russel (09:53):
Was that a kind of just make a fast decision and the
next day you're, you're puttingin your two weeks notice, did
you spend a lot of time thinkingabout that?
Like, where were you on thiskind of, uh, you know, let go
and let God philosophy or planthis out a lot more?
Hillary (10:08):
So I am a planner, but when I have my mind made, I move
quickly.
So everything in my life, Iwould say I have thought through
very carefully and I've let timedo its thing.
And with that, at the time I wasdating my now husband and his
career was very different frommine.
(10:28):
He is in operations and he worksin a very niche field.
So.
I always knew that I wanted tomove to Austin.
Like I wanted to go to UT when Iwas in high school.
Didn't get in.
Damn.
But then I, I just always knew Iwanted to live in Austin.
I loved it.
I visited it often as a kid.
I spent a lot of time out here.
(10:49):
I had family friends out hereand it just.
I was almost a magnetic pole toAustin my whole life.
So once I graduated college andI ended up staying in Arizona, I
was like, well, one day I'mgonna make it to Austin.
And then, the dating scene inlife happens.
And eventually I met my nowhusband and it was like.
The second date, I was like,Hey, by the way, I don't love
(11:11):
Phoenix.
I'm not gonna be here very long.
So if you're like really ontoPhoenix, that's totally fine,
but don't pursue me.
And he's like, eh, Austin soundscool.
And so he and I, as you know, wegot more serious.
Then he was starting to look in.
Phoenix and, uh, Austin for anew role.
And he got reached out to viaLinkedIn Pro Social Media, um,
(11:36):
and a recruiter, they broughthim on and loved him, and they
were like, Hey, we got a rolefor you out in Austin.
And that was the opportunity tosay, Hey, this is a good time
for me to put in my notice.
So, okay, the stars aligned, butit was also planned.
Russel (11:51):
Clearly.
Yeah, it's always seemed to bea, a fine mix there of that.
Um, all right, so you're jumpinginto this, you're starting your
own business.
I mean, what's interesting aboutyour story though, we'll say, is
you kind of built a businesswithin a business, so this
wasn't all foreign to you.
You were just resetting theclock a little bit.
Um, but what were just some ofthe formative, experiences you
(12:12):
have when, when you're suddenlynow out on your own doing this?
Hillary (12:16):
Russell so many, oh, it need a drink.
It's humbling.
Yeah.
We should have done this overcocktails.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Yeah, it's
Hillary (12:24):
humbling.
Um, you know, I think thatworking within another agency
and with other leaders, I'm,like I said, immensely grateful
for that experience because Ilearned trial by fire.
I got to see some of the best inthe business.
Do.
Just in phenomenal work, and tome, that time in office with
(12:49):
people is just immeasurable.
So I'm a big proponent ofgetting that experience and
really networking.
A lot of my success has comefrom that network that I had
built there and the reputationthat I had built there.
So that was.
The first catapult piece of itthat was very positive.
The hard part though, is that Ididn't have the safety net of
(13:11):
this incredible group of peoplearound me.
I had to make it and really putmyself out there as this is the
way that I'm going.
This is the direction that I amgoing, and this is what I am
building.
And in the beginning, that is alot of hustle.
It's a lot of grind.
It is self-made.
Um, and it's a lot of fumbling.
(13:32):
There were a couple ofinvestments that I made early on
that I probably could haveforegone because I felt like I
needed to, you know, get thevalidation of, you know, like,
like what
Russel (13:45):
are we talking about here?
Because I imagine there's somany people that have done this
exact same thing.
So
Hillary (13:50):
like, I'm like, you know, I really should get a
coach.
Like that's a great idea rightnow.
And I do love a coach, but Ishould have gotten a coach in my
industry.
Later in the career, I did notneed a coach that did not work
specifically in my industry,just to tell me to get on like
more sales calls.
That was not something that Ineeded to do.
(14:10):
I also got the advice early onto niche down.
You know, they're like, you dotoo much.
You need to really focus in onlike just influencer marketing
or just social media, or justcontent creation.
And I was like, eh, no, thatdoesn't sound right.
Or industries.
So you have to really focus inon your industries.
Yeah, I've always served bothB2B and B2C, and the principles
are the same.
(14:31):
So it is one of those thingsthat there's a lot of noise out
there.
You have to learn how to listento your own inner voice and
combine that with the experienceof people who you really respect
and you really know that canhelp push through.
And that was my experience.
Yeah.
Russel (14:51):
You know, it's funny, and I've asked this question
before, and I know this is avery telling perspective.
I, I feel like from what you'resharing as far as the answer,
but this concept of positioningand niching, or if you will is a
valid aspect that an agencyeventually can or shouldn't need
to go through, I think theseformative years, these early
years, you gotta just like,almost like a teenager going out
(15:14):
in the world, you kind of gottago try a little bit of
everything to find your flavor,to find your personality, to
find all those little thingsthat when you do land where you
land, you know you're there forthe right reasons.
Hillary (15:26):
Oh yeah, my first brand looked like Tide.
I look back, it looks like Tide.
It's the same colors.
It was horrible.
And I had to go out into theworld like that and just let it
rip and learn and that, youknow, I'm grateful to that time.
'cause otherwise I wouldn't bewhere I am.
The agency wouldn't be where itis.
And you know, if I had let thatfear stop me in the beginning or
(15:51):
call me, I wouldn't have madeprogress.
Russel (15:54):
It's just crazy all the different paths this can take.
I imagine like a lot of owners,you step out into this world and
I'm gonna do things a littledifferently.
What was that different for youand maybe how is that different
today from how you started out?
Hillary (16:10):
So, extended network has always been a part of agency
life, but it has.
Been used to potential, in myopinion, and when I was working.
At the agency that I was at, wehad a lot of constraints when it
came to talent.
So we would hire our internalpeople, they'd be running the
(16:32):
business, and it's classicagency.
You sell on opportunity.
You don't sell on current stuff.
So when you win new business,you.
You gotta stretch and you gottalean on your extended network
and you've got to be able tofill these roles.
And at the time, extendednetwork was not nearly what it
is today.
People were generally freelanceonly when they were laid off or
(16:56):
between jobs.
It wasn't a career choicenecessarily like it is today,
and I thought that was just amuch better way to operate.
I saw how many.
High performers and creativesand writers and developers were
just craving something otherthan burning out and agency is
(17:17):
burnout.
That's like the lifestyle is toreally grind.
And so I just saw an opportunityto build something different
where we would turn the abilityfor.
To choose how they worked andthat would be, they get to
choose their hours.
Yeah.
There's a lot of just thingsthat happen naturally with
(17:38):
agencies as they scale, as theygrow, that just make it tricky.
And this model just always spoketo me, and I loved the idea of
being able to create somethingwhere people could really come
energized and excited and nothave to.
Through some of the bureaucracythat naturally happens as you're
(18:01):
growing a company.
And it's funny now as we'regrowing that I am seeing a lot
of the benefit of thatbureaucracy and I am having to
evolve.
I'd ha I'm having to evolve how.
I can maintain that core truthof great people giving them
great work.
Our bench is stacked with peoplewho are freelanced by choice,
(18:25):
whether that's because they're aparent and they wanna have the
flexibility or because they werelaid off and they picked up
three clients outta nowhere andthey're like, Hey, I actually
enjoy this.
Or because they are caretaking aparent.
There's a lot of reasons whypeople want to be freelance and
why they choose to do it.
So this is a great way for us tobring that talent together, um,
(18:47):
and just really make somethingspecial.
Russel (18:49):
Yeah.
And if I'm hearing that right,like you're saying, evolve and I
think you're absolutely right inthis trend, and I think I grew
up in the agency world where,yes, if you needed work done,
you go hire somebody and, andall your work is done.
It was this rite of passage tosay.
We're entirely in-house and Oh,that's the buzzword.
Yes.
And I go, it's just funny whenyou think back on some of those
(19:11):
statements, you're like, well,that, that seems so silly now to
just say that has to be the way,and that you can't be a little
more flexible and dynamic bycarrying a bench and having a
stronger network of contractorsand freelancers.
And I'm sure some people arealso gonna say, yeah, duh, why
wouldn't you do that?
But,
Hillary (19:27):
well, part of that too is that it used to be that you'd
hire an agency for the talent.
Like you were buying into thetalent, you were buying into the
leadership, you were buying intothe aura, and that's still the
case.
You still have those agenciesthat just come with such a
legacy that it's absolutely, weare going to hire, the densu and
(19:48):
the collective and whoever, butthe reality is that.
The change is happening whereyou don't own people.
Like people are dynamic, theymove in their career, they go to
different places.
And I think that really comesdown to the culture of the
agency and how they operatethat's gonna produce those
predictable results thatcompanies are like.
(20:09):
Absolutely.
That's who I wanna work with.
Russel (20:11):
Well and it just proves, and I think that's a little bit
problem challenge probably in acircles, but specifically agency
of how of.
Cultural business practices arein the industrial age.
Like, like you said, this word,own people, control people.
And, and that is a veryindustrial age mindset.
And I think we're, we're finallyevolving and coming around it.
But some folks, some people,some agencies are further along
(20:33):
than others.
Hillary (20:35):
Yeah, exactly.
Russel (20:36):
I know this kind of right, the typical when
someone's starting and there'sjust all that adrenaline and
gusto and everything that isyou're,'cause you're coming out
of the gate, in terms of whatyou're dreaming and what you're
thinking about and what thefuture holds, but how has that
changed for you as you'veevolved as a business and what
you're trying to achieve andwhat your goals are?
Hillary (20:56):
I think in the beginning I was really focused
on getting flexible work,working.
I wanted to be able to havepredictability in the work that
was coming in, the clients thatwe had, and I wanted to be able.
To manage a flexible lifestyle.
And a lot of that was rootedbecause again, I knew I was
(21:16):
gonna become a mom and I wantedto get that done before that
happened.
And so originally, I think myworldview was a little bit
smaller on.
What's possible here?
Mm-hmm.
And as time has gone on, we'veexpanded.
We originally were called socialHQ because we were exclusively
social focused, and in the eraof moving against the grain, I
(21:41):
expanded instead of nichingdown.
So we evolved into digital hq.
Then we brought on JacquelineDel Martinez as our president
and chief communications officerwho oversees the communications
side of the business, and shehas stood that up alongside the
marketing division that Ioversee.
So the agency has grown beyondwhat I could have envisioned in
(22:02):
the beginning, but the root ofeverything where flexible work
is.
Middle of mind is that we get toshare that with other workers
and other contractors and otherpeople.
I mean, every time I pay out amonthly payroll, I'm shocked.
It's the best feeling in theworld to be able to fund this
(22:24):
lifestyle for so many people.
Russel (22:27):
It sounds like creating the work environment you didn't
quite have or polishing what youwould've hoped would be better
and just go create that foryourself.
Hillary (22:36):
I think that's what we all do though.
It's always about theexperiences that we have that
are gonna turn into a.
Something you know better nexttime around and next iteration.
And there's a lot too.
I know you talk a lot aboutleadership and agencies and
management and being a firsttime manager of a growing team
of a young team was a hugelearning curve when I was at my
(22:58):
previous agency and we weremoving so quickly that I always
felt.
I was not living up to thatpotential with management.
Mm-hmm.
That was something I always wasstruggling with and wrapping my
head with.
I was listening to podcasts onZoom management on the way into
work.
I was listening on the way out.
I was doing it while I wasworking out and now.
With that experience and withthose repetitions, I'm much more
(23:20):
comfortable with my managementstyle and how I lead the team
through example and how I cangive that feedback more
critically and openly and with alot of love too.
That's a lot of what comes intothe management space that I just
really could not have donewithout experience.
Russel (23:38):
Well, that's something they, I don't think is always on
top of people's minds when theydo start their business and even
probably deep into running theirbusiness, is this idea of once
you have a team, like it or not,you're now a manager.
You are a caretaker of otherhuman beings trying to get them
to perform at their best, andthat can be.
Tough thing to do.
When you think about that aspectof your role, did you feel
(24:01):
prepared for that by the timeyou were doing that on your own?
Or, or did you still feel likeyou had a lot to learn?
Hillary (24:07):
It's funny.
In the beginning I wasn'tmanaging people.
I was managing myself.
Russel (24:12):
Yeah.
Hillary (24:12):
And it was, which might be the
Russel (24:13):
hardest person to manage.
Hillary (24:15):
Oh, she's crazy.
No, it was a lovely break.
I had put so much pressure onmyself for.
Several years of being a peoplemanager that by the time I could
just focus back on myself, itwas like a breath of fresh air.
Yeah.
And then when it came time tohire the first worker and the
(24:38):
second worker and the thirdworker, it became much more, it
was so much easier.
It was like riding a bike.
And I felt much more preparedthis time around than I had with
a little bit of the trial byfire.
Yeah.
Russel (24:54):
Well, it's interesting and I feel that a little bit in,
in what you're sharing of havingthat break and how impactful
that probably could have been.
As you know, even just how youwere describing that before of
just you're just trying to keepup with everything that's almost
being reactive and you listen topodcasts and trying to learn
everything you can, real time,real scenarios, but having some
time to just reflect and calmthe waters per se, and then
(25:14):
start back up again.
I could see where that would bereally, really beneficial.
Uh, I, I say that too.
I probably skipped a part of.
Having now stepped away from myagency previously, uh, I see
things just a lot moredifferently than I think I ever
could when I was just in thethick of it.
Hillary (25:32):
What do you think is the biggest focus or biggest
thing that you're noticing nowthat you're stepping out?
Russel (25:38):
Oh man.
How many hours do you have here?
Um,
Hillary (25:42):
I'll give you my hourly.
Right.
I'll be like therapy.
Russel (25:45):
Yeah.
You know, honestly, I think farand away the biggest, and this
has really helped inform mywork, is once we got to a
certain point, we kind ofstopped stepping back and
really.
Rethinking our strategy for howwe're growing.
And I think we just maybethought we had cut our teeth
enough that we're always justtactical maneuvers away from,
(26:07):
improvements to the business andjust some slight re-engineering.
And that might not have beenentirely a false mindset, but I
don't think we ever.
Continued to try to grow from acore strategy.
This is the next biggestobstacle and this is our way to
solve that for the growth ofthis business.
I don't think we came to, forcedourselves to think through that
(26:28):
and really dig down and focus onthat.
It was just kind of a lot of,like I said, a lot of tactical
maneuvering and I think honestlybeing transparent of we grew
really fast and then we stalledand I think that was a big
factor in some of the stall.
Hillary (26:43):
Yeah.
Makes sense.
I think that the distance canreally add a lot of clarity.
Russel (26:48):
Oh yeah.
And that's why someone also
Hillary (26:50):
might feel like the end of the world sometimes.
Russel (26:53):
Yes, yes.
Yes.
Uh, like why
Hillary (26:55):
does my body think it is being chased by a bear?
Russel (26:58):
Yes.
Well, yeah.
The, the, the stress part is forsure.
But it's funny, I mean, just, Ihear so many owners say when you
pull them away for a minute or aday or something, just how
important that time is, andthey're like, oh my gosh.
You fall into these routineswhere you show up and you just
routinize yourself.
And yeah, if anything, justpulling away for whatever time
(27:19):
you can, when you can, is reallypowerful.
Hillary (27:23):
Yeah, the saying it's marketing, not brain surgery is,
you know, always very relevantin a lot of these cases, but
it's definitely one of thoseareas that the space of it all
and being able to come back intoit was just such a blessing and
do it, you know, the way that Iwanted to, in the way that I saw
it, it could come to life, wasjust, you know, such a treat
(27:44):
that I didn't have to wait.
Till 20 years later.
Russel (27:47):
It reminds me too, I'm just sitting here thinking as
you're sharing that of the, andI think it's probably a good
practice, right?
Every year cancel all yourrecurring meetings.
Yes.
And, and see.
Yes.
And see what comes back to life,or what is actually necessary.
Better yet,
Hillary (28:00):
go on maternity leave.
Man.
Let me tell you the amount ofthings that got off my calendar
and that I did not pick back upwhen I got back, like.
Holy smokes.
I have never been more lockedin.
Yeah.
Than post mat leave,
Russel (28:17):
so, that's right.
You just had a baby recently, isthat right?
Or
Hillary (28:20):
I did earlier this year.
Yes, I did.
Okay.
Yes.
Russel (28:23):
What was that like?
Was that your first?
Hillary (28:25):
That's my first, yeah.
Okay.
Russel (28:27):
So what was that like navigating, preparing for having
a baby, being away from thebusiness for a little bit?
Tell us more about that.
Hillary (28:34):
Oh man.
Well, like I said, I do planthings pretty far in advance.
Yeah.
But once I make my mind up, wemove.
We move on it.
So we had always known that wewanted kids, and I had always
known that I wanted to be ableto have the option to be.
(28:55):
More present and more available.
Yeah.
You know, my mom's generation ofwomen were the first real
working women generation wherethey were really back in the
office and really trying to cuttheir teeth and make their way
in.
What had historically been aman's world and that included
(29:15):
rigid times and not a lot of PTLand a lot of sacrifices to be
seen.
Uh, and that includes dancerecitals and being able to show
up for field trips and you know,a lot of other things that come
naturally with having kids.
And I think you're a dad too.
You see it just how much canreally go into it.
(29:36):
Yeah.
And I wanted the choice.
I didn't know what kind of mom Iwould want to be if I wanted to
be a working mom or if I wantedto be more of hybrid, but I knew
that stepping away entirely froma career was not gonna be an
option for me.
I love work.
Yeah.
It's so much fun to me.
I love stimulating my brain.
I love working with otherpeople, and that just wasn't
gonna be the case for me.
(29:57):
So.
Stepping away and planning for amaternity leave as a business
owner was not easy.
It took a lot of humility.
It took a lot of trust in theteam.
It took a lot of planning.
I think I told my businesspartner when I was like eight
weeks pregnant.
I was like, hello?
Like, usually you don't tell awork until much further down the
(30:18):
road, but man, we had workingwas a lot of.
Planning and working with theteam, a lot of process
management, um, a lot ofintroductions really early to
clients and bringing more peopleinto the fold.
And there were a lot of thingsthat I had been doing just
naturally from starting thecompany that I was used to,
(30:42):
whether that was certain clientcommunications, certain
management of operations, thingsthat really.
Probably could have been punteda lot earlier, but it's just the
rhythm.
It's hard to get out of it.
So that was definitely, youknow, the piece of it that was
really helpful was thatpre-planning.
Russel (31:00):
Yeah.
I mean right.
A, a big life event, but.
You know, taking what's, mightseem like something that's a
detriment to the, not even adetriment to the business, but a
difficulty, I should say, tonavigate in the business.
Turning that into a positive,really knowing what is
important, getting rid of what'snot, and delegating more, and
solving some of those as you'repreparing for that when you came
(31:22):
back.
You know, talk about thisconcept of stepping away.
That's a form of stepping awayfor a minute.
How did your perspective change?
Did it change?
What was life like coming back?
Hillary (31:33):
Oh, hugely.
The biggest change was thingsthat felt so big before I left.
Really did not feel very bigwhen I got back.
I, man, it was a hormonallobotomy a little bit.
Yeah.
I was just like, I was notworried at all about anything.
(31:54):
Um, mainly because I got to seeand step away.
I got to see how the teamperformed in my absence.
And there's this like, if youget hit by a bus tomorrow, the
company's gonna go down feeling.
And that's a lot of pressure toexist in because this was my
first baby.
This was my blood, sweat andtear and my hustle and all of my
(32:21):
time invested.
And to.
Let it go into the world and seewhat it did on its own.
Just took a lot of energy.
And luckily I had a cute littlebaby to take my mind off of it,
but when I got back it was like,man, everything that I had been
so worried about.
I was not nearly as like for asecond,
Russel (32:43):
Chris, this thought was gonna be this, this other baby
doesn't need me as much as, uh,this new baby does.
Hillary (32:49):
No, it's a teenager, it's doing its thing.
And you know, now that I get tobe back and work on the things
that I am currently working on,like I love it.
I'm loving the work that we'redoing right now.
I am loving the clients that wehave right now, that we are, you
know, growing with and helpingto grow.
We're having an absolute blastover here.
(33:11):
And last year this time we werehaving a good time, but I was
very stressed.
Russel (33:16):
Yeah, absolutely.
It's funny, and I mean, I feellike this is the theme that's
coming out of this conversationis the power of stepping away.
And while maybe going and not,the advice is not necessarily go
have a child, to force yourselfto step away, but, but there are
other ways we can go about this,right?
Plan a month long vacation plan,a sabbatical, do something.
Like that, you'll, you'll getthe recuperation benefit, but
(33:39):
you'll also get the perspectivebenefit and the and I'm sure
there's many more you can fillin the gaps of what are the
other benefits that really comefrom stepping away.
Hillary (33:47):
Oh, I mean, there's a million, but I do think that,
um, the other piece of it isthat being a working mom and
being a working woman.
It can be a decision in a timewhere you're like, man, I don't
know if I'm ready.
Like I don't know if I am readyto give up, like the focus on my
work.
I love my career.
I don't wanna have to choose.
And that is a huge reason why Ibuilt Digital HQ is because I
(34:10):
wanted to give that choice.
And having gone through itmyself and seeing just how
incredible it is, like.
I feel bad that I had hesitatedto have kids for so long because
of my career.
You know, there's a lot ofpreparation that came into it
that made it possible, but man,like this lifestyle and this
(34:32):
kind of work for a certainpersonality is just like,
there's a lot of success thatcan come out of it.
So I do hope that.
The remote work lifestyle andthe flexible work model will
continue to grow.
There's been a lot of talk aboutreturn to office and you know,
getting people back five days aweek in person and standard nine
(34:53):
to five.
I've seen a lot of articles comeout about how remote work is
like not good for people.
Like big RTO is working hardthese days, right?
But there's just, there's such aplace for it.
There's a place for both andultimately it comes back to
choice.
Russel (35:07):
I think we, hopefully we're starting to learn as
humans too much of one thing ornot enough of another thing, is
probably never, never the rightanswer in this hybrid world.
just as you're talking throughthis, and I've had similar
conversations with other women,but I certainly empathize this
maybe tug of war.
Career or your role as a parentThat I can be honest, is
(35:29):
probably typically felt more bywomen than it is males, But it
sounds like, when you'rethinking about other young or
whatever age women thinkingabout this tug of war, can you
have both?
Can you have the career and thebusiness and the way you want it
and be the parent that you want?
Hillary (35:48):
I think it depends on what you want, but ultimately,
yes, my experience is yes, youcan.
And I think that to me isbecause of remote work because.
This company that that isdefinitely possible.
So I always think it's withinthe realm of being able to build
(36:10):
it.
Like this remote work really didnot exist pre pandemic?
No, no.
It was, the vision was therebefore pandemic, and then the
pandemic just kind of.
Happened and it made everythingtransform in a way that
businesses said could not bedone.
It's amazing what happens whenmoney is on the line, Russell.
I'm telling you, people adapt.
(36:32):
But you can have a great,fulfilling, fabulous career and
have a wonderful family.
I think it's possible to doboth.
Russel (36:43):
Maybe just the kind of takeaways might be need a little
more intentional.
Otherwise you can't just throwtime and everything you've got
at it.
You have to be more selectiveand opportunity cost.
But there is a way that'sextremely inspirational and
appreciate you sharing that.
Well, as much as I don't wantto, all good conversations do
come to an end.
(37:03):
So many great perspectives thatyou've shared already.
Maybe if I could just get onelast one from you.
Entrepreneurs born or are theymade?
Hillary (37:14):
They're born.
Russel (37:15):
Oh,
Hillary (37:17):
they're born.
I think every entrepreneur hasit in them and has that spark in
them.
I think that life will deal youcards that will dwindle that
light, and it is your job to getit roaring if you're up for the
challenge.
Mm-hmm.
But I think that's already inyou.
Russel (37:38):
I mean, you're always gonna have me excited at a born
answer.
Uh, so, uh, I, I'm here for it.
Um, well, if people wanna knowmore about Digital hq, where can
they go?
Hillary (37:49):
They can go to dgt hq.com.
No vs.
And you can also follow me onLinkedIn, Hillary Applegate.
I'd love to see you over there.
Russel (37:59):
Perfect.
Perfect.
Well.
Wonderful conversation today,Hilary.
Appreciate you taking the timeto share just your thoughts on
growing up in Silicon Valley.
Uh, the really, the realtakeaway, the power of stepping
away, how that can improveyourself, your business, so many
other aspects of your life.
And the always important thingof balancing this role is of
(38:21):
motherhood and parenting and abusiness.
And really appreciate yousharing your perspectives on
that today.
Hillary (38:26):
Thanks for having me, Russell.
It was a good time.
Russel (38:28):
Good time indeed.
Thank you for listening to anagency story podcast where every
story helps you write your own,subscribe, share, and join us
again for more real stories,lessons learned, and
breakthroughs ahead.
What's next?
You'll want to visit an agencystory.com/podcast and follow us
on Instagram at an agency storyfor the latest updates.
Hillary (38:52):
When I had first started Digital hq, I was
running webinars by, you know,in my living room and running
through X, Y, and Z on socialmedia content, whatever it is.
And my only audience in the livestream were two of my friends
from high school for like weeks.
(39:14):
Oh, I was telling that story tomy friend today who's
considering starting her ownthing, and I was like, how do I
get over the cringe factor?
I'm like, you can't.
You just gotta go.
It.
Then you end up on the otherside and it's great.
Russel (39:32):
Well, let's talk about how real ones your, your two
friends were too as well.
Yeah, right.
Shout out to Sean
Hillary (39:37):
and Devon Dan.
Like they're good friends.
Good friends.
Russel (39:43):
Yeah.
If they're not willing to showup for you in your cringe
moments, that's not the kind offriendship I want.
Hillary (39:47):
I would agree with you.
Yeah.
There
Russel (39:49):
you go.
Welcome to An Agency Story podcast where owners and
experts share the real journey,the early struggles, the
breakthrough moments, andeverything in between.
I'm your host Russel Dubree,former eight figure agency
owner, turn Business coach.
Sold my agency and now helpsagency leaders create their
ideal business.
Every agency has a story, andthis is your front row seat.
(01:38):
This is an agency story.
Welcome to the show today,everyone.
I have Hillary Applegate withDigital HQ with us here today.
Thank you so much for joining ustoday, Hillary.
Hillary (01:54):
Thanks for having me.
Russel (01:56):
Well, I'm excited to, let's get right to it.
Start us off.
Tell us what Digital HQ does andwho you do it for.
Hillary (02:02):
Yeah, so Digital HQ is a modern marketing and
communications agency.
We are entirely remote based.
We work with contractors andemployees all over the country
in the United States, and weservice clients across the
globe.
So, um, I've been doing thiswith Digital HQ since.
Pre pandemic 2020.
Russel (02:23):
Awesome.
Well, I want to hear more aboutthe vision and everything else
you're doing, and I imaginewe'll have some pretty cool
things to talk about.
But before we get all into allthings agency today, I want to
hear about Young Hillary'sstory.
Who was she and how was shecoming up in the world?
Hillary (02:40):
Oh man.
Well.
Born and raised in SiliconValley.
I used to drive past all of thetech giants that you know today
on my way to elementary schooland middle school and high
school and friends' houses.
I used to pass by eBay.
Nearly every day of my life,which to me, at that time when
you're a kid, you don't realizehow crazy that is to be in the
(03:03):
mecca of all of that.
So I was always surrounded byentrepreneurs and visionaries
and innovators, and it never,never crossed my mind.
You know, I talk about theschool that I went to, which was
a public school in the Bay Area,but we had.
Super cool new Apple computersand we were learning on that and
(03:25):
we were, you know, really justembracing technology as quickly
as it came because it was reallybeing built in our back door.
So that was the start of it.
We were talking a little bitearlier.
I wasn't the best student by anymeans.
I was the gal who was talking tofriends in classes and, wanting
to do the walk-a-thons and theschool bakery things and all
(03:48):
that.
I loved the social communityaspect of school a lot more than
I liked the science and the mathand whatnot.
Even though don't be, don't behating.
I was a chemistry ta.
Okay.
Yeah.
Still had it in me, but, um,
Russel (04:04):
I mean they say that that entrepreneurs typically
aren't the best students that,um, you know, you probably think
about it too.
Schools a very structuredenvironment.
Entrepreneurs are not verystructured, and that just seems
to be ill-fitting.
But I don't know how you look orthink about that.
You're like, yeah, that's, thatmakes total sense.
Hillary (04:20):
Oh, it's very on brand.
Yeah.
I think that the start ofDigital HQ and this vision that
I had was it kicked off when Iwas getting ready to graduate
from college.
I had read an article in Forbesfrom a guy who wrote a, you
know, 20 things that 20 yearolds should know.
And I was like, that's me.
What should I know?
And number six, seven, or eightwas.
(04:43):
Social media is not a job.
It is not going to be a career.
Do not pursue it.
It's not gonna exist in 10years.
And that was the moment.
What year was this,
Russel (04:51):
by the way?
Sorry.
Not to age or date ourselves.
2013.
Okay.
That's a, that's an interestingstatement from 2013, I feel
like, isn't
Hillary (04:57):
it
Russel (04:58):
though?
Hillary (04:58):
Isn't it though?
Because I saw that and I said,well.
I guess I know which field I'mgonna get into if this guy in
Forbes can say that, uh, becausesocial media was a very not very
respected field for a very longtime.
I think that it's still, I thinksocial media managers and
(05:21):
leaders are still, carving outas much budget as they possibly
can and fighting for everydollar.
But it was something that was.
So permeable in everyone'slives.
Everybody had a smartphone.
Everyone had a social mediaplatform.
And to think that was not gonnabe an avenue that was mission
critical was just silly to me.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Yeah.
And
Hillary (05:42):
so that behavior of.
Going against the grain or nottrying to conform, I think
really put me into that categoryof, yeah, no, like the best way
to get me to do something is totell me that it can't be done.
Russel (05:57):
Sounds very entrepreneurial as well.
This is all making a lot ofsense.
So how did your path lead up to,or, or what was the inspiration
for actually starting youragency?
Hillary (06:06):
So I had been working at an agency out of Phoenix for
several years, and when I wasoriginally hired there, I was
brought into the PR departmentand I was strictly accost.
It was one of those things wheresocial media had been, added on
as a freebie.
Yeah, we can handle your.
Facebook.
Yeah, we can do that for you.
No problem.
And then all of a sudden they'relike, well, we need someone to
(06:28):
do the work because we haveactual jobs that we need to do,
so let's go ahead and hiresomeone.
And it took me a couple monthsto really figure out that I had
been hired.
As a cost to realize, uh, thisis not a good position to be in
if I am just an expense.
So I need to figure out a way tomake this profitable for the
(06:48):
agency.
And I have very fond memories ofthat agency.
That was where I really got to.
Test and learn and growimmensely.
The leadership was verycomplimentary of me expanding my
wings and trying new things.
So when I said, Hey, I need togo out to the dealership.
We had a 10 dealer, uh, group,auto group out in California and
(07:12):
I said, I need to go out therefor the next quarterly meeting
and I need to pitch socialmedia.
And so I fly out to California.
And it is, you know, anautomotive quarterly meeting,
which is essentially a largeU-shape room in a hotel and
there's all these men there.
I don't think I saw one woman,all these guys there, and I got
(07:34):
in on the lunch break and I waslike, this is perfect.
This is all I need.
Just gimme.
15 minutes of attention and Ipresented what social media
could do for their brands, whatit would look like, how it would
impact performance and sales,and ultimately what that would
cost.
And I walked outta that roomwith a quarter million dollar
deal and I said, okay, here wego.
(07:55):
This is gonna be the first stepand us being able to actually
turn a profit and I can save myjob from Wow.
Any inevitable downfall.
Russel (08:05):
I mean, I thought you were, and I, I think I had a
guest on a show before that theyshowed up to something similar
like that and, and they made aninstant decision.
I'm not gonna pitch my business.
I'm gonna pitch myself and myown business.
But I thought that's what you'regoing, but.
You were saving your job, you'rebringing it back to the
business.
Hillary (08:21):
Yeah, bringing it back to the business.
And you know, the agency at thetime, my original clients were a
Spanish speaking gynecologistand auto.
That was pretty much therepertoire of clients that I was
working on.
And I had come from a backgroundof higher education and
nonprofit, so we were alreadygetting into a little bit of an
eclectic mix there.
And then from there, the agencygrowth that was able to happen,
(08:44):
it was a little bit of alignmentof stars.
They had great creative, theyhad great.
Strategy, and we were inPhoenix, which is not
necessarily like a stellaradvertising market that you
would think of.
So there was a lot of ability topunch above our weight, and we
ended up securing some reallyincredible clients, food and
beverage clients, franchiseclients, healthcare clients,
(09:04):
casino and gaming clients,government clients.
So I.
We did win was Virgin Hotel andCasino.
So the progression of careerthere was just immense.
And I am forever grateful forthe agency.
But as we got to the, end as thebillings for social media were,
(09:26):
million plus, I was like, man, Iwould do this a little bit
differently if I could do itmyself.
And you know, there was a, alittle bit of foresight too,
looking into the future on, Iknew that I wanted to have kids.
I knew that I wanted to.
Have flexibility in my life.
And I knew that if there wasever gonna be a time to give it
(09:47):
the good old college try, it wasnow or never.
And that's when I made the leap.
Russel (09:53):
Was that a kind of just make a fast decision and the
next day you're, you're puttingin your two weeks notice, did
you spend a lot of time thinkingabout that?
Like, where were you on thiskind of, uh, you know, let go
and let God philosophy or planthis out a lot more?
Hillary (10:08):
So I am a planner, but when I have my mind made, I move
quickly.
So everything in my life, Iwould say I have thought through
very carefully and I've let timedo its thing.
And with that, at the time I wasdating my now husband and his
career was very different frommine.
(10:28):
He is in operations and he worksin a very niche field.
So.
I always knew that I wanted tomove to Austin.
Like I wanted to go to UT when Iwas in high school.
Didn't get in.
Damn.
But then I, I just always knew Iwanted to live in Austin.
I loved it.
I visited it often as a kid.
I spent a lot of time out here.
(10:49):
I had family friends out hereand it just.
I was almost a magnetic pole toAustin my whole life.
So once I graduated college andI ended up staying in Arizona, I
was like, well, one day I'mgonna make it to Austin.
And then, the dating scene inlife happens.
And eventually I met my nowhusband and it was like.
The second date, I was like,Hey, by the way, I don't love
(11:11):
Phoenix.
I'm not gonna be here very long.
So if you're like really ontoPhoenix, that's totally fine,
but don't pursue me.
And he's like, eh, Austin soundscool.
And so he and I, as you know, wegot more serious.
Then he was starting to look in.
Phoenix and, uh, Austin for anew role.
And he got reached out to viaLinkedIn Pro Social Media, um,
(11:36):
and a recruiter, they broughthim on and loved him, and they
were like, Hey, we got a rolefor you out in Austin.
And that was the opportunity tosay, Hey, this is a good time
for me to put in my notice.
So, okay, the stars aligned, butit was also planned.
Russel (11:51):
Clearly.
Yeah, it's always seemed to bea, a fine mix there of that.
Um, all right, so you're jumpinginto this, you're starting your
own business.
I mean, what's interesting aboutyour story though, we'll say, is
you kind of built a businesswithin a business, so this
wasn't all foreign to you.
You were just resetting theclock a little bit.
Um, but what were just some ofthe formative, experiences you
(12:12):
have when, when you're suddenlynow out on your own doing this?
Hillary (12:16):
Russell so many, oh, it need a drink.
It's humbling.
Yeah.
We should have done this overcocktails.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Yeah, it's
Hillary (12:24):
humbling.
Um, you know, I think thatworking within another agency
and with other leaders, I'm,like I said, immensely grateful
for that experience because Ilearned trial by fire.
I got to see some of the best inthe business.
Do.
Just in phenomenal work, and tome, that time in office with
(12:49):
people is just immeasurable.
So I'm a big proponent ofgetting that experience and
really networking.
A lot of my success has comefrom that network that I had
built there and the reputationthat I had built there.
So that was.
The first catapult piece of itthat was very positive.
The hard part though, is that Ididn't have the safety net of
(13:11):
this incredible group of peoplearound me.
I had to make it and really putmyself out there as this is the
way that I'm going.
This is the direction that I amgoing, and this is what I am
building.
And in the beginning, that is alot of hustle.
It's a lot of grind.
It is self-made.
Um, and it's a lot of fumbling.
(13:32):
There were a couple ofinvestments that I made early on
that I probably could haveforegone because I felt like I
needed to, you know, get thevalidation of, you know, like,
like what
Russel (13:45):
are we talking about here?
Because I imagine there's somany people that have done this
exact same thing.
So
Hillary (13:50):
like, I'm like, you know, I really should get a
coach.
Like that's a great idea rightnow.
And I do love a coach, but Ishould have gotten a coach in my
industry.
Later in the career, I did notneed a coach that did not work
specifically in my industry,just to tell me to get on like
more sales calls.
That was not something that Ineeded to do.
(14:10):
I also got the advice early onto niche down.
You know, they're like, you dotoo much.
You need to really focus in onlike just influencer marketing
or just social media, or justcontent creation.
And I was like, eh, no, thatdoesn't sound right.
Or industries.
So you have to really focus inon your industries.
Yeah, I've always served bothB2B and B2C, and the principles
are the same.
(14:31):
So it is one of those thingsthat there's a lot of noise out
there.
You have to learn how to listento your own inner voice and
combine that with the experienceof people who you really respect
and you really know that canhelp push through.
And that was my experience.
Yeah.
Russel (14:51):
You know, it's funny, and I've asked this question
before, and I know this is avery telling perspective.
I, I feel like from what you'resharing as far as the answer,
but this concept of positioningand niching, or if you will is a
valid aspect that an agencyeventually can or shouldn't need
to go through, I think theseformative years, these early
years, you gotta just like,almost like a teenager going out
(15:14):
in the world, you kind of gottago try a little bit of
everything to find your flavor,to find your personality, to
find all those little thingsthat when you do land where you
land, you know you're there forthe right reasons.
Hillary (15:26):
Oh yeah, my first brand looked like Tide.
I look back, it looks like Tide.
It's the same colors.
It was horrible.
And I had to go out into theworld like that and just let it
rip and learn and that, youknow, I'm grateful to that time.
'cause otherwise I wouldn't bewhere I am.
The agency wouldn't be where itis.
And you know, if I had let thatfear stop me in the beginning or
(15:51):
call me, I wouldn't have madeprogress.
Russel (15:54):
It's just crazy all the different paths this can take.
I imagine like a lot of owners,you step out into this world and
I'm gonna do things a littledifferently.
What was that different for youand maybe how is that different
today from how you started out?
Hillary (16:10):
So, extended network has always been a part of agency
life, but it has.
Been used to potential, in myopinion, and when I was working.
At the agency that I was at, wehad a lot of constraints when it
came to talent.
So we would hire our internalpeople, they'd be running the
(16:32):
business, and it's classicagency.
You sell on opportunity.
You don't sell on current stuff.
So when you win new business,you.
You gotta stretch and you gottalean on your extended network
and you've got to be able tofill these roles.
And at the time, extendednetwork was not nearly what it
is today.
People were generally freelanceonly when they were laid off or
(16:56):
between jobs.
It wasn't a career choicenecessarily like it is today,
and I thought that was just amuch better way to operate.
I saw how many.
High performers and creativesand writers and developers were
just craving something otherthan burning out and agency is
(17:17):
burnout.
That's like the lifestyle is toreally grind.
And so I just saw an opportunityto build something different
where we would turn the abilityfor.
To choose how they worked andthat would be, they get to
choose their hours.
Yeah.
There's a lot of just thingsthat happen naturally with
(17:38):
agencies as they scale, as theygrow, that just make it tricky.
And this model just always spoketo me, and I loved the idea of
being able to create somethingwhere people could really come
energized and excited and nothave to.
Through some of the bureaucracythat naturally happens as you're
(18:01):
growing a company.
And it's funny now as we'regrowing that I am seeing a lot
of the benefit of thatbureaucracy and I am having to
evolve.
I'd ha I'm having to evolve how.
I can maintain that core truthof great people giving them
great work.
Our bench is stacked with peoplewho are freelanced by choice,
(18:25):
whether that's because they're aparent and they wanna have the
flexibility or because they werelaid off and they picked up
three clients outta nowhere andthey're like, Hey, I actually
enjoy this.
Or because they are caretaking aparent.
There's a lot of reasons whypeople want to be freelance and
why they choose to do it.
So this is a great way for us tobring that talent together, um,
(18:47):
and just really make somethingspecial.
Russel (18:49):
Yeah.
And if I'm hearing that right,like you're saying, evolve and I
think you're absolutely right inthis trend, and I think I grew
up in the agency world where,yes, if you needed work done,
you go hire somebody and, andall your work is done.
It was this rite of passage tosay.
We're entirely in-house and Oh,that's the buzzword.
Yes.
And I go, it's just funny whenyou think back on some of those
(19:11):
statements, you're like, well,that, that seems so silly now to
just say that has to be the way,and that you can't be a little
more flexible and dynamic bycarrying a bench and having a
stronger network of contractorsand freelancers.
And I'm sure some people arealso gonna say, yeah, duh, why
wouldn't you do that?
But,
Hillary (19:27):
well, part of that too is that it used to be that you'd
hire an agency for the talent.
Like you were buying into thetalent, you were buying into the
leadership, you were buying intothe aura, and that's still the
case.
You still have those agenciesthat just come with such a
legacy that it's absolutely, weare going to hire, the densu and
(19:48):
the collective and whoever, butthe reality is that.
The change is happening whereyou don't own people.
Like people are dynamic, theymove in their career, they go to
different places.
And I think that really comesdown to the culture of the
agency and how they operatethat's gonna produce those
predictable results thatcompanies are like.
(20:09):
Absolutely.
That's who I wanna work with.
Russel (20:11):
Well and it just proves, and I think that's a little bit
problem challenge probably in acircles, but specifically agency
of how of.
Cultural business practices arein the industrial age.
Like, like you said, this word,own people, control people.
And, and that is a veryindustrial age mindset.
And I think we're, we're finallyevolving and coming around it.
But some folks, some people,some agencies are further along
(20:33):
than others.
Hillary (20:35):
Yeah, exactly.
Russel (20:36):
I know this kind of right, the typical when
someone's starting and there'sjust all that adrenaline and
gusto and everything that isyou're,'cause you're coming out
of the gate, in terms of whatyou're dreaming and what you're
thinking about and what thefuture holds, but how has that
changed for you as you'veevolved as a business and what
you're trying to achieve andwhat your goals are?
Hillary (20:56):
I think in the beginning I was really focused
on getting flexible work,working.
I wanted to be able to havepredictability in the work that
was coming in, the clients thatwe had, and I wanted to be able.
To manage a flexible lifestyle.
And a lot of that was rootedbecause again, I knew I was
(21:16):
gonna become a mom and I wantedto get that done before that
happened.
And so originally, I think myworldview was a little bit
smaller on.
What's possible here?
Mm-hmm.
And as time has gone on, we'veexpanded.
We originally were called socialHQ because we were exclusively
social focused, and in the eraof moving against the grain, I
(21:41):
expanded instead of nichingdown.
So we evolved into digital hq.
Then we brought on JacquelineDel Martinez as our president
and chief communications officerwho oversees the communications
side of the business, and shehas stood that up alongside the
marketing division that Ioversee.
So the agency has grown beyondwhat I could have envisioned in
(22:02):
the beginning, but the root ofeverything where flexible work
is.
Middle of mind is that we get toshare that with other workers
and other contractors and otherpeople.
I mean, every time I pay out amonthly payroll, I'm shocked.
It's the best feeling in theworld to be able to fund this
(22:24):
lifestyle for so many people.
Russel (22:27):
It sounds like creating the work environment you didn't
quite have or polishing what youwould've hoped would be better
and just go create that foryourself.
Hillary (22:36):
I think that's what we all do though.
It's always about theexperiences that we have that
are gonna turn into a.
Something you know better nexttime around and next iteration.
And there's a lot too.
I know you talk a lot aboutleadership and agencies and
management and being a firsttime manager of a growing team
of a young team was a hugelearning curve when I was at my
(22:58):
previous agency and we weremoving so quickly that I always
felt.
I was not living up to thatpotential with management.
Mm-hmm.
That was something I always wasstruggling with and wrapping my
head with.
I was listening to podcasts onZoom management on the way into
work.
I was listening on the way out.
I was doing it while I wasworking out and now.
With that experience and withthose repetitions, I'm much more
(23:20):
comfortable with my managementstyle and how I lead the team
through example and how I cangive that feedback more
critically and openly and with alot of love too.
That's a lot of what comes intothe management space that I just
really could not have donewithout experience.
Russel (23:38):
Well, that's something they, I don't think is always on
top of people's minds when theydo start their business and even
probably deep into running theirbusiness, is this idea of once
you have a team, like it or not,you're now a manager.
You are a caretaker of otherhuman beings trying to get them
to perform at their best, andthat can be.
Tough thing to do.
When you think about that aspectof your role, did you feel
(24:01):
prepared for that by the timeyou were doing that on your own?
Or, or did you still feel likeyou had a lot to learn?
Hillary (24:07):
It's funny.
In the beginning I wasn'tmanaging people.
I was managing myself.
Russel (24:12):
Yeah.
Hillary (24:12):
And it was, which might be the
Russel (24:13):
hardest person to manage.
Hillary (24:15):
Oh, she's crazy.
No, it was a lovely break.
I had put so much pressure onmyself for.
Several years of being a peoplemanager that by the time I could
just focus back on myself, itwas like a breath of fresh air.
Yeah.
And then when it came time tohire the first worker and the
(24:38):
second worker and the thirdworker, it became much more, it
was so much easier.
It was like riding a bike.
And I felt much more preparedthis time around than I had with
a little bit of the trial byfire.
Yeah.
Russel (24:54):
Well, it's interesting and I feel that a little bit in,
in what you're sharing of havingthat break and how impactful
that probably could have been.
As you know, even just how youwere describing that before of
just you're just trying to keepup with everything that's almost
being reactive and you listen topodcasts and trying to learn
everything you can, real time,real scenarios, but having some
time to just reflect and calmthe waters per se, and then
(25:14):
start back up again.
I could see where that would bereally, really beneficial.
Uh, I, I say that too.
I probably skipped a part of.
Having now stepped away from myagency previously, uh, I see
things just a lot moredifferently than I think I ever
could when I was just in thethick of it.
Hillary (25:32):
What do you think is the biggest focus or biggest
thing that you're noticing nowthat you're stepping out?
Russel (25:38):
Oh man.
How many hours do you have here?
Um,
Hillary (25:42):
I'll give you my hourly.
Right.
I'll be like therapy.
Russel (25:45):
Yeah.
You know, honestly, I think farand away the biggest, and this
has really helped inform mywork, is once we got to a
certain point, we kind ofstopped stepping back and
really.
Rethinking our strategy for howwe're growing.
And I think we just maybethought we had cut our teeth
enough that we're always justtactical maneuvers away from,
(26:07):
improvements to the business andjust some slight re-engineering.
And that might not have beenentirely a false mindset, but I
don't think we ever.
Continued to try to grow from acore strategy.
This is the next biggestobstacle and this is our way to
solve that for the growth ofthis business.
I don't think we came to, forcedourselves to think through that
(26:28):
and really dig down and focus onthat.
It was just kind of a lot of,like I said, a lot of tactical
maneuvering and I think honestlybeing transparent of we grew
really fast and then we stalledand I think that was a big
factor in some of the stall.
Hillary (26:43):
Yeah.
Makes sense.
I think that the distance canreally add a lot of clarity.
Russel (26:48):
Oh yeah.
And that's why someone also
Hillary (26:50):
might feel like the end of the world sometimes.
Russel (26:53):
Yes, yes.
Yes.
Uh, like why
Hillary (26:55):
does my body think it is being chased by a bear?
Russel (26:58):
Yes.
Well, yeah.
The, the, the stress part is forsure.
But it's funny, I mean, just, Ihear so many owners say when you
pull them away for a minute or aday or something, just how
important that time is, andthey're like, oh my gosh.
You fall into these routineswhere you show up and you just
routinize yourself.
And yeah, if anything, justpulling away for whatever time
(27:19):
you can, when you can, is reallypowerful.
Hillary (27:23):
Yeah, the saying it's marketing, not brain surgery is,
you know, always very relevantin a lot of these cases, but
it's definitely one of thoseareas that the space of it all
and being able to come back intoit was just such a blessing and
do it, you know, the way that Iwanted to, in the way that I saw
it, it could come to life, wasjust, you know, such a treat
(27:44):
that I didn't have to wait.
Till 20 years later.
Russel (27:47):
It reminds me too, I'm just sitting here thinking as
you're sharing that of the, andI think it's probably a good
practice, right?
Every year cancel all yourrecurring meetings.
Yes.
And, and see.
Yes.
And see what comes back to life,or what is actually necessary.
Better yet,
Hillary (28:00):
go on maternity leave.
Man.
Let me tell you the amount ofthings that got off my calendar
and that I did not pick back upwhen I got back, like.
Holy smokes.
I have never been more lockedin.
Yeah.
Than post mat leave,
Russel (28:17):
so, that's right.
You just had a baby recently, isthat right?
Or
Hillary (28:20):
I did earlier this year.
Yes, I did.
Okay.
Yes.
Russel (28:23):
What was that like?
Was that your first?
Hillary (28:25):
That's my first, yeah.
Okay.
Russel (28:27):
So what was that like navigating, preparing for having
a baby, being away from thebusiness for a little bit?
Tell us more about that.
Hillary (28:34):
Oh man.
Well, like I said, I do planthings pretty far in advance.
Yeah.
But once I make my mind up, wemove.
We move on it.
So we had always known that wewanted kids, and I had always
known that I wanted to be ableto have the option to be.
(28:55):
More present and more available.
Yeah.
You know, my mom's generation ofwomen were the first real
working women generation wherethey were really back in the
office and really trying to cuttheir teeth and make their way
in.
What had historically been aman's world and that included
(29:15):
rigid times and not a lot of PTLand a lot of sacrifices to be
seen.
Uh, and that includes dancerecitals and being able to show
up for field trips and you know,a lot of other things that come
naturally with having kids.
And I think you're a dad too.
You see it just how much canreally go into it.
(29:36):
Yeah.
And I wanted the choice.
I didn't know what kind of mom Iwould want to be if I wanted to
be a working mom or if I wantedto be more of hybrid, but I knew
that stepping away entirely froma career was not gonna be an
option for me.
I love work.
Yeah.
It's so much fun to me.
I love stimulating my brain.
I love working with otherpeople, and that just wasn't
gonna be the case for me.
(29:57):
So.
Stepping away and planning for amaternity leave as a business
owner was not easy.
It took a lot of humility.
It took a lot of trust in theteam.
It took a lot of planning.
I think I told my businesspartner when I was like eight
weeks pregnant.
I was like, hello?
Like, usually you don't tell awork until much further down the
(30:18):
road, but man, we had workingwas a lot of.
Planning and working with theteam, a lot of process
management, um, a lot ofintroductions really early to
clients and bringing more peopleinto the fold.
And there were a lot of thingsthat I had been doing just
naturally from starting thecompany that I was used to,
(30:42):
whether that was certain clientcommunications, certain
management of operations, thingsthat really.
Probably could have been punteda lot earlier, but it's just the
rhythm.
It's hard to get out of it.
So that was definitely, youknow, the piece of it that was
really helpful was thatpre-planning.
Russel (31:00):
Yeah.
I mean right.
A, a big life event, but.
You know, taking what's, mightseem like something that's a
detriment to the, not even adetriment to the business, but a
difficulty, I should say, tonavigate in the business.
Turning that into a positive,really knowing what is
important, getting rid of what'snot, and delegating more, and
solving some of those as you'repreparing for that when you came
(31:22):
back.
You know, talk about thisconcept of stepping away.
That's a form of stepping awayfor a minute.
How did your perspective change?
Did it change?
What was life like coming back?
Hillary (31:33):
Oh, hugely.
The biggest change was thingsthat felt so big before I left.
Really did not feel very bigwhen I got back.
I, man, it was a hormonallobotomy a little bit.
Yeah.
I was just like, I was notworried at all about anything.
(31:54):
Um, mainly because I got to seeand step away.
I got to see how the teamperformed in my absence.
And there's this like, if youget hit by a bus tomorrow, the
company's gonna go down feeling.
And that's a lot of pressure toexist in because this was my
first baby.
This was my blood, sweat andtear and my hustle and all of my
(32:21):
time invested.
And to.
Let it go into the world and seewhat it did on its own.
Just took a lot of energy.
And luckily I had a cute littlebaby to take my mind off of it,
but when I got back it was like,man, everything that I had been
so worried about.
I was not nearly as like for asecond,
Russel (32:43):
Chris, this thought was gonna be this, this other baby
doesn't need me as much as, uh,this new baby does.
Hillary (32:49):
No, it's a teenager, it's doing its thing.
And you know, now that I get tobe back and work on the things
that I am currently working on,like I love it.
I'm loving the work that we'redoing right now.
I am loving the clients that wehave right now, that we are, you
know, growing with and helpingto grow.
We're having an absolute blastover here.
(33:11):
And last year this time we werehaving a good time, but I was
very stressed.
Russel (33:16):
Yeah, absolutely.
It's funny, and I mean, I feellike this is the theme that's
coming out of this conversationis the power of stepping away.
And while maybe going and not,the advice is not necessarily go
have a child, to force yourselfto step away, but, but there are
other ways we can go about this,right?
Plan a month long vacation plan,a sabbatical, do something.
Like that, you'll, you'll getthe recuperation benefit, but
(33:39):
you'll also get the perspectivebenefit and the and I'm sure
there's many more you can fillin the gaps of what are the
other benefits that really comefrom stepping away.
Hillary (33:47):
Oh, I mean, there's a million, but I do think that,
um, the other piece of it isthat being a working mom and
being a working woman.
It can be a decision in a timewhere you're like, man, I don't
know if I'm ready.
Like I don't know if I am readyto give up, like the focus on my
work.
I love my career.
I don't wanna have to choose.
And that is a huge reason why Ibuilt Digital HQ is because I
(34:10):
wanted to give that choice.
And having gone through itmyself and seeing just how
incredible it is, like.
I feel bad that I had hesitatedto have kids for so long because
of my career.
You know, there's a lot ofpreparation that came into it
that made it possible, but man,like this lifestyle and this
(34:32):
kind of work for a certainpersonality is just like,
there's a lot of success thatcan come out of it.
So I do hope that.
The remote work lifestyle andthe flexible work model will
continue to grow.
There's been a lot of talk aboutreturn to office and you know,
getting people back five days aweek in person and standard nine
(34:53):
to five.
I've seen a lot of articles comeout about how remote work is
like not good for people.
Like big RTO is working hardthese days, right?
But there's just, there's such aplace for it.
There's a place for both andultimately it comes back to
choice.
Russel (35:07):
I think we, hopefully we're starting to learn as
humans too much of one thing ornot enough of another thing, is
probably never, never the rightanswer in this hybrid world.
just as you're talking throughthis, and I've had similar
conversations with other women,but I certainly empathize this
maybe tug of war.
Career or your role as a parentThat I can be honest, is
(35:29):
probably typically felt more bywomen than it is males, But it
sounds like, when you'rethinking about other young or
whatever age women thinkingabout this tug of war, can you
have both?
Can you have the career and thebusiness and the way you want it
and be the parent that you want?
Hillary (35:48):
I think it depends on what you want, but ultimately,
yes, my experience is yes, youcan.
And I think that to me isbecause of remote work because.
This company that that isdefinitely possible.
So I always think it's withinthe realm of being able to build
(36:10):
it.
Like this remote work really didnot exist pre pandemic?
No, no.
It was, the vision was therebefore pandemic, and then the
pandemic just kind of.
Happened and it made everythingtransform in a way that
businesses said could not bedone.
It's amazing what happens whenmoney is on the line, Russell.
I'm telling you, people adapt.
(36:32):
But you can have a great,fulfilling, fabulous career and
have a wonderful family.
I think it's possible to doboth.
Russel (36:43):
Maybe just the kind of takeaways might be need a little
more intentional.
Otherwise you can't just throwtime and everything you've got
at it.
You have to be more selectiveand opportunity cost.
But there is a way that'sextremely inspirational and
appreciate you sharing that.
Well, as much as I don't wantto, all good conversations do
come to an end.
(37:03):
So many great perspectives thatyou've shared already.
Maybe if I could just get onelast one from you.
Entrepreneurs born or are theymade?
Hillary (37:14):
They're born.
Russel (37:15):
Oh,
Hillary (37:17):
they're born.
I think every entrepreneur hasit in them and has that spark in
them.
I think that life will deal youcards that will dwindle that
light, and it is your job to getit roaring if you're up for the
challenge.
Mm-hmm.
But I think that's already inyou.
Russel (37:38):
I mean, you're always gonna have me excited at a born
answer.
Uh, so, uh, I, I'm here for it.
Um, well, if people wanna knowmore about Digital hq, where can
they go?
Hillary (37:49):
They can go to dgt hq.com.
No vs.
And you can also follow me onLinkedIn, Hillary Applegate.
I'd love to see you over there.
Russel (37:59):
Perfect.
Perfect.
Well.
Wonderful conversation today,Hilary.
Appreciate you taking the timeto share just your thoughts on
growing up in Silicon Valley.
Uh, the really, the realtakeaway, the power of stepping
away, how that can improveyourself, your business, so many
other aspects of your life.
And the always important thingof balancing this role is of
(38:21):
motherhood and parenting and abusiness.
And really appreciate yousharing your perspectives on
that today.
Hillary (38:26):
Thanks for having me, Russell.
It was a good time.
Russel (38:28):
Good time indeed.
Thank you for listening to anagency story podcast where every
story helps you write your own,subscribe, share, and join us
again for more real stories,lessons learned, and
breakthroughs ahead.
What's next?
You'll want to visit an agencystory.com/podcast and follow us
on Instagram at an agency storyfor the latest updates.
Hillary (38:52):
When I had first started Digital hq, I was
running webinars by, you know,in my living room and running
through X, Y, and Z on socialmedia content, whatever it is.
And my only audience in the livestream were two of my friends
from high school for like weeks.
(39:14):
Oh, I was telling that story tomy friend today who's
considering starting her ownthing, and I was like, how do I
get over the cringe factor?
I'm like, you can't.
You just gotta go.
It.
Then you end up on the otherside and it's great.
Russel (39:32):
Well, let's talk about how real ones your, your two
friends were too as well.
Yeah, right.
Shout out to Sean
Hillary (39:37):
and Devon Dan.
Like they're good friends.
Good friends.
Russel (39:43):
Yeah.
If they're not willing to showup for you in your cringe
moments, that's not the kind offriendship I want.
Hillary (39:47):
I would agree with you.
Yeah.
There
Russel (39:49):
you go.
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