In this episode of Behind the Workflow, our host Robbie Perris sits down with Iain Stewart, Managing Director of h2o. An independent integrated marketing agency celebrating nearly 20 years in business.

Iain shares how h2o transitioned from an ad-hoc, intuition-led agency into a process-driven organisation, all while preserving its culture, creativity, and agility. What started as ambitious growth goals (doubling throughput with only a 50% increase in cost) turned into a complete operational rethink. But as Iain explains, it’s not about sacrificing freedom, it’s about creating a new kind of scalable structure.

This episode is packed with insights for leaders who want to grow smarter, not just bigger.

What you’ll learn:

• The signs it’s time to formalise operations (and what happens if you don’t)

• How to go from working reactively to managing proactively

• Why tools don’t fix problems, standardised process does

• How h2o consolidated 50+ tools down to a simplified, scalable tech stack

• The unexpected benefit of promoting internal talent into operations roles

• How to balance creative freedom with repeatable business workflows

And much more!

Whether you’re stepping into your first leadership role, scaling an agency, or trying to align your business with meaningful and measurable structure, this conversation offers a real-world look at the process of operational reinvention done right.

📌 Learn more about H2O Agency: https://h2o-creative.com/
👤 Connect with Iain Stewart on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iainstewart1971/