I Took 6 Months Off My Agency (It Ran Smoothly): What Agency Owners and Account Managers Must Know
🎙️ Happy Clients Podcast: If you’ve ever dreamed of stepping away from your agency, whether for a week, a month, or six whole months, this episode is for you.
Most agency owners dream of stepping away from the day-to-day, but very few actually do it. Taking a week off feels stressful enough… never mind six months.
But I did it.
I took six intentional, unplugged months away from my agency, no Asana, no Slack, no email, and my business continued to run smoothly. In this article, I’m breaking down how it happened and what every agency owner and account manager needs to know if you want your agency to work without you.
We help agency owners grow by taking client management off your plate - and putting you in the CEO seat instead
🎙️ Happy Clients Podcast: I Took 6 Months Off My Agency (It Ran Smoothly): What Agency Owners and Account Managers Must Know
Why I Stepped Away for Six Months
This wasn’t an extended vacation. It was a deliberate decision years in the making. As my agency grew, I always had one long-term goal: build a business that could run without me.
Not because I wanted to sit on a beach forever, but because I knew one day I’d want the freedom to fully unplug, whether for maternity leave, personal time, or simply to step into a CEO role instead of a client-facing one.
To make that possible, I had to build my agency with intention from the very beginning.
The Foundation: Team, Systems, and Mindset
Most agency owners think stepping away is all about SOPs and processes. Yes, those matter. But the real work happens much earlier.
1. Hiring the right roles early
I hired before I felt “ready.”
Sales, operations, marketing, client-facing roles, each hire helped remove me from the bottlenecks and gave the business room to grow.
2. Removing myself from account management
For years, I was still managing accounts. And when I finally stepped out of client delivery, the business hit a new level of growth.
That shift unlocked everything.
3. Building a mindset for letting go
My first maternity leave taught me something important: systems and team don’t matter if you aren’t mentally prepared to step back.
If your identity is tied to being the one who shows up for every client, stepping away won’t work.
The second time around, I focused on trusting myself and trusting my team. That mindset changed everything.
Why This Works: Your Team Must Own Relationships
Here’s the truth most agency owners avoid:
You can’t step away if your account managers don’t own the client relationship.
Clients need someone they trust. If your AMs are only “coordinating,” you’ll always get pulled back in.
Great account managers are proactive, accountable, and confident enough to lead the relationship, not just respond to messages.
This is what keeps clients supported and prevents you from becoming the default problem-solver.
What Account Managers Need to Know
If you’re an account manager reading this, here’s your role in making this possible:
Own the client relationship fully
Be proactive and anticipate needs
Lead communication with confidence
Think like the agency owner
Build trust through reliability, not perfection
When AMs step into true ownership, agency owners gain the freedom to do CEO-level work, or step away completely for a season.
Coming Back With a New Perspective
Six months away gave me clarity I didn’t expect.
I returned with more creativity, stronger leadership, and a renewed vision for how I want to grow the agency.
It also confirmed something I’ve believed for years:
You can absolutely build an agency that runs without you, if you build it with intention.
It won’t happen by accident. But with the right people, the right systems, and the right mindset, it’s more than possible. It’s sustainable.
Final Thought for Agency Owners
If stepping away feels impossible, start small.
Audit your bottlenecks.
Empower your team.
And start building a business that supports your life, not one that controls it.
Your agency should run smoothly whether you’re in Slack every day or not.
And yes… you really can take six months off.
NEVER MISS AN EPISODE
ITUNES | SPOTIFY | YOUTUBE