Yesterday, I accepted a full-time position, and while I’m still processing the end of Renga, I immediately felt a sense of relief, the pressure to sell the next thing was no longer looming over me. Even though I wound down the agency over a month ago, I was still consulting and still needed to generate projects and income. The pressure was less than before, I wasn’t supporting an entire team anymore, but I still had to hunt for work. This is the first time in a long time that my family’s financial stability isn’t dependent on my ability to find the next project, and that shift has been profound.
The hidden weight of client services
One of the hardest parts of running a client services firm, especially a design studio like Renga, is the underlying transactional nature of relationships. The moment you mentioned running a design agency, you could often feel the energy shift in the conversation. What we did at Renga, helping businesses with their narrative, storytelling, and positioning, was truly my favourite thing in the world. I would do it for free. But when your core business relies on what you’d gladly do for free, you can’t. Every interaction carries an energy, even subtly, of needing to convert into business.
I never wanted founders to feel like every conversation had the possibility of turning into a pitch. And yet, when you run an agency, that energy is always there, sometimes subtly, sometimes out of necessity. There were moments when I needed to close sales quickly to meet payroll, and I hated the weight of that pressure. It made conversations feel different, even when my intent was purely to help.
The freedom to connect without a sales agenda
Now, I can reach out to founders, engage with people on Twitter and LinkedIn, and have conversations purely because I’m interested in their business, without anyone wondering if I’m going to try and sell them something. That shift feels significant. The ability to connect and explore ideas without an underlying transactional motive is something I’ve deeply missed.
This isn’t a full retrospective on the end of Renga, that post will come later as I get closer to starting my new role as I prepare to step fully into this next chapter. But for now, I’m embracing the ability to chase passions, explore businesses that excite me, and offer insights without the need for it to lead to a sale.
Have you ever felt the weight of transactional energy in your work? How did you navigate it?