Suzanne Shelton built one of the top sustainability communications agencies in the US from scratch, then shocked the experts by selling it for double her target price. In this episode, she spills the unfiltered truth: the gut-wrenching moments, the bets that almost broke her, and the secrets behind her once-in-a-lifetime exit.


01:20 – Starting With Nothing: Her Accidental Agency Journey
03:40 – Agency Owners Told ‘You’ll Never Sell’
06:00 – Planting the Sustainability Flag: The Risk That Paid Off
08:10 – The Greenwashing Gold Rush & Real Industry Challenges
11:00 – When Big Clients Come Knocking (and Why She Said ‘No’)
13:20 – Turning Down Fortune 100s: Scarcity or Smart Strategy?
15:10 – Betting the Company—And Her Own Salary—On the Future
17:30 – The Pain of Specializing (and Losing 80% of Her Staff)
19:10 – Surviving the Agency Trenches & Going All-In on Niche
21:00 – Deciding to Sell: The Real Reasons
23:00 – How She Picked the Buyer (Money vs. Mission)
25:00 – Rejecting “Disrespectful” Offers & Why Earnouts Suck
26:30 – What No One Tells You About LOIs
27:40 – Losing Control After the Sale: What She Misses Most
29:00 – Building Her Next Chapter—Without the Stress
31:00 – Advice for Founders: The One Thing You Must Do Before You Sell
32:19 – Wrap-Up & Final Lessons

Ver todos los episodios