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MB Melissa Bouma On Smart Agency Masterclass with Jason Swenk: Podcast for Digital Marketing Agencies

“We're all builders, I think. That's one of the things that's consistent across all of us: we like to build something. And when I can't contribute to the building, that's when it gets boring.”

Smart Agency Masterclass with Jason Swenk: Podcast for Digital Marketing Agencies · Agency Business · November 2026

“We're all builders, I think. That's one of the things that's consistent across all of us: we like to build something. And when I can't contribute to the building, that's when it gets boring.” — Melissa Bouma, Smart Agency Masterclass with Jason Swenk: Podcast for Digital Marketing Agencies

Context

Jason Swenk described feeling adrift after selling his agency and losing his identity as CEO. Melissa Bouma, who has been through several exits, suggests what founders actually miss is the chance to build.

Transcript

Smart Agency Masterclass with Jason Swenk: Podcast for Digital Marketing Agencies Around 18:48 into the episode
Melissa Bouma

business to that place.

Jason Swenk

Right. But like the 20 hours I worked, man, I was, I was on it. And then you take that away. I'm like, well, what do you want me to do now? I was like, horrible.

Melissa Bouma

It's interesting. And it's interesting to ask yourself too. And I'm sure you've done this, like, was it the decisions or was it the ability to like influence and drive change, right? And have that like impact. And it's probably the latter, right? Like, strike me as someone who'd be okay to delegate, yet at the same time, like, we're all builders, I think. I think that's one of the things that's consistent across all of us is we like to build something. And when I can't contribute to the building, that's when it gets boring.

Jason Swenk

Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, for two weeks, it was nice after we, after my tour of duty was done, I was like, all right, good. I don't have to do anything. And then I'm like, just antsy. Yeah. I was like, there's only so much stuff I could build around the house. You know, like everybody I know is…

Melissa Bouma

Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Well, I think that's probably what made you a good CEO, right? It's like you want to take whatever is inside and just pour out that contribution into something, right? Building something, building people, solving problems, or like bringing expertise to communities. Yeah. Yeah. I…

Jason Swenk

When with your new role and being the CEO, how did you grow the agency before you were bought again? And now that you're the chief growth officer, how are you continuing to build? Is it building the agency through acquisition? Because a lot of times, and I've done this, where once you start growing…

Speaker names come from our own diarization. The position is estimated from where the line sits in the episode.

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