Draft mode — just for you, Kirsten. This essay doesn’t exist yet, and you don’t have to write it — just talk it. Open Granola (or a Claude voice chat, or Voice Memos), read the thought starters below, and answer them out loud like you’re telling a friend over dinner. Twenty minutes of “rambling” is perfect — stories beat summaries, specifics beat theory. Send over the transcript and we’ll shape it into the essay together.
Thought starters
- You’ve done both agency (W+K, Edelman, GDP) and in-house (Airtable, kyu). What’s genuinely different about the two worlds — and what’s exactly the same?
- What does success look like at an agency versus in-house? Who are you really serving in each?
- What surprised you most when you went in-house? What did agency life not prepare you for?
- What do agency people misunderstand about in-house work — and vice versa?
- What should a creative ops person who’s only ever known one side know before crossing over? What would you tell your past self?
- Where does each environment make better work possible? Where does each get in its own way?