Managing Business Growth and Transitions: Insights from Lauren Fraser, Thea Media

01/31/24 • 35 min

When challenges arise, the wise prioritise over powering through. Lauren Fraser, founder of Thea Media, challenges the conventional wisdom that toughness is the only answer. Join us as we delve into her entrepreneurial journey—from navigating chronic fatigue to building a thriving digital marketing agency that values balance and well-being. Lauren's honest account is not just a success story; it's a blueprint for sustainable growth that doesn't sacrifice personal health for professional gain.
Have you ever wondered what the aftermath of a business acquisition looks like from the inside? Lauren Fraser offers a rare glimpse into the delicate dance of team management during these transitions. Her experiences reveal the profound effect leadership can have on a company's culture, as well as the importance of trust and communication within remote and inexperienced teams. As we explore the nuances of her approach to leadership, we also touch on the vital role of solid systems and effective processes in steering a business towards success, especially after ambitious expansions.
The path to prosperity is often lined with setbacks and redirections, as Lauren's story testifies. This episode is an invitation to redefine success beyond the hustle, to embrace balance and build a business that nourishes both the team behind it and the leader at its helm. Lauren's insights into attracting the right clients and team members demonstrate the power of incremental improvements. For anyone striving for a more holistic approach to business, this conversation is a beacon of inspiration and practical advice.
Guest Bio - Lauren Fraser

Website: theamedia.com.au
Instagram: theamedia_

Lauren is the owner of Thea Media, a digital marketing agency on the Sunshine Coast focussed on supporting health, wellness and beauty businesses with search, social and email marketing. Having started her business nearly 6 years ago, Lauren has taken it around the world, grown it to nearly 7 figures, scaled up and down her team, and even acquired another business.

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Website: theamedia.com.au
Instagram: theamedia_

Previous Episode

The Art of Authentic Team Building with Sparo Studios' Visionary, Emma Sparrow

Ever dreamt of ditching your corporate gig to start your own creative agency? Emma, the brains behind Sparo Studios, did just that. Join us as we unravel Emma's journey from her childhood in prairies in Canada, to the bustling corporate world of Sydney, Australia to founding a thriving design agency. This isn't just a story of entrepreneurial courage—it's a playbook for leaders who want to steer their teams with authenticity and shared values.
The highlights of our conversation include Emma's honesty about three of her key leadership lessons:
1. What made her grow from a "terrible boss who churned through staff"
2. How leading with values helped her fire someone on her wedding day
3. When systems streamlined her ability to scale
We all know that values are the backbone of any successful organisation, but how do you embed them? Emma and I dig deep into how honesty, community, growth, and creativity aren't just lofty ideals at Sparo Studios; they're actionable standards that are used daily to create a culture of trust and psychological safety with the team and clients.
By the end of this chat, you'll walk away with strategies and insights to not just boost your leadership by 1%, but to create an environment where your team and business can thrive. Don't miss out on Emma's incredible journey and the valuable wisdom gained from steering a small studio to great successes.
Book your free strategy call with the Director of Sparo Studios Emma here

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Guest Bio - Emma Sparrow, Sparo Studios
Emma (Em) is the founder and creative director of Sparo Studios - a strategic design agency with an all-women team of innovative, results-driven designers, developers, and strategists.
A Canadian prairie girl who tore up her acceptance letter to business school and moved across the world to find something more. After spending 3 years working in a creativity-killing corporate role, she knew there was no opportunity for her to truly push herself and live the life she wanted to live.
So in 2019, the business came to life. After years of epic growth, the agency evolved from 1 to a team with a combined 20+ years of experience in the industry.
Outspoken leaders in strategic branding and design for established businesses — Em and her team are well known for thinking (and creating) outside the box and doing things differently.

Next Episode

Leadership Resilience: Navigating Burnout and Driving Organisational Change, with Liz Bradford

Have you experienced burnout, or know some who has? Today's guest is the remarkable Liz Bradford, a seasoned leader with 20 years of diverse experience, currently serving as the Managing Director of Wholesale Banking at HSBC Asia in Hong Kong and the CEO of Transform Perform. Liz shares candidly about her defining moment in leadership, experiencing burnout not once, but 1.5 times, and the crucial lessons learned from those experiences.

Liz emphasizes the importance of embracing discomfort, holding tough conversations, and building resilience, both as an individual leader and within the organizational culture. Our conversation delves into the complexities of driving large-scale transformations, where Liz highlights that 80 percent of successful change is rooted in cultural shifts rather than just technological advancements.
Our discussion covers the significance of emotional intelligence, transparency, and setting a north star for organizational success. Join us as we explore the human side of leadership, learning from Liz's journey and uncovering actionable strategies for creating resilient and inclusive organizational cultures. It was an honour to hear Liz's valuable perspectives and lessons in this engaging episode.

Guest Bio - Liz Bradford

Transform.Perform https://www.transformperform.org/
Book: Life is short
Liz Bradford Linkedin

Liz Bradford has 20 years of diverse leadership experience having worked across three continents and at firms spanning HSBC, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and SWIFT. She is currently the Managing Director of Wholesale Banking at HSBC, Asia (based in Hong Kong) and the CEO of Transform Perform, a platform of coaches and workplace wellbeing and development providers to advise and support businesses building more sustainable employee propositions. Her career has ranged from product management to C-Suite roles driving operational excellence, people engagement and technology transformation across teams of 7,500+ in 14 countries, with oversight of U$bn+ P&Ls. Her passion is employee engagement wellbeing and culture, specifically nurturing healthy, inclusive cultures and tackling toxic ones.
Examples include:
- Leadership of employee resource groups representing 48,000 diverse employees across 60 markets globally
- Design and delivery of female talent development programmes across 14 markets, and
- Implementation of wellbeing challenges and programmes impacting 5,000+ a year globally.
Through Transform Perform she delivers coaching programmes and facilitation for the empowerment of employees, to develop high performing teams, and to inspire people managers to step into enterprise leadership. An ICF accredited organisational and executive coach, a qualified personal trainer and a certified wellbeing coach, Liz regularly speaks on the topics of inclusion, female leadership, wellbeing, busting burnout, stress managem

Level Up Leadership - Managing Business Growth and Transitions: Insights from Lauren Fraser, Thea Media

Transcript

Kate Peardon00:00:04.527

Welcome to the Level Up Leadership Podcast . This is the go-to podcast for chronically busy leaders and small business owners who are ready to get out of the weeds and start leading . The weekly episodes have micro leadership lessons focused on how to level up your leadership and help you to be 1% better every day . It's all about growing your leadership wisdom , building your te