The Romans Names Two New Managing Directors
Last week the award-winning PR firm named two new managing directors, Indigo Le Fèvre and Kate Brazier, who stepped up from their roles as directors. To them, it feels like the “most significant jump to date” professionally and they’re excited to shift their focus to the whole agency, and to do it together.
The Romans UK experienced a period of over 20% growth in the last three years. While ensuring continued future growth is certainly one of their goals, Kate and Indigo are keenly aware that that growth has to be built on a foundation of high-calibre work that the firm has become synonymous with. It’s a challenge they feel ready to take on as all the elements - asking tough questions, not opting for the obvious answer, taking risks - are woven into the fabric of the firm’s modus operandi.
LBB caught up with Kate and Indigo to learn more about their plans for the firm's future, why failure is necessary to learning, and the first change they can’t wait to implement: opening The Romans Return, a brand-new agency pub.
LBB> You were previously in the director roles - what kind of career jump does being an MD represent?
Kate and Indigo> Without stating the obvious, it absolutely feels like our most significant jump to date. But one we both felt really ready for – and really excited to be taking together. It feels a bit like we’ve been handed the keys to the castle. As directors, we’ve always been focused on the big picture, but admittedly there’s a natural tendency to remain laser focused on your individual responsibilities and the targets you need to hit. Now, instead of focusing on our respective teams, we’re focused on the whole agency – our collective goals, output and the impact of each and every decision we make. I guess some might say we’ve been handed the burden of greater responsibility, but for us it feels like the best reason to care even more about the work we do. Knowing you’re representing a team of 100 feels so rewarding; we’re all the more excited to come to work because of it.
LBB> The Romans UK experienced a three-year period of 20%-plus growth, which is amazing. What kind of challenges does this now pose for you?
Kate and Indigo> The challenge will always be to continue getting bigger without getting boring. Sustaining that growth whilst maintaining team happiness, client satisfaction and our reputation for creating some of the best award-winning work out there. It’s no easy feat, but we’ve worked hard to establish the necessary foundations to ensure that continues.
The regularity of agency closures and redundancies across the industry right now isn’t lost on us, so we feel exceptionally grateful to be in such a fortunate position and don’t take our successes for granted. It’s rough when we hear of people and agencies we respect having to make tough decisions, and that spurs us on to treat every brief, every chemistry session and every interview as if it were our first.
We’re set to hit 150 headcount next year, with further international expansion on the horizon. Achieving those goals doesn’t come without a lot of graft and hard work but, as an agency and as individuals, we’re not the type to rest on our laurels. It’s all up from here and we’re pumped to take on that challenge and help spearhead London’s growth.
LBB> How are you planning to ensure that continued growth doesn’t come at the expense of taking risks and pushing boundaries?
Kate and Indigo> Fortunately for us, taking risks and pushing boundaries is an ethos that permeates both our teams and our client partners. They trust us to ask the tough questions, to challenge their decisions or propose a different way forward. Do we get it right every time? Does it always go our way? Absolutely not. But we learn just as much, if not more, from those experiences.
LBB> Do you have any key principles or an overarching professional philosophy that you’re going to apply to the new role?
Kate and Indigo> Please don’t judge us for quoting… but for us, ‘fail fast, fail often, but always fail forward’ sums it up pretty perfectly. In any new role, some mistakes or lapses in judgement are inevitable, but that’s where the learning happens. You’ve got to be excited for the learning and comfortable with the failures to reap the successes.
Beyond that: it might not be revolutionary, but it is incredibly important – and that’s remembering we’re all human. We really pride ourselves on always leading with empathy, and ensuring the team has a fun, respectful, nurturing place to work, surrounded by supportive colleagues who have become friends.
LBB> What do you agree and disagree on business-wise? How will you use this to your advantage?
Kate and Indigo> Joe [Mackay-Sinclair, founder and CEO] and Lucy [McGettigan, partner] enjoy using a barely intersecting Venn diagram analogy to describe us, and they’re not wrong, but we think our differences are absolutely our strengths when it comes to us as unit. We each have our areas to own but, ultimately, we’re there for each other as a sounding board and to offer a different perspective. There will be some hills one of us is more ready to die on than the other, but we’ve already established a brilliant way of working where we always respectfully hear the other out, consolidate our thoughts and then mutually agree the best way forward. Everything’s always about balance, and our skill sets are proving nothing but complementary so far. It’s nice knowing someone’s always got your back.
LBB> Besides growth, what other goals are you looking to achieve in the short and long term?
Kate and Indigo> Regardless of growth, our goal is always the best creative output. In the short term, we’re keen to improve some operational niggles. Some of our processes and ways of working aren’t quite as sharp as we know they can be, so we’re keen to pounce on those and iron out some creases. That might sound tedious but trust us, the ripple effect will be so well received!
We’re also keen to get out there and meet other like-minded business and agency leaders. If you fancy a drink (Eastern Standards, please – gin for Indigo, vodka for Kate), hit us up!
As for the long term: negating the challenges that come with growth remains priority number one. Otherwise, like any good partnership, I guess the goal is to finish each other’s sentences, right?!
LBB> Will you be implementing any changes at The Romans?
Kate and Indigo> Our first job is to open The Romans Return, our brand-new agency pub.
LBB> Finally, what’s most exciting to you about the promotion?
Kate and Indigo> So, so many things! Being instrumental in the growth of the world’s best agency is a key one, but really it’ll always be about the people. This agency is the result of so many exceptional, talented, hardworking, brilliant individuals. Getting to work with them day in, day out and be responsible for their development is honestly the most exciting and rewarding thing of all. Long live the (Roman) Empire!
