Where Are Your Boundaries?
If your first thought was “Umm... what boundaries?”—you’re not alone.
As an agency owner, it’s easy to slide into over-functioning mode. One minute you're leading the business, the next you're chasing down late invoices, rewriting copy at midnight, and replying to emails that should’ve been handled by literally anyone else. Before you know it, your days (and nights) are running you.
Boundaries aren’t barriers. They're a business strategy.
This is a conversation I often have with agency owners—especially those who are scaling quickly or hiring their first real leadership team. They’ve built a thriving business, but somewhere along the way, their boundaries disappeared. If that’s you, know this: it’s not a leadership flaw—it’s a signal that your role needs to evolve.
When you started your agency, you likely wore all the hats. That’s normal in the beginning. But if you’re still:
Saying yes to everything
Treating every Slack ping like it’s a five-alarm fire
Getting roped into every decision
…congrats—you’ve been promoted to Chief Everything Officer. (And that role comes with zero vacation days.)
Creating boundaries is how you reclaim your time, your energy, and your leadership. It's how you shift out of reactive mode and into intentional, focused decision-making. Because without clear limits, even the most brilliant agency owner ends up overwhelmed and under-supported.
When your team isn’t constantly looking to you for answers, they step up. (And you get to step away—from your inbox and the brink of a stress-induced snack binge.)
Boundaries help your team know where you stand.
They create clarity around what you own, what you don’t, and who’s responsible for what. That’s not just good for your well-being—it’s good for your business.
But here’s something to think about: boundaries only work if you honour them.
That means enforcing them without guilt, even when it’s uncomfortable—like saying no to that “quick” Friday client request that magically turns into a Sunday-night deliverable.
Ask yourself:
👉 What’s one boundary I need to set this week?
👉 What will I no longer say yes to?
👉 Where do I need to give myself permission to step back?
Because your agency was never meant to run on burnout.
It was built to soar.
If you’re ready to set better boundaries but don’t know where to start, check out my recent blog posts on delegation and designing a business that runs without you.