This week on Own It, we’re talking to Molly Lopez from Sparo. Molly came up through the media side of the advertising business and started Sparo almost six years ago. She actually started her career not far from me in Kentucky at Asbury College and internships at some of the brands here in Lexington. We talked about her journey to ownership which she says came about because of the lack of female ownership role models along the way.
We loved her perspective and are so glad to share her journey with you.
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Molly shares that her journey to agency ownership was largely driven by a lack of female role models in leadership positions within the agencies she worked at. Despite the advertising industry having a strong female presence in many roles, ownership and top leadership were consistently male-dominated. This disparity served as a primary motivation for her to start her own agency.
Starting an agency without external investment or a financial safety net meant that Molly's livelihood, and later the livelihoods of her employees, depended entirely on her. She describes the immense mental and logistical pressure of ensuring payroll and the difficulty of separating from work anxieties, especially without a co-founder to share the burden. This experience highlighted the profound responsibility of being an entrepreneur.
Sparo was founded on the principle of providing high-caliber marketing services, typically accessible only to large companies, to small and mid-market businesses by maintaining an efficient cost structure. While this model led to rapid growth by addressing an underserved market, it also presented challenges in maintaining profitability as the company grew and overhead increased. Molly emphasizes the struggle to balance mission-driven accessibility with the financial realities of scaling an agency.
Molly's definition of success has evolved from purely quantitative metrics like revenue targets and number of offices to a more qualitative focus on staying true to her mission: creating a beloved workplace for marketers and providing excellent client services. Becoming a mother further shifted her perspective, prioritizing work-life balance, flexibility, and ease over aggressive growth. This means sometimes turning down clients who might not align with the agency's values, even if it impacts revenue goals, to maintain the desired work environment and personal quality of life.
Molly passionately encourages women to pursue agency ownership by highlighting that many men with lesser qualifications often succeed due to sheer "audacity." She asserts that women are often more than capable and would likely run businesses more effectively, fostering better workplace cultures that prioritize relationships, employee well-being, and flexibility, as demonstrated by Sparo's high retention rates and parental leave policies. She believes that women's unique approaches to leadership are crucial for the overall benefit of the industry.
