Oliver Atkinson sits down with Nicky Russell, Managing partner at ‘We Deliver Change’ (WDC) and co-founder of The In-house Agency Leaders Club, to reveal the hidden formula behind top creative teams. With experience on both agency and brand sides, Nicky shows why creative operations are the “connective tissue” that transform big ideas into genuine audience connection.

The conversation ranges from a live-action Cancer Research campaign that boosted donations by 40 percent to Nicky’s role as a “shock absorber” who shields talent from board-room turbulence. Expect candid insights on the class gap still haunting advertising, and why hybrid work risks a lost generation of mentors.

With big retainers shrinking and AI pushing cost-cutters toward automation, discover how reinvesting efficiency gains into human craft turns pressure into breakthrough storytelling.

For marketers, creatives and business leaders, this episode delivers actionable guidance on forging agency-in-house partnerships, designing operations that nurture psychological safety, and mentoring Gen Z talent before burnout sets in.

03:00 What agencies and in-house agencies get wrong about each other and why they should be creative allies rather than competitors

09:07 How AI is disrupting creative teams and why it should amplify human creativity, not replace it as a cost-cutting exercise

17:45 The balance of discipline and vulnerability in creative operations and creating psychological safety for diverse teams to thrive

25:04 The talent crisis facing the industry post-COVID and why we're losing young creatives to hybrid working without proper mentorship

31:07 How creative operations directly impacts authentic storytelling, illustrated through the Cancer Research campaign that ran for seven years